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Jajnes Wadsworth. 



/ 



HISTORY OF 



Livingston County 

NEW YORK 

FROM ITS EARLIEST TRADITIONS TO THE PRESENT 
TOGETHER WITH EARLY TOWN SKETCHES 



EDITED BV 
LOCKWOOD R. DOTY 



ILLUSTRATED 



1905 

W. J. Van Deusen, Publisher, 

Jackson, Michigan. 






F. A. Owen Pubushing Company, 
Dansville, N. Y. 



/ 



^024, 



i 



PREFACE. 

WHEN I agreed to take a part in the preparation of this work 
it was only upon the stipulation that I should be at liberty 
to make use of so much of my father's history of Livingston 
County, published posthumously in 1876, as I thought desirable. 

The little leisure at my command put it entirely out of the question 
for me to contemplate the preparation of a history of the county, the 
substance of which, Indeed the very text of which, should not be 
drawn in very large measure from that source. Accordingly, I have 
in the main followed the arrangement and the text of that work 
through Chapter 10, making the changes and additions demanded by 
the result of historical research since my father laid down his pen. 
Mr. George C. Bragdon, of Rochester, has for the most part had charge 
of putting in form the town sketches from material furnished to him. 
The arrangement of the biographical section of the work has been in 
other hands. 

At the time of his death, Norman Seymour, of Mt. ^Morris, who had 
been from its beginning one of the most useful and interested 
members of the Livingston County Historical Society, had in course 
of preparation a history of Livingston County, and had collected a 
great amount of valuable material to that end; unfortunately for the 
people of the county, ^Ir. Seymour's death interrupted his work before 
it had been put in narrative form. Such glimpses as he permitted the 
public to have of his work by an occasional published sketch from the 
manuscript showed, however, how instructive his contribution to 
local history would have been. Mr. Seymour's family, through his son, 
Mr. Henry H. Seymour, of Buffalo, placed in my hands unreservedly 
for use in this volume all the matter collected by their lamented father; 
I wish in this place to express to them my deep sense of obligation. 

Likewise, my sincere gratitude is due to Mrs. Dr. Myron H. Mills 
and her daughters, of Mt. Morris, for their exceeding courtesy in per- 
mitting me the fullest liberty in examining and using the books and 
papers relating to historical matters of the late Dr. Mills, one of the 



2 PREFACE 

best informed Indianologists of the valley, who wrote learnedly and 
most interestingly of early local history over the sobriquet of "Corn- 
planter," and whose father. General Mills, figures conspicuously in the 
pages of this history. 

Mr. William H. Samson, of Rochester, an enthusiastic student of 
the history of Western New York, an untiring investigator, an infal- 
libly just and discerning judge of men and events, and a brilliant 
writer, whose contributions to local history are unquestioningly ac- 
cepted; Mr. Frank H. Severance, the learned and accomplished Secre- 
tary of the Buffalo Historical Society, Hon. William P. Letchworth, 
of Buffalo and Glen Iris ; A. O. Bunnell, of Dansville ; David Gray, Esq. , 
of Buffalo; Dr. William P. Spratling, and Mr. Frank Crofoot, of Son- 
yea, N. Y., have earned my special thanks in furnishing me very 
valuable material in aid of this work. 

I am indebted to the contributions to local history of the late Col. 
John Rorbach and to Samuel L. Rockfellow of Mount Morris: Duncan 
D. Cameron, of Caledonia: Rev. E. W. Sears, of Caledonia; Miss 
Wilhelmina Mann, of (iroveland: W. P. Boyd, of Conesus; S. Edward 
Hitchcoci: of Conesus and others to whom credit is given in the pages 
of this book for matter appearing there. 

I desire also to express my obligations to the Council of the Livings- 
ton County Historical Society for their permission to use matter col- 
lected for the Society archives. 

In spite of the most careful proof reading errors will be found, for 
whicii I implore the reader to be indulgent. ^I must add in justice to 
myself, that I am not responsible for Chapt^ &JKXVn or for any 
errors that may be found there. 

The town sketches are necessarily brief and principally cover the 
earlier periods of town history. 

The work passes out of my hands tn the publisher with the regret 
that I have been imable to give to it the undivided attention which the 
subject justly demanded. 

Gcneseo, N. Y. Lockwood R. Doty. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

Topograph}- of the. County — Genesee River— Canaseraga Creek — Conesus Lake 
— Western Door of tlie Long House — Pioneer Customs- -Aboriginal Myths — Ancient 
Works and Remains — Jesuit Missionaries — Settlement hj- Sullivan's Officers and 
Men 17 

CHAPTER II. 

The Seneca Indians — The Kali-Kwas — Hiawatha — League of the Iroquois — ■ 
Aboriginal Traditions— Cusick's .■Account — Monsters — Great Battle of Geneseo — 
Iroquois Domination — Iroquois Alliance with the British 24 

CHAPTER III. 

The Senecas of the Chenussio — Seneca Fortitude — Their Customs in War and 
Peace — Incidents illustrating Seneca Characteristics — .\ New Year's Festival at 
Squakie Hill — Handsome Lake, the Peace Prophet — Seneca Trails — Extinguish- 
ment of Indian Titles to Reservations 38 

CHAPTER IV. 

Pouchot's Map — Early mention of the Genesee Country — Earthworks and Fortifi- 
cations — Five Eras of Seneca Town history — F'our Villagesdestroyed by DeNonville 
— Canawaugus — Dyu-ne-ga-nooh — O-ha-gi— Indian burial place — Big Tree — Beards- 
town— Squakie Hill — 0-non-da-oh — Ga-da-oh — Ga-nos-ga-go — Sho-nojo-waah-geh, 
Big Kettle's town — Kan-agh-saws, Conesus — Dyu-liah-gaih — Chenussio — (iatlit- 
segwarohare — Sga-his-ga-aah, Lima — Ga-non-da-seeh, near Moscow — Deo-wes-ta, 
Portage vi lie 57 

CHAPTER V. 

Jesuit Missions — DeNonville's Expedition — Retirement of the Jesuits with the 
French 85 

CHAPTER VI. 

Indian Notables — Red Jacket — Cornplanter — Henrv O'Bail — Han<lsome Lake — 
Little Beard— Tall Chief— Straight Back— Big Tree— Black Chief— Jack Berry- 
Captain Pollard — Hot Bread — Half Town — Sharp Shins — Tommy Infant — John Mon- 
tour— CJuawwa — Mary Jemison —James Stevens — Seneca White — Thomas Jemison — • 
Philip Kenjockety — Old Cannelioot 95 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Western Expedition under General Sullivan, with a sketch of the Officers in 
his Command and an account of the Groveland .\mbuscade and the torture of Boyd 
and Parker — Other incidents of the Campaign 138 

CHAPTER VIII. 

After the Revolution— Phelps and Gorham Purchase — Robert Morris — Holland 
Purchase— Treaty of Big Tree — Charles Williamson — Celebration of the one hun- 
dredth Anniversary of the Treaty of Big Tree at Geneseo 179 



4 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IX. 

Early settlemeiit> in the County— James and William Wad-worth — Other Pioneers 
fiales of lands — Williamsburjjh — Picture of the C.enesee country — The Living- 
ston Lease — Importance to the Cjenesee country of General Wayne's Expedi- 
. tion 226 

CHAPTER X. 

Missionaries in the Genesee country — Religious Privileges — Visit of Loiiis 
Philippe — Dtike DeLiancourt — Jauies Wadsworth in London negotiating for sale of 
Lands — Town settlements commenced 249 

CHAPTER XI. 

Pioneer Election — Famine — Rapid growth of the settlements — Transportation 
facilities— The period prior to 1812 262 

CHAPTER XII. 

The War of 1812 and the participation therein by men of the Genesee country — 
Result of the War advantageous to the settlements — The "Cold Plague" — Condi- 
tion of Western New York in 1817 — First Newspaper in the County 283 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Erection of Livingston County — Name of County — Location of County Seat — 
Public Buildings— Early Courts 306 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Early Banking projects — Transportation problems — Post Rider — Stages — (ienesee 
Valley Canal — Steamboats on the Genesee— High School at Geneseo — Bible 
Society 321 

CHAPTER XV. 

Abduction of Morgan — Anti-Masonrj- in politics — Alms-house established — 
Purchase of County Farm — Close of third decade — Politics 341 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The decade from 1830 to 1840 — Movement for a Railroad — Livingston County 
Anti-Slavery Society 354 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The decade from J840 to 1850 — Removal of Remains of Boyd and Parker and 
other victims of Groveland ambuscade to Rochester, and Proceedings attending 
the removal — Later reinteiment at Mount Hope— Livingston County Agri- 
cultural Society — The 94th Regiment of Infantry of the New York Slate 
Militia — The Campaign of 1844 — Election of Governor Young — Railroad pro- 
jects 369 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

The decade from 1850 to i860— New Alms House — Last "Militarj- Training" in 
the Countv — Genesee Valley Bank— Completion of Avon, Geneseo and Mount 
Morris Railroad — County Politics 407 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The War of the Rebellion ; Livingston's part in it— History of the Wadsworth 
Guards, 104th Regiment— Tlie T04th at Gettysburg— Historr of the 8th N. V. 
Cavalry— 130th N. V. Vol. Infantry— 136th N. Y. Vol. Infantry— 14th N. Y 
Heavy Artillery— 13th N. V. Vol. Infantry— 33d N. V. Vol. Infantry— 27th N. Y. 
Vol. Infantry -25 

CHAPTER XX. 
Covering the war period in Livingston and the succeeding years to the present, .496 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Newspaper History of the County 539 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Last Council on the Genesee — William P. Letchworth 555 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Craig Colony 582 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Some Indian Remains in the Genesee Valley 590 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Livingston County Civil List 594 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
The Genesee V'alley Hunt 602 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
The Medical Profession in Livingston County 607 

Sketch of .Avon 622 

" " Caledonia 645 

" " Conesus 701 

" " Lima 721 

" " Leicester 730 

" " Livonia 761 

" Ossian 780 

" " Mount Morris 785 

" North Dansville 826 

" " Portage 857 

" " Spring water 867 

" West Sparta 875 

" Xunda 888 

" " York 900, 958 

" "^^Groveland 933 

" "NGeneseo 963 

" " Sparta 1004 



INDEX— PART 1. 



Adverli^einent-i for VoJunteers 429 

Agriculture, Indian 38 

Allen, Ebenezer or "Indian" 

213, 786, 790 

Allen, Tract 786 

Alms House, fires 504, 505 

" " Extension 520 

" " Improved 513 

American Party Convention 415 

Amusements in 1824 332 

Andrews, Dr. B. P 616 

Anxel, Benjamin F 412 

Animals 655, 885 

Anti-Masonic Party 344 

" " Triumph 349 

" " Meetings 375 

Anti-Slavery Meeting 359 

" " Resolutions 362 

" " Society- 361 

Arthur, Chester A 904 

" Rev. W'm. A 904 

Artillery Company of Oeneseo 290 

Assemblymen 1822 to 1905 599 

Avon 622 

Base Ball Clubs 502 

Battles in War of 1812 291, 296, 297 

Batteaux 732 

Beanlstovvn 72 

Bears common 885 

Becker, Dr. Allen 613 

Berry, Gilberts 624, 627 

Berry, Jack 172 

Bettis, Dr. J. Ten Eyck 614 

Big Elm 631 

Big Springs 654 

Big Tree, Council 193 

" " Chief 71, log. 176 

" " Treaty 192, 208 

" " Treaty Annuities 217 

Treaty Celebrated 221 

Black Chief in 

Blakeslee, Col. Samuel 629 

Borden, Dr. G. T 613 

Bonner, I'rank J 783 

Bowen, Dr. I-'rederick J 615 

Boyd and J'arker, Tragedy 172 

" " " Burial 174 

" " " Remains..372, 386, 740 



Boyd, Thomas, his Reconnoissance 154 

" in Ambuscade 168 

Bradner, Lester 835 

Brooks, Gen. Micah 793 

Broom Corn 798 

Brown, Dr. John P 614 

Brown's Log Tavern 903 

Calder, James 902 

Caledonia 645 

Distinguished servants of 652 

Cameron, John 655 

Canal, Estimates and Co-t 324 

Engineering Difficulties 325 

" Extension 327 

" Tunnel 857 

" Troubles 863 

" Abandoned 329 

Canaseraga Creek 18 

Cana vvaugus 67 , 646 

Caneadea 555 

Council House 555 

Can-ne-hoot 136 

Carrick, Dr. Charles J 611 

Carroll, Charles H 319.320,339,347 

Carter, William 536 

Cavalry Company 294 

Census Statistics of 1825 340 

Chenussio 80, 154 

Council 156 

Church Quarrels 649 

Churches, Avon 636 

" Caledonia 657 

" Conesus 719 

" Groveland 951 

" Geneseo 990 

" Livonia 769 

Lima 728 

" Leicester 754 

Mt. Morris 785, 819 

North Dansville 846 

" Nunda 892 

" Ossian 783 

" Portage 865 

Springwater 871 

" Sparta loil 

West Sparta 886 

York 908 

Clinton, Brigadier General, 159 



INDEX 



Cold Summer of 1816 302 

Cole, Dr. De Forest 012 

Cole's Painting S62 

Collar Brothers. 702 

Companies lor the Civil War 427 

Conditions in 1817 302 

in 1830 353 

" in 1840 366 

" in 1S50 422 

Couesus 702 

Lake iS 

Salt and Mining Co. 770 

Railroad 772 

Conflicting State Claims iSo 

Conspirac}- of Jail Inmates 500 

Cornplanter or Ga-yanl-hvvah-gch... 103 
at Big Tree Council 

206, 218 

Coterie 844 

County, Livingston 17 

" ' Census in 1801 264 

Division Contests 309 

Plans 312 

County, Livingston, Agricultural 

Society 387 

County Livingston, Alms House.... 407 

" Officers 599, boo, 601 

New project 873 

" Seat, locating 314 

" Election of 1803 266 

of 1807 274 

of 1808 27b 

" " of 1S09 277 

inthe thirties 357, 358 

in 184b 397 

in 1854 414 

in 1855 41b 

Covenant Chain 36 

Craig Colony for Epileptics. 582 

Crisfieid, Dr. James E bi9 

Dansville 77 

Site of 256 

Village 82b 

" in 1812 830 

in 1814 836 

in 1830 835 

Library 844 

Deed to' ' Indian' ' Allen's daughters 214 

Ue Nonville's Expedition 88 

Denton, Dr. John 614 

Deo-wes-ta 83 

Destruction of Indian Property 150, 175 

De-yu-it-ga-oh 73 

Dickinson, Daniel S 651 

Dike, Dr. I. A. M 61.5 

Distinguished Visitors 797 



Distilleries 771, 777 

Doctoring, Indian 48 

Dodge, Dr. Frank B fai7 

Door of Long House 80 

Drieshach, Dr. Fred R 616 

Duncan, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 876 

Dutch Treaty with Iroquois 36 

Dyu-doo-sot 66 

Dyu-non-day-ga-eeh 72 

Dyu-hah-gaih or Oneida Village... 80 

Dyu-ne-ga-nooh 68 

Early Bridges (Leicester) 740 

Buildings (Mt. Morris) 789 

" Citizens (York) 906 

" Con<litions (Conesus) 707, 708 

County Boundaries '. 307 

" Days 20 

" Descriptions 234, 235 

" Industries (Conesus) 704 

" Lumber Industry (Livonia) . . 78b 

" Postal Service 232, 233, 241 

" Preaching and Churches 

(North Dansville) 480 

Early Presbyterians (Springwater). . 872 

" Prices (Lima) - 724 

" Religious Meetings (Leicester) 740 

" Statistics (Livonia) 786 

" Settlement and Settlers 226 

" Settlers Names (.-^von) 626 

(Conesus) 703 704 

(Nunda) 889 

" Taverns (North Dansville) 828 

East Avon 623 

Ellicott's Survey 220 

Eniniett, Rev. Samuel 272 

Epidemic of 1812 and 1813 287 

Exploration and Researches .57 

Famine of 1806 270 

Famous Horses Imported 529 

Farm Valuations in three decades... 538 

Father Fremin 86 

Faulkner, Daniel P. (North Dans- 
ville) 827, 830 

Faulkner, Judge, his death 520 

Faulkner, Dr. James (North Dans- 
ville) 831 

Features (Conesus) 701 

(Lima) 721 

" (Leicester) 730 

(Livonia) 761 

" (Ossian) 780 

(Mt. Morris) 785 

(Portage) 857 

(Springwater) 866 

Fillmore, Millard, in West Sparta.. 877 
and Hnngerford 878, 881 



8 



INDEX 



Fillmore, to William Scott 880 

Financial Panic of 1857 420 

Fire and Water (North Dansville)... 845 

First Bank 352 

County Buildings 317 

" " Officers 314, 320 

" Court of Common Pleas 319 

" " " General Sessions ... 319 

Newspaper 303. 339 

" River Steamboat 334 

" Steamer on Conesus 509 

Fitzhngli Purchase 262 

Fortifications 59 

Fowler, Wells (York).. 903 

Fort (ieorge, Capture of 289 

F'oster, Dr. Francis V 611 

CTa-da-oh 76 

Ga-on-do-wa-nuh 71 

Ga-nos-ga-go 77 

Ga-o-ya-de-o 555 

Gathtsegwarohare 81 

Gansou, Cnpt. John 627 

Genesee Country, bettlemeut of 179 

(ieuesee, La>t Council on 555 

Genesee Valley Telegraph 404 

Bank 409 

Hunt 602 

" River Bank 411 

Geneseo 963 

Geneseo Artillery Company 290 

Geiger, Elias H. (Ossian).'. 7S3 

Game and Fish (Springwater) S73 

Geological Theories ^^.■orth Dans- 
ville) S27 

Gorge and I'alls (Portage) 857 

Gordon, James F. (Caledonia) 652 

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (Lima) 725 

(Governor Clinton's Visit 339 

Great Barbecue (Portage) 864 

Gray, Dr. .\rnold (Springwater) 870 

Grover, Hosea 869 

Great F'lood of 1865 500 

" 1902 536 

Greeley Campaign ot 1872 507 

Grist, Story of a 275 

fireen, Dr. R. W 612 

Croveland 933 

Half Town 115 

Hale. Abram (Conesus) 704 

Hammond, .^mariah (North Dans- 
ville) 830 

Hand, Brigadier General ibo 

Handsome Uake 105 

Hard Times 310 

Harding, Chester (Caleilonia) 651 

Hastings, George (Ml. Morris) -5189 



Hemlock Lake iK, 768 

Hendee, Ephraim i.\von) 629 

Henderson, James (Conesus) 702 

Hermitage Settlement 256 

Hermit Melon (Conesus).'. 703 

Hill, Dr. Hugh 816 

Historic (iround (Leicester) 730 

Hogmire Col. Jonas (Avon) 629 

Holland Purchase 189 

Hopkius, Daniel M. (Leicester) 736, 737 

Mark (Mt. Morris) 787 

Samuel (Mt. Morris) .793 

Hornby Lodge (Portage) 861 

Horse Wager 270 

Horses, famous imported 529 

Horth, F'rancis (Conesus) 704 

Hosnier, Dr. Timothy (.■\von) 625, 

627, 628, 647 

Hosmer, James (.•^vou) 628 

George (.Avon) 630 

Col. W. H. C. (Avon) 628, 

631, 640 

Hosmer, W. H. C. Poems of 643 

Hosmer, Stephen T. (.\von) 642 

Horsford Jerediah.. 299 

Hot Bread 115 

Hunt Family (Portage) 860 

Washingtcm (Portage) 860 

Sanford (Portage) 860 

Hunting, Indian 43 

Ground (Springwater) 872 

Huron Indians 32 

Hyde, Corydon (Ossian) 783 

Immersions in Winter (Livonia) 769 

Improvements of .Stock 412 

in 1810 281 

Indian Council of 1801 264 

Chiefs 737 

" Depredations 266 

" Habits (Conesus) 706 

Intercourse with 45, 46 

Remains 590 

Sports 43 

Insane .\sylum 509 

Iroquois League 19, 25 

Jackson Health Resort (North Dans- 
ville) 841 

Jackson, Dr. James C. (North Dans- 
ville) 843 

Jemison, Mary 120, 125, 356, 789 

Jemison, Mary at Big Trie Coun- 
cil 206 

Jeuiison, Mary, Reservation to 207 

Jemison, Thomas 131 

" " Letters from 132 

Jesuit Missionaries 85 



INDEX 



Jolinsoti, EHslia (Portage) 

Jones Brothers 

Horatio 732, 

Jones, Jolin H. (Leicester) 

Jones, Dr. George C 

Dr. George H 

Kah-kwas 24, 30, 32, 

Kane and Moffatt I Caledonia) 

Kashaqua Creek 

Kan-agh-saws or Conesus 

Kelsey, John (Avon) 

Otto... 536, 

Kellogg, Charles (.\von) 

Kenjocket}', Philip 

Kirkland, Rev. Samuel 

Kline, Rev. Aaron 

Knowles, Family (Springwater) 

Paul (Avon) 

LaMont, Dr. T. H 

Land Divisions 

" Prices in 1804 

Land to Captain Jones and Smith 

(Leicester) 

Last Council at Old Council House 
" " Orlando Allen's Speech 
" " Nicholson Parker's 

Speeches 554, 

Last Council, Thomas Jeniisou's 

Speech 

Last Council, Col. Kerr's Speech 

" President Fillmore's 

presentation 

Last Council, David Grey's poem... 

Lauderdale, Dr. Walter E 

Leach, Dr. .\lbert K 

Letter of Seneca Chiefs 

Leicester 

Letchworth, William P 

Lewis, Jabez (Conesus) 

Lima 

Little Beard or Si-g\va-ah-doh-gwili 

" "at Big Tree Council 

Litlleville (.^von) 623, 

Livingston County 

" Towns 

Set off 

High .School 

" " Bible Society 

" " Enlarged 

" " Patriotism 

" " Historical Soci- 
ety 

Livingston County Civil List... 

Livonia 

Town Fair 



8b I 
230 
746 
736 
612 

613 

35 

646 

785 

79 

626 

537 
628 

135 
163 
240 
869 

634 
bi8 
230 
2b6 

731 
5bl 
5bl 

573 

567 
5b9 

573 

574 
b2i 

bT7 

219 
730 
575 
70,S 
721 
106 
203 

634 
306 
30b 

330 
Hi 
397 
496 

515 

594 

761 
771 



Log Cabin, County Historical So- 
ciety's 528 

Log Caljin Tavern (Caledonia) 651 

Long, Col. Holloway (York).. 902, 904 

Lumbering (Portage) 864 

Magee, William 255 

Mackenzie, Dr. John A 611 

Mammoth Ox for Sanitary Commis- 
sion 497 

Markham, Col. William (Avon) 

625, 627 

Marl Deposits (Caledonia) 645 

Mastodon Remains in Geneseo 33b 

" " near Dansville... 508 

Maxwell, Brigadier General ibi 

McCartney, William 232 

McDonald, Alexander (Caledonia) 

649, 650 

McKay, Hector (Conesus) 702 

McKenzie, Donald D. (York) 901 

McMaster, Ebenezer (West Sparta).. 877 

McNair, John (West Sparta) 876 

David (West Sparta) 885 

McNaughton, Daniel (Caledonia)... b$o 
" John H. , poet and 

musician (Caledonia) 652 

McNiuch, Mrs. Jane (Conesus) 705, 706 

McPherson, John R. York 904 

Dr. Thomas (Caledonia) 653 

Medical Profession 607 

Society Members 1821 to 1843 609 
Presidents 1821 to 

1843 609 

Menzie. Dr. Robert J 618 

Merrick, Geo. W. (Nunda) 889, 890 

Militia, 94th Reg. of 394 

Encampments 408 

Mills, Rev. vSamuel 257 

" Gen. William A. (Mt. Morris) 791 
Dr. Myron H. (Mt. Morris).. 792 

" (Livonia) 767 

(North Dansville) 827, 828 

(Portage) 861 

" (York) 902 

Mineral Springs (Avon) 623 

Missionary Movement 249 

Montour's Indian Wife, (Leicester) 783 

Montour, John 18 

Monument to Sullivan's fallen sol- 
diers 382 

Morgan and Masonry 341 

Morgan, Col. .Abner 622 

Mormon Converts (Ossian) 783 

Morris Reserve T69 

Morris Robert 186,199 

Morris, Thomas 192, 202 



10 



INDEX 



Morrissey, Dr. Jobn A 620 

Moscow Advertiser Announcements 304 

Moscow Academy' (Leicester) 739 

" Advertiser (Leicester) 738 

Moses, Dr. Elislia D. (Portage) 861 

Mound Builders 25 

Mover, Dr. Frank E 620 

Movements for Canal 323 

Movement for New County 838, 350 

Mt. Morris '. 785 

" in 1804 and 1813 788 

" Dams 798 

" Raceway 349 

Murphy's Fight 168 

Narrative of Donald McKenzie 

(Caledonia) 66a 

New Religion 52 

Connty Clerk's Office 525 

Jail Building 527 

Court House 529 

Newspapers of County ,S39 

Newtown, Battle of 14b 

North Dansville 826 

Northampton (Caledonia) 646 

Notable Land Purchases 262 

Nnnda 888 

O'Bail, Henry 105 

Odd Customs 47 

Ogden, vSanuiel j88 

O-ha-gi 69 

O-non-da-oh . 75 

Ossian 780 

Ossian Tract (Ossian) 781 

Owen, F. A.. Publishing Co., 

(North Dansville) 843 

Page , Dr. Roy A 618 

Patchin, Dr. Charles Y 617 

Patterson, .Alexander (Conesns) 705 

Patterson, (ieorge W. (Leicester).. 735 

Pearson Brotliers (.\von) 629 

Perine, Dr. F'rancis M bio 

Perry, Dr. Edward C 612 

Peterson .and Fuller (Caledonia)... 646 

Perkins, John (Leicester) 741 

Perine, Capt. William (North 

Dansville) 828, 834 

Phelps and Gorham's Purchase 184 

Pierson, John (.Avon) 629 

Pickering Letter 215 

Piffard, David (York) 903 

Piffard Church 929 

Politics in 1801 263 

Pollard 113 

Poor, Brigadier General 162 

Poor House Farm 350 

Population of the Senecas 55 



Populations in 1790 229 

Portage 857 

1830 to 1900 537 

Portage Riot 410 

Bridge, Old 510 

" Bridge Burning 511 

" Bridge, New 514 

'Post Rider 331 

Portage, Division of town 864 

Portland Cement Plant (Caledonia) 655 

Pouchot's Map 57 

Presidential Campaign of 1840 364 

"of 1844 395 

"of i8bo 423 

Preston, Dr. John C 611 

Prices in 1817 303 

in 1820 312 

Progress, 1802-3 2b5 

Quarries (Caledonia) 645 

ynawwa 119 

Railroad .Agitation 354 

Projects in early fifties 402, 403 

" .•\gitation of 1855 418 

Genesee Yalley, Troubles 403 
Genesee Yalley, Complet- 
ed ." 419 

Railroad, Dansville and Mt. Morris.. 505 

R.N. and P.. 506 

Railroad Bri<lges, (Portage) 866 

Raisings and Whiskey (York) 902 

Rae, Dr. Robert .'. 614 

Red Jacket 95,202,4,7,16,834 

Red Cross Society ( North Dansville) 845 

Religion, Seneca 48 

Remains, .Alioriginal 58 

Indian 82 

Regimental Histor\-: 

13th N. Y. Yois 427, 482 

27 " " 427, 491 

i3 " " 428, 488 

104 " " 428 

130 " " 457 

136 " " 472 

8 " Cavalrv 428,449 

14 " H. A 478 

Richmond, Dr. Charles H 613 

River Boating 332, 334, 336 

Rice, William (Avon) 625 

Rice, Dr. James (.\von) 630 

Rigg*. Judge (Avon) 634 

Royce, Samuel (Leicester) 737 

Rochester, Col. Nathaniel (North 

Dansville) 280, 828, 831 

Rorbach, Col. John 428 

Salt Companies 521 

" Industry (York) 905 



INDEX 



11 



Salt Mines 523 

" Production 524 

Sanders, C. K. (Nunda).' S91 

Scliools and Sports 42 

Scotch Immigrants of 1797 260 

Pioneers (Caledoniii) 646 

Scott, James...: 271 

Scott, William (West Sparta) 882 

His Reminiscences (West 

Sparta) 272,884 

Scotch I'resbyterians (Caledonia).... 64b 

" Immigrants (York) 901 

Seditious Acts 241 

Senecas, Antiquity of the 19, 24 

" Defeat Kah-kwas 1,^ 

" Home Lite of the 41 

Flight of the 17b 

Settlement of Lots (Conesus) 710 

Settlements growing 23: 

Seymour, Norman (Mount Morris) 794 

Sga-his-ga-aah, orLinia 82 

Sharp Shins 117 

Sho-no-jo-waah-geli, or Mt. Morris 78 
Sleeper, Col. Reuben (Mt. Morris) 794 

Small Pox 240 

Smith, Gerritt 360, 362 

Smyth, General 

Smith, William M. (Caledonia) 652 

" Joseph (Leicester) 737 

" George (Livonia) 763 

in War of 1812 (Li- 
vonia) 764 

South Avon (.\von) 624 

Soldiers of War of 1812 (Conesus)... 704 

South Lima (Lima) 721 

Soutlnvorth, Alvah (Springwater) ... 871 

Sparta 1004 

Sparta in 1798 258 

Spencerport 958 

Springwater 867 

Squakie Hill 73 

Festival 50 

" (Mount Morris) 788 

Squaw Life 45 

Squires, Dr. George W 619 

Squires, Dr. Wm. P 611 

State Fish Hatchery (Caledonia).... 653 

Stump Pulling (Ossian) 782 

Stanley, Jesse (Mount Morris) 793 

Stage Lines 234, 241, 321, 331, 367 

State Road Improvement 263 

Stevenson, James 130 

Straight Back 109 

Strasenburgh, Dr. Frederick A 619 

Sullivan Expedition 22, 138 

" General 156 



•723. 



Sullivan, His return 

His army congratulated... 

Sullivan's .\rmy (Conesus) 

Superstitions, Indian 24 

Supervisors — See Various Town 
Sketches 

Sympathy for the Greeks 

Taintor, Dr. Solomon 

Tall Chief 

Talleyrand's Visit 

Taverns 

Tea Party 

Thompson, Maj . Isaiah (Avon) 

Tliatcher, Rev. Daniel 

Tliayer murder 

Thirtieth Congressional District 

Tide of Immigration 

Tommy Infant 

Towns, Seneca 

Trade with Indians 

Trails, Indian 

Transportation 273, 305, 322, 

Treaties 

Trimmer, Dr. Will S 

Tuscarora Tract (Nunda) 

VanCampen, Major Moses (North 

Dansville) 

Victor, Battle near, 1687 

Wadsvvorth, Charles F note 

Wadsworth, Craig W note 

Wadsworth, Craig W., Jr 

Wadsvvorth , James 

Wadsworth, James ,S 428, 

Wadsworth, James W 521, 

Wadswortli, James W. , Jr 

Wadsworth, Jeremiah 

Wadsworth, William 226 

Wadsworth, William A 

Wadsworth Land Purchase 

Wadsworth Land Sale 

Wadsworth Guard 408, 

War Methods, Indian 

" Plots 

'■ of 1812 

War Refugees 

" of the Rebellion 

" Bounties from County 

War ot i8t2 (Caledonia) 

Water Works (Caledonia) 

Water Lots ( Conesus) 

Warner Family (Lima) 

Walkins, Adoiphus (Lima) 

Water Rights' Litigation (Livonia) 

Walbridge, Orson (Springwater) 

Washington to Sullivan 

Wayne's Expedition 



177 

177 

706 

90 



333 
616 
107 

239 

724 

259 

625 

249 
526 
358 
299 
117 

65 
45 
54 
327 
738 
619 
888 

832 
89 

534 
534 
534 
226 

499 
525 
535 
227 

2S3 
534 
229 
277 
428 
39 
243 
283 
293 
425 
498 
655 
654 
719 
722 

723 
768 
870 
150 
245 



12 



INDEX 



West Sparta 875 

Western Door of Long House 80 

Wheat Carried to Albany 266 

Whallev, John P. (Avon) 628 

White, 'William M. (Ossian) 783 

Wicker, Dr. Frederick A 614 

Williamsburgh 257, 938, 946 

" Fair and Races 239 

Williamson, Capt. Charles 181, 250, 254 

Wilson hung for murder 501 

Wiley, John iSpringwater) 869 

Wiard, Thomas (Avon) 627 

Williamson, Capt. Charles (Caledo- 
nia) 646 

Williamson, Capt. Charles (North 

Dansville) 832 



Williams, Col. George (Portage).... 858 
Witliington Family (Springwater).. 870 

Wolves troublesome (Conesus) 708 

Wolves (Ossian) 782 

and Thistles (Nunda) 891 

Woodruff, Solomon (Livonia) 761 

Woodruff, Philip (Livonia) 763 

Ya-go-wa-ne-a 32 

Young, John, Governor 398 

U. S. Treasurer 405 

(Conesus) 705 

York 900 

York Landing 91.5 

York, Streams of 922 

York Volunteers, War of 1S12 913 



INDEX— PART II. 



Acker, Francis M 30 

Adams, George B. portrait facing . 50 

Adams, John H ." . . 48 

Adams, Sireno F 122 

Allen, M. P 38 

Alverson, Frank J 104 

Anderson, James D 43 

Annin, Jr., James 85 

Armsted, Cynes H 39 

Arnold. Norman C 60 

Atlierton, Charles 8 

Atwell, George \V 117 

Austin, Charles 91 

Averill, Henr\- E 70 

Baker, Alonzo D 75 

Baker, Monroe D 81 

Barber, Aaron 67 

Baylor, William 49 

Beuerlein, Barney 91 

Beuerlein, Jr. . Frederick 40 

Bigelow, Edward Everett 5 

Bingham, Charles L 135 

Bishop, William W 32 

Bonner, Frank C 65 

Bonner, Samuel 42 

Bradley, Michael C 98 

Bradner, familv 11:5 

Brinkerhoff, Fred T 87 

Bunnell, A. 132 

Cameron, DeLancey .\ 68 

Chamoerlain, Harlem G loi 

Clark, Oliver D 98 

Clark, Thomas 96 

Coffee, John D 124 

Cogswell, William 108 

Covert, Nathaniel P 97 

Crane, Scott W 114 

Crofoot, Fred H 46 

Crosier, Otis L 84 

Crouse, James H 27 

Ciilley, Fred A 12 

Curtis, Henry B 74 

Daley, Frederick E 36 

Delehanty, Timotli\ 70 

Dick, William 114 

Donohue, Joseph D 49 

Donovan, John F 90 

Dover, George D 76 



•^Dotv, Everett 100 

Eddy, Allen S 45 

Ewart, George S 21 

Famum, William H 47 

Faulkner, familv 15 

Feley, Milton .' 46 

Fenno, Willis \V 50 

F'ielder, Frank 103 

Fitch, John 92 

Foley, D 114 

Frazer, James B 83 

Gamble, Charles W 106 

Gamble, Murray L 7 

Gooding, William S 25 

Gore, Michael E 42 

Gregory, Walter F 116 

Griffin, James 5 

Grimes, Frank H 45 

Hagadorn, Dr. Levi 79 

Hill, Truman A 93 

Hitchcock, Solomon 22 

Holford, Fred D 63 

Hovev, Frank E 69 

Hubbard, Henry E 118 

Hughes, John H 102 

Hunt, Frederick Bancroft 10 

Hunt, William W 72 

Jones, Benjamin E 88 

Jones, Richard M 94 

Keisler, Mrs. Margaret Maloy ... 76 

Kellv, Charles J. '. '. ... 112 

Kersimer Peter W 112 

Killip, William W 37 

Killip, William W. portrait facing, 37 

King, A. J 47 

Kittredge, Rev. Josiah Edwards . . 58 

Knapp, Isaac B 71 

Kramer, Willia-u 107 

Lewis, Joseph D 80 

Light, Emme 82 

Linsley, Martin F 39 

Lockington, James E 102 

Lvude, Charles S 81 

McGee, Frank Paret ii.S 

Markliam, William Guy 95 

Martin, Amasa H lo.S 

Martin, .Amasa H. portrait facing . 105 

Marvin, Hyde D 77 



INDEX 



14 



Maxwell, Williaui J 2^ 

McCurdv, Andrew 119 

McKay ,'h. Ro>> 57 

McLaughlin, Hilward J 83 

McLeotl, William ^^ 

McMalian, William W 36 

McNair, family 3 

McVicar, John M loi 

Meacham, Charles 64 

Menzie, David 32 

Merry, Edgar 78 

Miller, Garret S 09 

Mills, Dr. Charles J 83 

Mills, Myron H 137 

Mills. Myron H., portrait facin;^ . 137 

Morris, Charles F 118 

Morton, James H 57 

Moses, Grant E 67 

Moses, Lewis H 13 

Moses, R. H bb 

Murray, John Rogers 130 

Nash, Enos A 30 

Newton. Aurora D 11 

Nickersou, John O. • 24 

Noonan, Maurice 20 

Northrop, George C 29 

Northrop, George C, portrait facing 29 

Norton, William Henry 19 

O' Conner, Lewis C 108 

Olmstead, Theodore F 88 

Olp, Albert C 115 

Osborne, Edwin B 86 

Peck , Roy .\ 71 

I'ickard, Jay C 9 

I'iffard, David Halsey 17 

I'ilt, William D 77 

Prnpliet, John M 95 

Randolph, Willis J. ...... 31 

Rcdb.iiid, Frank 74 

Robinson, William Y 90 

Rockfellow, S. L 136 

Rogers, A. H 9 

Root, Charles H 64 



Russell, Daniel F 38 

Russell, Thomas 42 

Schanck, Willard I' 98 

Schmitz, Herbert 104 

Seymour, Norman 125 

Seymour, Norman, portrait facing 125 

Sherman, Walter H 28 

Short, S. Truman 44 

Sbultz, Warren D 72 

Steele, Prot . L. N lob 

Steele, Timothy C : . . . . 89 

Stephenson, Thomas V 73 

Stewart, Neil 13 

Stone, Truman Lewis 50 

Stroble, Charles N 40 

Swan, William H 74 

Swartz, Charles H 18 

Tliomson, .Adelliert L s6 

Vanderbelt, John O S6 

Van Valkenburg, Alfreil L 105 

Walker, Foster \V 41 

Ward, tamilv 109 

Warford, L. 'W 40 

Wasson, .Arcliibalil 87 

Weed, William J 33 

Welch, Richard R 24 

West, Lovette V 99 

Wheelock, Austin W 54 

White, John L lOO 

Wliitcman, Mrs. Rebecca E 124 

Whitmore, William 

Wiard, Frederick H 78 

Wilcox, Harvev W 8 

Wiilard, Dr. Charles C S3 

Willis, William N 15 

Wilner, Fred M 35 

Winu;.ite, Charles W 93 

Witt. John C 89 

Woodruff, Edward B 6 

Woodruff Oscar 26 

W'oodworth, family 62 

Wooiever, Charles W 109 

Worden, Charles A 123 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Upper Kall> of Genesee showing 

Portage Bridge iS 

Cnsick's Monster 29 

Middle Falls of Genesee 39 

Fouchot's Map . 57 

Ancient Earth-works in Livonia... 60 
Site ot Fortified Town near Bosley's 

Mills 62 

Diinsville Fortification 63' 

Site of Tnscarora Burial-place 70 

Site ol Big Tree V'illage and Mon- 
tour's (irave 71 

ludim Applf" Tree on Big Tree 

Reservation 72 

Indian Apple Tree on Sqnakie Hill 74 
Red Jacket's Hut and Residence of 

Captain Jones 95 

Mary Jemison Apple Trees in Lei- 
cester 123 

Mary Jemison Monument at Glen 

Iris 128 

Portrait of Thomas Jemison 131 

Log House built l)y Thomas Jemison 132 

Portrait of Kenjockety 135 

Map showing Sullivan's Route and 

Groveland Ambuscade 164 

Sullivan's Route traced on Soldier's 

powder horn 164 

Scene on west shore of Conesus 
Lake, showing Route of Boyd 

Scouting Part}- 166 

Tradition has made this Oak near 
the Boyd and Parker mound 
one of the instruments of Boyd's 

torture 172 

Burial Mound of Boyd and Parker, 
showing where the creek has 

cut it away 175 

Boyd and Parker Mound, looking 

from the west 177 

Map of Phelps and Gorham Pur- 
chase 179 

Augustus Porter Survey of Phelps 

and Gorham Purchase — 1792. . . . 185 

Portrait of Robert Morris 186 

Map of Holland Land Company's 

Preliniina-y Survey, 1797 189 



Cobblestone House — Site of Wads- 
worth dwelling occupied by 
Commissioners and others at 

Big Tree Treat}' 197 

The Pole marks probable site of the 
Council House at Big Tree 

Treaty 198 

Sketch from part of Josepii Elli- 

cott's map of 1800 220 

Portrait of Gouverneur Morris 222 

Portrait of Jeremiah Wadsworth 227 

Map of Williamsburgh 246 

Portrait of Major General Wads- 
worth ... 284 

Cobldestone District School House, 

Geneseo 316 

Old Livingston Countv Court House, 

Clerk's Office and Jail 318 

Programme of Canal Celebration at 

Nunda 324 

Announcement of Celebration of 

Completion of Canal 327 

Genesee Valley Canal Time Talile. . 328 
Livingston County High School... 330 

Genesee Lauds for Sale 334 

Portrait of Judge Charles H. Carroll 339 
Scalping Knife, A.xe anil Bullet 
Moulds dug up at Scene of 

Groveland .-imbuscade 370 

Monument to Sullivan's Men killed 

in Groveland Ambuscade 382 

Graves of Sullivan's Men at Mt. 

Hope Cemetery, Rociiester. . . 387 
Williamsburgh Cemeter} — Monu- 
ments of James G. Birney and 

Judge Carroll 395 

Portrait of Governor John Young.. 398 
Portrait of Brig. Gen'l James S. 

Wadsworth 428 

Camp I'nion Geneseo 429 

Picture of old Portage Bridge, from 

Compton's litographic print 511 

Picture of old Portage Bridge, from 

photograph by a London artist.. 514 
Log Cabin and Group of Members 
of Hist'l Soci'y in attendance 
at deilication ceremonies 516 



If, 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Livingston County Jail ami Sher- 
iff';; Residence 527 

Henry Clay 529 

Livingston County Court House.... 533 

Old County News papers 539 

OKI County News papers 540 

Old Caneadea Council House at 

(ilen Iris 556 

Group of Notables at Last Council 

of the Genesee 562 

I'ortrait of William Pryor Letch- 
worth 575 

Indian Mound unearthed at Stjua- 

kie Hill 590 

Pipe and Beads touml in Indian 

Mound at Squakie Hill 592 

Portrait of Lockvvoocl R. Dotv 596 

The M . F. H '. 602 

A Meet at .\shantee 604 

A Meet in the Karly Days of the 

Hunt Clul) '. 606 

The M. F. H. at the Hotuestead 

with the Pack 608 

Major \V. A. Wadsworth, M. F. H., 

and Hounds 610 

Finding the Scent 610 

First U. P. Church, Caledonia 658 

Moscow .'Xcadeniv 739 

Old Mill Wheel'at outlet of Cone- 

sus Lake, Lakeville 779 

Memorial Monument to Dr. M. H. 

Mills 793 



Portrait of William A. Mills 

Old View of Mt. Morris V'illage, 
Western part 

Portrait of Nathaniel Rochester. . . . 

Portrait of Moses VanCanipen 

Main Street, East Side, Dansville, 
1830 

Packet Boat Time Table 

Scene on Canal at Comminsville . . . 

Dansville High School 

Original Water Cure at Dansville... 

Portrait of Dr. James Caleb Jackson 

Jackson Health Resort — Main 
Building. . 

Dr. James H. Jackson and Jackson 
Health Resort 

Owen Publishing Co. Plant 

St. Patrick's Church, Dansville.... 

First German Lutheran Cburc'j, 
Dansville 

Methodist Church, Dansville 

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Dans- 
ville 

Baptist Church, Dansville 

Bridge between Geneseo and York.. 

William Dotv's Inn 

Hotel at Willianisburgh 

Old Picture of (^eneseo Village — 
Looking north on Maiti Street, 
Court House in distance; Wads- 
worth homestead in foreground 

Portrait of L. L. Dotv 



805 

817 
828 
832 

835 
837 
837 
839 
840 
840 

841 

842 
844 
847 

849 
851 

853 
855 
900 

93b 
938 



965 
975 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 17 



M" 



CHAPTER I. 

IDWAY between lake Ontario and the Pennsylvania border, 
and centrally between Seneca lake and the Niagara river, in 
the heart of the fertile region known as the Genesee country, 
lies the beautiful agricultural County of Livingston. 

Watered by the chief river of Western New York, whose broad 
deep basin forms the widely famed valley that bears the river's 
name, and furrowed by a tributary whose extent is mainly within the 
county, its surface — also indented by two picturesque lakes — -presents a 
topography of diversified outline; the bold acclivities of the river high- 
lands rising with grand effect in the southwestern border, and offering 
fine contrast to the less striking rural scenery. 

The boundaries of the county, defined by statute more than by nat- 
ural limits, are, nevertheless, marked in their general contour, e.xcept 
at the north, by an elliptical rim, consisting of continuous ridges of 
hills, which, converging at the south, form a noble amphitheatre, in 
whose bosom nestles the most populous, though in geographical e.vtent 
the smallest township of the shire; while from fruitful valleys, watered 
by a hundred rivulets that seam its sides, the central township rises 
like a vast mound to the height of full three hundred feet. "^ While the 
configurations are quite varied, every part of the territory is, with rare 
exceptions, adapted to tillage; and not only are the leading physical 
features attractive to the eye, but the organic remains, and peculiar 
geological formation of the section, open to the student of nature's 
works a field of no ordinary interest. 

The Genesee river, which cuts the county into unequal parts, breaks 
through the mountain-like barrier at the southwest, and, flowing with 
its deep channel, for ten miles or more along the western border, at 
length enters Livingston county, foaming over a succession of catar- 
acts. Sweeping northward between high and precipitous banks, for a 
dozen miles, amid scenery of great variety, its waters abruptly leave 
the narrow chasm worn by centuries of attrition, to glide through this 

I. The town of Groveland. Dausville lies within the amphitheatre of hills. 



18 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

"Pleasant Valley," as, long ago, the red man named it. Embowered 
in grpves, or studded with stately elms and oaks, that grow upon its 
grassy margins, the river loiters for mile on mile, drifting from side to 
side of the rich and smiling landscape, whose broad expanse of grain- 
field and meadow, dotted with country homes, spreads like a vast park 
over the wide alluvial flat or plain known as the Genesee Valley, until 
reaching the northwesterly border, its channel crosses into Monroe 
county. In pioneer days this was the market highway for products of 
the lumber forest and the farm; but now that the woods which lined 
its terraced slopes for leagues on either side are cut down, a thousand 
little streams that fed it from the wilderness have disappeared ; and 
to-day the "river runs with narrnwed hounds," and with few or pre- 
carious facilities for internal commerce, even if the railway did 
not afford more speedy and certain modes of transit. 

Canaseraga creek, the river's principal branch, and in former times, 
•doubtless, its continuation from the point of confluence, is a sluggish, 
sinuous stream, having its source in Steuben county. Flowing in at 
the southwesterly quarter, it trends northwardly through a flat several 
hundred yards in width, its turbid waters entering the river near the 
center of the county. The summits of the two ranges of hills nearly 
uniform in height, that mark its course, stretch miles away from each 
other, and, with the river valley, form a Y shaped indentation; the 
creek giving the right arm, and the river the stem and left arm. 

Conesus lake is situated in the interior of the county; and Hemlock 
•lake lies partly within and along its eastern border. The dark waters 
and precipitous shores of the latter, in whose solitary nooks more than 
one hermit is said to have found a retreat in early days, give it much 
of the character of the lakes of Scotland; while the less marked eleva- 
tions that hem in the waters of the Conesus, fringed as they are and 
•diversified with cultivated farms, constitute it one of the most 
agreeable of rural pictures. Romance, loo, has lent her charms to the 
shores and waters of this lake;i and near its head, in Revolutionary 
times, encamped the colonial army under Sullivan; while within rifle 
shot of its banks was enacted the bloody episode of that enterprise, the 
fatal ambuscade laid by the Senecas for Boyd's scouting partv. 

1. Its story of love aud war has been woven into ]>oetic numbers by Hosnier, who has fixed the 
scene of a portion of his yoitnondio on the western slujre of the Couesns, in ver^e as a])plicat>te to 
its native tlienic as that of .Sir Waller Scott, in " Marniion," or tlie " Lady of tiie Lake." 




The Upper Falls at Portage, from Mr. Letchworth's grounds. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY V) 

In extent of territory the county does not rank among the larger 
ones of the state, but stands scarcely second to any in productive 
wealth; its wheat crop — unsurpassed in quality — once constituting a 
fifth of all that grown in the commonwealth. And if its annals do not 
cover so broad a page as older counties may boast, they yet embrace 
no little belonging to history, while its Indian traditions, especially, 
add value to our country's aboriginal lore. 

To certain localities, though by far too few, we shall find yet 
clinging the Indian names, often disguised, but not wholly lost, thus 
fixing the sites of ancient aboriginal villages. For it must be recol- 
lected that during many ages this region, in the expressive language of 
the natives, formed the Upper or Western door of the typical Long 
House or Federation of the Five Nations of Indians, and, for genera- 
tions unnumbered, comprised the favorite hunting grounds of the 
principal villages of the Senecas, the most powerful and warlike of the 
tribes forming the great Iroquois League. At just what period the 
solitude of the noble forest, which had covered this territory from the 
beginning of time, was invaded by these children of nature, cannot now 
be determined; but, the region once known, its rare natural advantages 
were fitted to attract and retain a people whose strength could preserve 
to them its permanent occupancy. Indeed, their traditions, often 
more extravagant than an oriental tale, declare that the Senecas estab- 
lished their homes here at a date more remote than our own Christian 
era. What people preceded them is a question left wholly to conjec- 
ture, since all authentic history of this region must begin with the 
arrival of the Dutch in New York, early in the seventeenth century. 
Prior to the settlement of Manhattan island, nothing was definitely 
known by Europeans of the Senecas as a separate nation; and not until 
the period of the Jesuit mfssions among this aboriginal family, two 
hundred and fifty years ago, was there any precise information gath- 
ered relative to their position in the League. 

Though reliable annals extend over two centuries and a half, it is 
with a period beginning near the close of the eighteenth century that 
this work will mainly deal. Step by step, after the Revolution, as 
settlements increased, will the fortunes of the pioneers and their 
descendants be followed. Nor can the history be complete without a 
brief portrayal of their customs and merry makings, as well as the 
hardships and enterprises of that early day, with some account of their 



20 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

journeyings hitherward, along unbeaten roads, over extemporized 
bridges, and through shifting fords, while yet a great wilderness lay 
between their new homes and the eastern settlements. The habits of 
every day life will be introduced, and something of political reminis- 
cences, of militia musters and general trainings, not omitting reference 
to educational, and to moral and religious mo\ements of early da\s. 
It is not the province of the simple chronicler to enter the domain of 
sentiment, or invoke the imagery with which fancy vivifies the PasJ ; 
and yet a glimpse of matters of ordinary experience, even but a life's 
span ago, reveals something of the golden haze of perspective, investing 
them with more than every day interest. It is the change, measured 
by the march of steam and electricity, that already softens the last 
generation but one into comparative remoteness, awakening tender 
associations in our minds at the mention of the old fashioned fire place, 
heaped with glowing logs, that cheered long winter evenings with its 
warmth and welcome. Deep rooted were the friendships formed about 
its ample hearth-stone, and they grew dearer with each passing year to 
the coimty's wandering children. The log house has disappeared, but 
how often come back the happy memories of its homely comfort, and 
what household traditions cluster around it that must be quite unknown 
to more modern and far richer mansions. Every season of the old 
time counted its joys. How we cherish the recollection of rainy days 
spent in the pine scented family garret, among smoke brown letters 
and forgotten newspapers, and manifoUi odds and ends, in broken chest 
and homespun tow bag. The great masters of harmony never arranged 
music so grateful as the sound of autumn rain pattering upon the low 
browed cottage roof, lulling the senses to sleep with its monot(mous 
melody. And the glory of the already ancient stage coach, so impos- 
ing in its entry, as driver and four-in-hand, in full career, dashed up 
to the tavern door, is gone with the last echo of the shrill post horn. 
The spinning wheel forgets its hum, and the flail has disappeared with 
the log barn and straw thatched shed. Many are the changes of a 
single life time; but if we miss the picturesque, we find the loss 
replaced by gain, in broader privileges and wider opportunities. 

A step beyond the actual, and we enter the domain of popular cred- 
ulity. A century ago the notions of our forefathers, in common with 
their generation, were tinged with that superstition which credits the 
existence of a race of supernatural beings peopling the recesses of for- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 21 

ests; of witches who haunted those persons whom their capricious 
natures led them to annoy; or who, gipsy like, told fortunes, made and 
dissolved matches, interfered with household affairs, and discovered 
stolen property. Omens, too, were observed, dreams were not 
unheeded, and many a farmer plowed, planted and gathered, according 
to the aspects of the moon, while few domestic animals were held as 
free from direct planetary influences. 

A view of the Genesee country, prior to its occupancy by the whites, 
will be found interesting. Little enough is, indeed, known, and even 
that little, derived mainly from tradition, is obscured by the uncer- 
tainties that characterize Indian legends, especially in dates; but wholly 
to reject the account would be to drive an inquirer to mere specula- 
tion, whose conclusions must, at least, be equally wide of truth. 
Sketches of the more noted warriors, sachems and wise men who have 
resided here, and an outline of their relentless feuds, with some refer- 
ence to the statecraft and sagacity of the Indians, will be presented. 
The aboriginal natives, in their myths, peopled many parts of the vast 
wilderness stretching westw^ard far beyond the Mississippi, and east- 
ward to the ocean, with strange monsters, and their stories of this 
region are replete with accounts of winged heads, the feats of prodi- 
gious serpents, and the calamitous visits of giants, unearthly in size 
and formidable in power, who came eastward from the regions of the 
setting sun. 

Our account will not be wanting in the interest that attaches to 
aboriginal antiquities; for the remains of several ancient mounds of 
undoubted military origin, links in that chain of ancient defensive 
works which extended from the shores of Lake Erie to the lakes of 
central New York, have been found here. Natural history, too, has 
been illustrated by the discovery, in two or three places within the 
county, of the remains of that huge fossil animal known as the 
mastodon. 

We shall note how the French, in Canada, obtaining their earliest 
knowledge of this section from the Jesuit missionaries, endeavored to 
get possession of it; and how^ a formidable expedition, under the Mar- 
quis De Nonville, dispatched hither with the design of conquest, mis- 
carried, as did all similar efforts of the French. The Jesuit mission- 
aries, first among Europeans to seek these wilds, established missions 
in the neighborhood of the Genesee river, nurturing them in that spirit 



22 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of self sacrifice peculiar to their order, with the hope of plantinj^ here 
the standard of their faith, and enlarging the jurisdiction of the Rom- 
ish See. But these efforts proved abortive, tor here, as elsewhere in 
the New World, their creed found no permanent lodgment. From the 
letters of these religionists to the general of their order in Rome, we 
catch definite views, during the period embraced between the years 
1636 and 1637, of the homes of the Senecas. Thenceforward, nearly a 
hundred years, this region affords little to arrest the historian; but 
afterwards something like a connected account will be possible. 

The expedition of General Sullivan to the country of the Senecas, in 
the fifth year of the Revolutionary war, was charged by Washington 
with the destruction of the Indian villages on the Genesee, as a penalty 
for a long series of bloody wrongs perpetrated by the savages upon the 
whites. As a measure of future security to the settlements, it fully 
accomplished its object; this attained, red men and white alike briefly 
quit the region; the fcrmer, save as a broken remnant, never to return. 

Reference will be made to the part taken by our citizens in the war 
of 1812; and to the reasons which, a few years later, controlled them 
in asking for the erection of the county ; an event that occurred at a 
period of great derangement in the public finances, when communities 
were suffering from the effects of the unwise monetary policy of our 
second war with Great Britain. 

Several of Sullivan's officers and soldiers, allured by the natural ad- 
vantages of this region, led hither, soon after the Revolution, a tide of 
immigration to occupy the district then so recently wrested from the 
conquered tribes. The settlement grew with unexampled rapidity. 
The forests disappeared as though devoured, giving place to cultivated 
fields and incipient villages, and before the nineteenth century opened, 
the smoke of the pioneers' cabins might be seen drifting over widely 
separated valleys and hillsides. In order to show whence the early 
settlers mainly came, the origin of families will be tractd, where prac- 
ticable, and the fact will everywhere appear that, to a marked degree, our 
pioneers were actors in the war for independence, and were mingled with 
families of refinement and culture from the south and east, who early 
stereotyped the features of society here, and lent elevation to the aims 
of enterprise. Wholesome influences, thus early iiu|)arted, still operate 
with augmenting force. The people of this county have always been 
zealous patrons of education, foremost among the friends of i>olitical and 




Lower Falls of the Genesee at Portage, from Mr, Letchworth's groun is. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 23 

intellectual advancement, and staunch supporters of the moral and 
religious movements of the century, and of their patriotism, that rich 
fruit of all virtues, the record of the great rebellion affords a thousand 
evidences. 

Biographical sketches also claim their place in this work; since 
actors in historic events, and men who have enjoyed the highest honors 
of the state and nation, as well as those of less note who impressed their 
individuality upf;n the times, have lived here, or, dying, have left their 
mortal frames to rest in oiir green and quiet churchyards. 



24 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER II 

THE SENECA nation of Indians were found occupying the 
region between the Genesee river and Cayuga lake, when it 
first became known to the whites. * At what period their 
abode became fixed here is a question not easily solved, since it is to 
incidental facts and traditions we are to look for light u])i)n this sub- 
ject, and these afford but uncertain data. 

The country betw'een the Genesee and tlie Niagara rivers, when 
first visited by Europeans, was nominally held by the Kah-kwas, or 
Neutral Nation of Indians, though their villages were situated mainly 
along the latter river and extended nearly to the eastern shores of 
lake Huron; their hunting grounds, however, included, as they 
claimed, the broad belt of debatable land that lay along the Genesee. 
In this doubtful frontier inroads were frequently made by the Senecas, 
and conflicts between those two hostile tribes often took place. Soon 
after our knowledge of them begins, the Kah-kwas, as we shall see, 
were conquered by the Senecas, and were either driven southward or 
exterminated. 

At the opening of the Revolutionary war, a small band of < )neidas 
and also a band of Tuscaroras, adhering to the British cause, — though 
.these two tribes mainly espoused the Colonial side, — left their eastern 
villages and removed to the Genesee, where each established a town; 
and a few of the Kah-kwas, descendants of those who had been adopted 
into the Seneca nation when their tribal organization was broken up, 
were found residing with the latter by the pioneers. 

Of the races that preceded the Senecas and Kah-kwas we have little 
information, and even that little is derived mainly from k)cal antiqui- 
ties. This evidence, fragmentary at best, shows that in the far off 
past nations unlike the red aborigines have arisen, flourished here, and 

I The Dutch arrived at New York in 1609, aud soon acqtiired some kiiowledjje of theW'esteru 
Indians, anioug others of tlie Xun-do-waho-tio, to whom tliey gave the name of Senecas: but so 
unsettled wa.s the orthography of the latter word, that the Colonial docnmcnts of our State give 
it in no less than 63 differeut ways. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 25 

disappeared. The story is one of missing links and replete with 
mystery. Morgan says that the remains of Indian art here met with 
are of two kinds, and ascribable to widely different periods. The 
former belong to the ante-Columbian, or era of Mound Builders, w^hose 
defensive works, mounds c)r sacred enclosures are scattered so profusely 
throughout the west; the latter include the remains of fugitive races 
who, after the extermination of the Mound Builders, displaced each 
other in quick succession, until the period of the Iroquois commenced. ' 

The Senecas, first known to the whites as a part of the Five Nations, 
have a history of their own, independent of their connection with their 
associate nations, and, consequently, earlier than the Leagne of the 
Iroquois. This fact is found in certain special features of their system 
of consanguinity and affinity, wherein they differ from the ^lohawks, 
Onondagas, Oneidas and Cayugas, and in which they agree with the 
Tuscaroras and Wyandots, or ancient Ilurons, tending to show that 
they and the two latter formed one people later in time than the 
separation of the nations from the common stem.- It is most likely, 
however, that the Senecas were then north of the chain of lakes. 

The Iroquois called themselves Ho-de-no-sau-nee, or People of the 
Long House. Their League, formed about the year 1450, ^ embraced 
at first the Mohawks, Oneidas, ( )iiondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. 
Afterwards the Tuscaroras were admitted into the federation, con- 
stituting the sixth nation.-* Their territory then extended from the 
Hudson to the Genesee river. 



1. It -nas the opiuiou of Governor DeWitt Clintou, that previous to the oecupatiou of this 
region by the progenitors of the Iroqnois, it was inhabited by a race of men much more populous 
and much further advanced in civilization than they. Marshall, however, whose judgment is en- 
titled to great weight, is not satisfied with the evidence so far produced of the existence in this 
vicinity of a race preceding the Indian. He thinks the ancient fortifications, tumuli and artifi- 
cial structures that abound in Western New York, can all be referred to a more modern race than 
the Mound-Builders. 

2. The Seneca child belongs to the mother's tribe, not to the father's. If the mother is of the 
clan of the Heron, her children also are Herons, and they call not only their female parent, 
mother, but likewise call her sisters mother, either "great" or "little" mother, as the sisters 
chance to be older or younger than the real mother. 

3. The Five Nations were called MaQiias by the Dutch; Iroqnois by the French; Mingis and Con- 
federates by the English. They were sometimes called Afianuscltioni, or People of the Long Cabin. 

4. Of these, the Mohawks, Onoudagas and Senecas are called Fathers: the Cayugas and Oneidas 
are called Sons, and in great councils are always thus respectively addressed. 



26 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUXTV 

Their legends say that the League was advised by Hiawatiia, the 
tutelar patron of the Iroquois, on the occasion of a threatened invasion 
of their country by a ferocious band ot warriors from north of the 
great lakes. Ruin seemed inevitable, and in their extremity they 
appealed to Hiawatha. He urged the people to waste their efforts no 
longer in a desultory war, but to call a general council of the tribes. 
The meeting accordingly took place on the northern bank of Onondaga 
lake. Here, referring to the pressing danger, Hiawatha said: "To 
oppose these northern hordes singly by tribes, often at variance with 
each other, is idle; but by uniting in a band of brotherhood, we may 
hope to succeed." Appealing to the tribes in turn, he said lo the 
Senecas: "You, who live in the open country and possess much wisdom 
shall be the fifth nation, because you best understand the art of raising 
corn and beans and making cabins." Then addressing all, he con- 
cluded: "Unite the five nations in a common interest, and no foe 
shall disturb or subdue us; the Great Spirit will then smile upon us, 
and we shall be free, prosperous and happy. But if we remain as now, 
we shall be subject to his frown; we shall be enslaved, perhaps annihi- 
lated, our warriors will perish in the war storm, and our names be for- 
gotten in the dance and song." His advice prevailed, and the plan of 
union was adopted. His great mission on earth accomplished, Hiawa- 
tha went down to the water, seated himself in his mystic canoe, and, 
to the cadence of music from an tuTseen source, was wafted to the 
skies. ' 

The Irocjuoisowe their origin as a separate people, if not indeed their 
martial glory, to the encroachments of a neighboring nation more 
powerful than they. Originally inclined to tillage more than to arms, 
they resided upon the northern bank of the St. Lawrence, in the 
vicinity of ^lontreal. Here, as one nation, they lived in subjection to 
the Adirondacks. But provoked by some infringement of rights, their 
latent spirit was aroused, and they struck for independent possession 
of the country. Failing in this, they were forced to quit Canada, and 

1. l,ougfeUow lays the scene of his beautiful Indian Kdda, Tlie Song of Hiawatha, among the 
Ojibways, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, in the region between the Pictured Rocks and 
the CJrand Sable. In this poem the great hard has preserved the traditions prevalent among llie 
North .'American Indians respecting this "child of wonder." 

Street, in his noble epic of Frotitrtiac, has preserved, especially in the notes, no little of inter- 
est connected with Hiawatha, whom he makes a mute commuuicatiug with the tribes by signs 
through a fellow-spirit. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 27 

finally found Iheir way into central and western New York, where, on 
the banks of its fair lakes and rivers, they at length laid the founda- 
tions of a power compared with which tiiat of every other Indian 
nation falls far short. 

It is said that the Iroquois had planned a mighty confederacy, and 
it is argued with reason, that had the arrival of the Europeans been 
delayed a century, the League would have absorbed all the tribes 
between the St. Lawrence and the Gulf of ilexico; indeed, the whole 
continent would have been at their mercy. 

In principle the League was not unlike the plan of our own federal 
government. It guaranteed the independence of each tribe, while 
recognizing the due powers of the Confederation; at the same time 
personal rights were held in especial esteem. The aboriginal congress 
consisted of fifty sachems, of whom the Senecas had eight. This body 
usually met at the council house of the Onondagas, the central nation, 
where all questions affecting the confederacy were deliberated upon 
and decided. The business of this rude parliament was conducted with 
becoming dignity. The reason and judgment of these grave sachems, 
rather than their passions, were appealed to; and it is said to have 
been a breach of decorum for a sachem in the great council to reply to 
a speech on the day of its delivery. Unanimity was a requisite; 
indeed, no question could be decided without the concurrence of every 
member. The authority of these wise men consisted in the nation's 
good opinion of their courage, wisdom and integrity. They served 
without badge of office, and without pay, finding their reward alone in 
the veneration of their people, whose interests they unceasingly 
watched. Indeed, public opinion nowhere exercised a more powerful 
influence than among the Iroquois, whose ablest men shared with the 
humblest in the common dread of the people's frown. 

Subordinate to the sachems was an order of chiefs famous for cour- 
age and eloquence, among whom may be named Red Jacket, ^ Corn- 
planter and Big Kettle, whose reasoning moved the councils, or whose 
burnini; words hurried the braves on to the war path. No trait of the 
Iroquois is more to be commended than the regard they paid to woman. 
The sex were often represented in councils by orators known as squaws' 
men. Red Jacket himself won no little reputation in that capacity. 

I. See appendix No. i for a statement of Red Jacket's status in the tribe and au account by 
General Parker of political and social relations in the tribes or clans making up the League. 



28 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTON COUNTY 

The Indian women could thus oppose a war, or aid in bringing about 
peace. In the sale of the soil they claimed a special right to interfere, 
for, they urged, "the land belongs to the warriors who defend, and to 
the women who till it." The Iroquois squaw I^ored in the field, but 
so did females, even the daughters of princes, in the primitive ages. 
Rebekah, the mother of Israel, first appears in biblical history as a 
drawer of water; and the sweet and pious Ruth won the l<n-e of the 
rich and powerful Boaz, as a gleaner of the harvest. 

Though broken in power in our Revolutionary war, the Iroquois 
confederacy remained a distinct people long after the eastern and 
southern tribes had lost their standing; yet the excellence of their 
system has served only to delay their complete subversion to the 
whites, and their gradual extinction as a separate people. From sixteen 
thousand souls, they are now reduced to a fourth of that number and 
yet, with a persistency that must gain them at least poetic honors, 
they still preserve their several national divisions and keep intact their 
tribal clans or organizations. ' The end is sure, however, and, sooner 
or later, that marvel of pagan wisdom, the Confederacy of the Five 
Nations, must, even in name, disappear from living institutions. ^ 

Our scanty information about the early occupants of this region, 
forces us to complete the page of aboriginal story from traditions. 
We turn, therefore, to the narrative of the Indian Cusick, and to 
similar sources. •'' In an account thus derived, dates musfbe wholly 
wanting in accuracy. As an instance, Cusick says the final troubles 
between the Senecas and the Eries took place about the time of the 
arrival of Columbus, when in truth they did not occur until a hundred 
and sixty years later. 

We pass over .Cusick's account of the origin of the Great Island 
which we call North America, the fabulous rise of the Indian Con- 
federacy, six centuries before the Christian era, as he says, and other 
portions of the curious recital, and lomc down to the period of the 

1. These clans are, the li'olf. Rear, Beavt-t , Turilt', Vi'fj , Sm'pt-, //t-ion aud /itnck — eight iu all. 
Au Itidian and sqnawof the same clau might not niarrj*. as iu theory they were brother and sister, 
but must seek mates from another clan, though not necessarily of another tribe, than their own. 
Each clau jjossessed its /<'/^'w/ or symbol, which is a rude picture of a hawk, turtle or other ap- 
propriate emblem. 

2. See appendix No. 2 for au account of present conditions among the Senecas. 

3. The narrative, to which we are indebted for data here, is by David Cusick, a Tuscarora Indian, 
whose ancestors came from North Carolina and settled near l.ewistown, N. V. See .Schooler, 
Arch, of .\b<>r. Kuowl.. Vol. V 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



29 



allotment of homes to the tribes. The Senecas were directed to settle 
on a knoll south of Caiiandaigua lake, near the present village of 
Naples. Indeed, some traditions hold that they sprang from this knoll, 
hence their name, Nun'-do-wah'-o, which, in their tongue, signifies the 
Great Hill People. 

An agent of the Superior Power was sent to instruct them in the 
duties of life; seeds were given, with directions for their use, and dogs 
to aid in taking game. Villages sprang up and prosperity abounded, 
but the Divine agent having returned to the heavens, monsters of 
singular forms invaded the country from time to time, and devoured 
many persons. 

The monsters of the Indian were no borrowed prodigies, but the 
creation of his own untutored imagination, or natural beings invested 
by his fancy with supernatural attributes. The Flying Head, a strange 
creature which, their legends say, invaded the homes of the Iroquois 
after night fall, to devour the inmates, until the villagers were com- 
pelled to build huts so fashioned as to exclude it, has no prototype. 
This bodiless hobgoblin, whose features were those of a man with head, 
mane and two hairy legs like the lion's, appears to have had a dread 
of fire, for its disappearance is ascribed to that cause. An old woman, 
parching acorns in her lodge one night, was visited by a Flying Head.'- 
But, on observing the burning fruit which the squaw appeared to be 
eating, the Head sunk into the earth, and with it vanished a legion of 
its fellows, to the great relief of the Indians, who held them in deadly 
fear. 

A great lake serpent traversed the trails from Genesee river to Can- 
andaigua lake, stopping intercourse, and compelling the villages to 
fortify against it. Later came Stonish Giants, a cannibal race from 
beyond the Mississippi, who derived their name from the practice of 
rolling in the earth until their bodies became encrusted witli sand and 
gravel, which rendered them impenetrable to arrows. Warriors 
gathered to drive them away, but they overran the country of the 




I. The engraviug presents Cusick's notion of the 
monster. The drawing is from a copy of the rare 
pamphlet edition of Cnsick's Narrative. The Indian 
name of the (lying head was Ko-neau-ran-neh-ueh. 



30 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Senecas and others, anil destroyed the people ot several towns. The 
Holder of the Heavens now returned. By a stratafijem he induced the 
sciants to enter a deep hollow, and, as they there lay sleeping, he 
hurled down upon iht-m a mass of rocks, which crushed to death all 
save one, who sought asylum in the regions of the north. A snake of 
great size, having a human head, soon after appeared in the principal 
pathway leading eastward frum the sulphur springs at Avon. This 
too, was destroyed bv a band of braves, selected for their [irowess, 
after a conflict, in which was exhibited, if we credit tradition, some- 
thing mnre than umrtal valor. 

A thousand years before the arrival of Columbus, tlie Senecas were 
at war with ihe Kah-kwas. Battle succeeded battle, and the Senecas 
were at length repulsed with severe loss. Tidings of their disaster 
soon reached the great Atotarho, ' a war chief highly venerated by the 
League, whose seat was at Onondaga, and he sent an army to their 
relief. Thus strengthened, they assumed the offensive and drove the 
enemy into their forts, which, at the end of a long siege, were sur- 
rendered and the principal chief put to death. The remnant of the 
tribe became incorporated with that uf the conquerors. The latter 
now established their dominion in the country of the Kah-kwas, and 
for a time, in that remote age, the Senecas held the southern shores 
of lake ()ntario westward to Oak Orchard creek. 

Grave discords ap[)ear to have occurred in the League about this 
period, incited by Atotarho, whose power is symbolized by a body 
covered with black snakes, and whose dishes . and spoons were the 
skulls of enemies. His claim to a first rank among native dignitaries, 
was in the end admitted by the several nations, and the title bwrne by 
him still remains hereditary in the Onondagas. 

Two centuries later, a certain youth living near the original seat of 
the Seneca council fire, while in the bushes one day, caught a two 
headed snake, which he carried to his mother's hut. It was quite 
small, very beautiful, and appeared to be harmless. He fed it on 
bird's flesh, but its growth was so rapid that the hunters had soon to 
unite in supplying its ever increasing appetite. Their supplies, how- 
ever, were not enough to satis^- its voracious cravings, and it took 
to roaming through the forest and down into the lake in quest of food. 
At length it went to the hill top and there became insjiired with ill 

1. Or, more correctU-, perh:ips, To-do-da-ho. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY M 

will toward its early friend, now a warrior. In dismay the young man 
removed to a distant village, and thus escaped the fate that was soon 
to befall his tribesmen. Game grew scarce before the serpent, and 
not only dreading evil from its wicked disposition, but fearing lest it's 
enormous appetite wtjuld reduce the tribe to starvation, the wise men 
resolved, in council, to put the monster to death. The hour of daylight 
one morning was fixed upon for the work. Rut just as day was break- 
ing, so runs the legend, the serpent descended with a great noise to 
the fort wherein the villagers took refuge at night, for securitv from 
a race of giants with whom they were at war. ^ So great had become 
the monster's size, that, after encircling the fortification, its head and 
tail are said to have met at the gate-way, and its huge jaws lay 
disterjded at the very entrance, thus cutting oft' all exit. The inmates 
were paralyzed with fear and did nothing for several days. Finally, 
driven by hunger, and sickened by the fetid odor exhaled from the 
serpent's body, they made efforts to climb over it, but all, save a 
young warrior and his sister, were devtjured in the attempt.'^ The 
young warrior, following the directions given in a dream, succeeded in 
piercing the seri)ent's vitals at a particular spot in the huge body, with 

1. The giauts were called Jo-g^ah-uh. Credit is due to some exteut to John M. Bradford's 
versiou of this tradition. 

2. Hosmer, following Horatio Jones's version of the legend, says the pair whose live*; were 
saved, were lovers : 

"remained at last 

Two lovers only of that mighty throng 

To chant with feeble voice a nation's funeral song. 

* * * 

Ou-wee-ne-you cried. 

Dropping a golden shaft- -and pierce the foe 
Under the rounded scales that wall his side I 

* * * 

Flame-hned aud hissing played its nimble tongue 
Between thick, ghastly rows of pointed bone. 

» * * 

A twanging sound !— aud on its errand sped 
The messenger of vengeance. 

* * * 

Down the steep hill, outstretched aud dead, he rolled 
Disgorging human heads in his descent : 

* * * 

And far the beach with spots of foam besprent. 

When the huge carcass disappeared for aye 

lu depths from whence it rose to curse the beams of day.'' 

GENUNDKWAH 



32 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

a golden arrow delivered to him in a cloud. In its death throes the 
monster plunged down the acclivity, uprooting trees by its weight, and 
disappeared beneath the waters of the lake, its course thitherward 
being marked by a trail cif human heads disgorged at each bound, and, 
for generations afterwards, Indians say, the beach about the spot was 
whitened with skeletons of its victims. The Seneca council tire was 
now removed to a spot near Geneva, and afterwards to a mountain 
ridge west of the Genesee, not unlikely to Squakie Hill, as thought by 
some. 

Four centuries before the advent of Columbus, the Hurons began 
hostilities against the Five Nations. From these, as from all other 
contests with western tribes, the Senecas mainly suffered. In one 
most sanguinary conflict the enemy were repulsed, but at a great 
sacrifice of lives to the Senecas, and runners were hurried out along 
the Genesee for reinforcements. A brief delay followed, when the 
fighting was resumed, the enemy being now routed and driven from 
the field. Though successful in the end, this war forms a bloody 
epoch in the traditions of the Senecas. 

Notwithstanding their ill fortune, the Kah-kwas appear to have 
regained power; for, fifty years later, they once more held the country 
between the Genesee and the Niagara rivers, and were governed by 
a female chief named Ya'-go-wa'-ne-a, whose seat of power was at 
Kienuka, a town situated on a slope of the mountain ridge near the 
present site of Lewiston. In her keeping was the symbolic house of 
peace. She received chiefs of other tribes, formed treaties and 
made alliances. The fiercest strife was hushed in her presence, and 
warriors whose nations were at feud were bound to stay their quarrel 
while under her roof. Tradition concedes to her much wisdom, and 
relates how she long enjoyed peculiar influence, which, however, in a 
moment of passion, she forfeited. Two Senecas had been received 
at her castle, and while there smoking the pipe of peace were, in a 
flagrant contempt of comity, permitted to be murdered for an alleged 
outrage upon a subject of hers in a distant village. The rash act was 
followed by instant orders to her warriors to cross the Genesee and 
fall at once upon the Seneca villages, overpowering, if possible, the 
new made enemy before they became fully aware of her perfidy. 

While these measures were being hastened, a woman of the Kah- 
kwas, friendly to the Senecas, secretly made her way with the infor- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 3,^ 

mation to the war chief of the latter nation at Canandaigua, who 
received it with great surprise. As no time was left him for procuring 
aid from the outlying bands of his own tribe, much less from allies, 
he drew fifteen hundred warriors from the nearest towns, placed them 
in two divisions under different chiefs, and set out to meet the Kah- 
kwas. Halting near the fort at Kan-agh-saws^ (Conesus), the women, 
children and old men, who had followed with supplies, were allowed 
to come up, and remained here for safety. 

The enemy had already crossed the river in large numbers, as 
runners, momently arriving, reported. The two divisions of the 
vSenecas were accordingly moved forward and placed in ambush on 
either side of the pathway, while one of their number, disguised as a 
bear, was sent along the trail as a decoy. This the Kah-kwas soon 
met, but, suspecting nothing, chased the false bear into the midst of 
the hidden braves. Like a whirlwind the Senecas now fell upon 
them, their terrific yells, the din of war clubs and clash of s[)ears 
adding to the confusion. A wild scene ensued. The disorder of the 
Kah-kwas was temporary, however, and the conflict quickly became 
one of varying fortunes, but the enemy's weight of numbers pushed 
the first division back upon the second, w'hen the Senecas, inspired 
by the impending danger, were seized with a war frenzy, and at 
length drove the enemy from the field. The latter fled across the 
Genesee, leaving six hundred of their dead behind. The Seneca chief, 
declining to pursue, returned with his fori_es to Canandaigua, where 
he celebrated the victory with savage parade. Tradition fixes the 
place of this battle in the vicinity of Geneseo, and Schoolcraft, 
satisfied of the correctness of the location, calls it the Great Battle of 
Geneseo. ^ 

Before setting out- to beat off the invaders, the Seneca chieftain 
had despatched runners to the central fire at Onondaga, with an 
account of the situation, and the great battle chief of the League, 
Shorihowane, was soon on the war-path with a large force for support 
of the Senecas. Though learning the issue of the conflict, he yet 

1. Cusick gives the orthography, Kaw-nes-ats. The Indian fort was near Bosley's mill ; the 
more modem Indian village was located half a mile south of Conesus lake, on the flat between 
the inlet and Henderson's creek. 

2. Cusick, General Ely Parker, and other authorities agree in locating the battle-groifud at 
Geneseo. Colonel Hosnier thinks the battle occurred farther to the east. 



.^4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

resolved fiirtht-r U> puiiisli llu- Kah-kwas by capturing their principal 
fort and extinguishing their council fire. ' It is said that his united 
force numbered five thousand warriors. Flushed with recent victory, 
they marched rapidly toward the Genesee, crossed over and made for 
the fort, which they attacked with great energy. The enemy, fully 
prepared, delivered a cloud of arrows in return, one of which early in 
the siege struck the war chief, whose death soon followed. The body 
enfolded in ])anther skins was carried across the Genesee, and there 
buried with befitting honors." The siege, meanwhile, was zealously 
pressed, and the queen at length yicKled and sued for peace, when 
hostilities ceased, and the Kah-kwas were- left in possession of their 
country. 

Just prior to the arrival of Columbus, the shock of an earthquake 
was felt, and comets and other omens of the heavens were observed. 
The meaning of these occurrences was not then divined, but a prophet 
soon appeared, who foretold the coming of a strange race from 
beyond the great waters. He announced that the expected strangers 
designed driving the Indians from their hunting grounds and wresting 
away tlunr homes, and he threatened the Great Spirit's wrath upon 
any who should listen to the palefaces. To add to these perturba- 
tions, another war broke out between the tribes west of the Genesee 
and the Five Nations, the weight of which, as usual, fell heavily upon 
the Senecas. Long and bloody conflicts ensued, and while hostilities 
were yet in progress, the great event foretold by the prophet — that 
most pregnant fact of all Indian history, the arrival of Columbus — 
w'as heralded by the fleetest of foot along the myriad pathwavs of the 
■continent. The imagination alone can picture the bewildering effect 
of the tidings. Wonder, awe, doubt and fear, each in turn, must 
have moved them, but, though iuished for a moment by this event, 
the decisive struggle between the warring tribes went forward. The 
cause of this contest was so slight that tradition says it originated in 
a breach of faith on the part of the Kah-kwas at a game of ball, to 

1, riif fort was called A'tut-i/iiiif-i-av, and was on I\ighteen Mile creek, in Erie County. 

2. .Some years ago the remains of a giant Indian were fonnd not far from Long Point on the 
Groveland side of Conesus lake. The head lay in a turtle shell, and by the side were found im- 
plements of war and other evidences of a noted burial. For some reason this grave has beeu as- 
sociated with thegreat war chieftain referred to in the text, though most likely without much 

reason. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 35 

which they had challenged the vSenecas. Careful writers, however, 
deriving their data from other sources than tradition, place this war 
at a much later period, and allege that it grew out of matters con- 
nected with the settlement of Canada by the French, which produced 
quarrels in the great Indian family. In these the Wyandots adhered 
to the French side, and the Five Nations to that of the Dutch and 
English. The Algonquins made common cause with the French and 
their allies, the AVyandots. The Kah-kwas had already formed an 
alliance with the Mississaugas, an Algonquin tribe residing west and 
north of lake Ontario. The Kah-kwas were related both to the 
Wyandots and Five Nations. Their country lay between that of the 
Canadian and western tribes and that of the Iroquois; hence, from 
choice not only, but from motives of prudence as well, they desired 
now to observe that policy of neutrality from practicing which, as a 
rule, they derived their designation of the Neutral Nation. The 
situation was one of extreme delicacy, and their state craft proved 
unequal to the occasion; for, in attempting to please both belligerents, 
both became offended. The Iroquois, or, more properly, the Senecas, 
turned upon them in fury, but were met by a nation worthy their 
best courage. If we may credit tradition, the cortflict lasted through 
twenty bloody moons, ending about the year KiSl in the decisive 
overthrow of the Kah-kwas, or, to give their Indian designation, the 
Attiouandaronk, whose name, as a separate people, now disappears 
from the roll of tribes. 

According to the early Jesuits, the Kah-kwas excelled the Hurons 
in stature, strength and symmetrj', and wore their dress with a 
superior grace. "They regarded their dead with peculiar veneration. 
Once in every ten years the survivors of each family gathered the 
remains of their deceased ancestors from the platforms on which they 
had been deposited, and buried them in heaps with many super- 
stitious ceremonies. This was called the 'feast of the dead.' Many 
of the mounds thus raised may still be seen."' This practice, it ijiay 
be remarked, was anciently observed by other tribes also. The 
skeletons of a family were often preserved from generation to gener- 
ation in bark huts built beside the former cabin of the deceased. In 
seasons of public insecurity, the bones from many family depositories 
would be consigned to a comniDn resting place. 

I. Marshall's Niagara Frontier. 



36 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

In 1()55 the Eries, who had often opposed the Senecas upon the 
hostile field, were also overthrown by the latter. The country west 
of the Genesee was now conquered. But "for mnre than a century 
this beautiful region was abandoned to the undisturbed dominion of 
nature, save when traversed by the warrior on his predatory errand 
or the hunter in pursuit of game. A dense and unexplored wilder- 
ness extended from the Genesee to the Niagara, with but here and 
there an interval, where the oak openings let in the sunlight, or the 
prairie lured the deer and the elk to crop its luxuriant herbage." ' 

We have thus briefly traced some of the leading features of Indian 
tradition bearing upon this locality. (Hir knowledge of the aborigines 
is still in part dependent upon tradition or the subject of conjecture 
only. But from stray threads of fact and story consistent theories 
have been framed, while research among tumuli and other traces of 
Indian occupancy, and the study of still living representa- 
tives of this strange people, serve to make their character better 
known, besides casting light upon their origin. Quitting the domain 
of tradition, we shall find that the veritable history of this region 
extends less than three hundred years into the abyss of the past. 
In 1614 the Dutch planted a trading post on the island immediately 
below the site of Albany. At this spot (now Kenwood), was the 
Indian "\'ale of Tawasentha;" - and here in 1618 the Dutch under 
Jacob Eelkins negotiated a treaty with the Five Nations, which bound 
them and the Dutch in an alliance which was never broken. This 
alliance was always alluded to by the Iroquois as "the covenant 
chain," frequently as "the silver covenant chain," and gradually all 
the Indian tribes from New Hampshire to vSouth Carolina and from 
the Hudson to the Illinois bound themselves therein. ^Vhen Brad- 
dock went upon his ill-fated expedition, the Iroquois notified him that 
they would bind themselves over again in "the covenant chain." 

From the time of this conference at Kenwood, they acquired a 
knowledge of the Indians, and, for a period of nearly fifty years, the 
friendliest relations existed between the two races. The English at 
length succeeded both to the territory and to this good imderstand- 
ing, and, with singular fidelity, the covenant chain was mutually 

I. MarshaU's Niagara Frontier 
- 2. Alhided to in the opening lines uf Longfellow's Hiawatha. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 37 

preserved down to the opening of the Revolution, upwards of a 
century and a half, a fact that went far toward predisposing the 
Iroquois to take the British side in that struggle, as we well know 
the)' did, with most bloody effect. 



38 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER III. 

THE INDIANS residing along the river were known to the 
Jesuits as the Senecas of the Chenussio, ' and were noted for 
their thrift and good husbandry, as well as for their warlike 
deeds. The corn grown by them was of a superior quality. In de- 
stroying their crops General Sullivan's soldiers found ears of this grain 
full twenty-two inches in length; and the first sweet corn ever seen in 
New England was carried thither, it is said, in a soldier's knapsack 
from Beardstown in 1779. Squashes, beans and melons were also raised 
in great abundance. Orchards of apple and peach trees, produced 
from seeds or sprouts, grew near everv village. Pears, too, had been 
introduced, and there was no lack of wild fruits, such as plums, grapes 
and cranberries. Tobacco was successfully raised by the Indians here. 
Indeed, the natives considered the quality of this article produced by 
our rich warm valley soil so fine that they gave it a name signifying 
"the only tobacco."^ Indian cultivation, however, embraced but a 
very limited share of the territory, for beyond an occasional spot on 
the river flats, tilled by squaws, this region remained essentially a 
wilderness until the advent of the whites. 

The Senecas were not only the most populous nation of the league, 
but were foremost on the warpath and first in warlike deeds. They 
gloried in their national title of Ho-nan-ne-ho-ont, or "the doorkeep- 
ers," for, as guardians of the upper entrance, they stood interposed as 
a living barrier between the hostile nations of the west and the eastern 
tribes of the confederacy. And in later times they proved a safeguard 
to the whites from incursions of the French and allies of the latter. 
The Senecas not only defended the western door, but often, on their 
own account, carried their arms into the country of the southern and 
western nations, while "other tribes sat smoking in quiet on their 

1. See Appendix No. 3 for tlie varied etymology of the W(»rd and an early account of the 'Vrtie- 
see River and Cnnaseraga Creek. 

2. Morgan mentions a similar fact. Kxperimeuts in tobacco raising were also made in this 
county by the pioneers, about the year 1795. The soil of onr fertile bottoms and sandy uplands 
seems well adapted to the production of this great narcotic. 




Middle Falls of Genesee River from Portige Bluff. 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(;STON COUNTY 3') 

mats." The League lield that any warrior was at liberty to form a 
party, place himself at the head and make war on his own account 
against foreign tribes, west or south. 

A band of braves on the war path presented nothing of display. 
Moving silently, in single file, they threaded the all but limitless forests. 
Each carried a little sack of parched corn, and usually a pcjuch of 
smoked venison. In expeditions of danger, at a distance from home, 
if this supply gave out, a tightening of the waist belt would often serve 
instead of the scanty supper. In later times the flint and steel, with a 
handful of dried leaves, would produce a fire in some well hidden spot, 
where, for a night, with feet to the smouldering embers, unwatched by 
sentinel, the party would commit themselves to brief slumber. In 
1680, the Senecas with six hundred warriors, invaded the country of 
the Illinois on the ^lississippi.' Schoolcraft says of the Senecas and 
other members of the League, that they roved at will from Lake Cham- 
plain to the Illinois, and extended their conquests along the Ohio into 
the region of Kentucky. At different periods they made inroads into 
the Carolinas and elsewhere at the south, their courage and skill secur- 
ing success in all quarters. The chronicles of no age afford examples 
excelling the fortitude with which these Iroquois braves suffered the 
tortures inflicted by their captors. "When taken in battle they asked 
nothing and expected nothing. The whole history of martyrdom may 
be challenged for a parallel to the almost superhuman courage and 
constancy exhibited by the Iroquois captain put to the torture at Fort 
Frontenac."- The captive warrior would often sing his song of defi- 
ance on being led with blackened face from the "cabin of death,"' — 
as the dark hut was called where the doomed were kept while prepara- 
tions fiir torture were proceeding — and boast, in the very teeth of his 
remorseless captors, while the fatal flames were crisping his flesh, of 

1. street thus refers to this e.vpeilition (the Tortoise, the Wolf ami the Bear being used figura- 
tively for clans of the Iroquois): 

"By the far Mississippi the lllini shrank, 

When the trail of the tortoiae was seen at the bank, 

On the hills of New Kugland the Pequot turned pale, 

When the howl of the woZ/swelled at night on the gale, 

Aiu\ the Cherokee shook in his green smiling bowers, 

When the foot of the bfar stamped his carpet of flowers." 

2. He was a Seneca. The account is given by Charlevoi.x. 

3. By some tribes called the "lodge of judgment." 



4lJ HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

how many of their numbers he had slain, and how many scalps had 
been scored to him on the warpost. 

Mary Jemison said that to commemorate great events and to preserve 
the chronology of them, the war chief in each tribe kept a warpost, a 
peeled stick of timber ten or twelve feet high erected in the town. For 
a campaign the chief made a perpendicular red mark about three 
inches long and luilf an inch wide; on the opposite side of this, for a 
scalp, they make a red cross thus X ; on another side, for a prisoner 
taken alive, they make a red cross, in this manner, x, withaheador 
dot. "J These hieroglyphics enabled them to represent with iiu little 
certainty the facts they wished to record. 

The Senecas shared fully in the superstitions common to their race. 
Relief in witchcraft ]irevailctl, and omens had no little influence in 
shaping their action both in peace and war. On the gravest occasion 
a dream would secure listeners and its teachings seldom went unheeded. 
At a New Year's festival on Squakie Hill, after the sacrificial dog was 
killed, an old Indian who lived on the flats below told the following 
dream at the council house, the whole village giving their iiiHlivided 
attention: "I had got ready with my two sons the previousevening," 
said he, "to attend the festival, but before starting I fell asleep and 
dreamed that we had set out. Everything a|)peared strange along the 
path. vSquakie Hill seemed thrice its usual height, and looked as if 
covered with a deep snow, although there was very little. I stopped a 
moment, wlu-n twn winged men tlew by us, one of whom alighted on a 
tree near by. I was frightened and asked ' What means this?' 'We 
are devils' said they, 'and are come because Indians are bad men and 
get drunk.' They told me that unless I stop|)ed whiskey and became 
good, they would have me. The figure in the tree changed to a great 
negro, and taking his seat upon a limb, turned toward me with a hor- 
rible grin, thrusting at me a [)ole si.x feet long, on which was hung a 
dead Indian by the feet The face of the corpse was very ghastly and 
its mouth widely stretched. The devil remarked that all who ([uarreled 
or got drunk would be treated in the like horrid manner. The body 
•of the dead Indian was then whirled at me. The shock awoke me." 
Instead of a lecture on intemperance, a vice to which the tribe Vi-ere 
• greatly addicted, the old Indian wisely chose to enforce the moral by 

I. See Mar>' Jemisou's Life. Her luisti.'md, Hiakatoo, had a warpost on wliicli were recorded his 
military aud other exploits. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 41 

availing himself of the regard held by his race for the supernatural. 
The dream seetned strongly to impress his audience. 

To form a correct notion of the every day life of the Seneca, we 
must penetrate into his domestic condition. We shall find him hospit- 
able at his home, however relentless he proved on the warpath. His 
hut was always open, and if a family or company of several strangers 
came from a distance, it was not unusual to give up to them the best 
lodge in the village during their stay. In timesof scarcity — and owing 
to their improvidence such times often came — they shared with each 
other even to the last morsel. Indeed, individual starvation was un- 
known, and, save where a whole tribe was brought to famine, none 
suffered for want of food. 

Their lodges in ancient days were of poles covered with bark or skins 
in form of the cone shaped wigwam, but when the axe came into use 
they built of poles or small logs in the style of a square or oblong hut. 
In general the size was ten feet by twelve within the walls, and about 
seven feet high at the sides. The door was invariably at the end. 
The root was steep and covered with chestnut tree, hemlock or cucum- 
berwood bark, in broad folds, tied to the roof poles with strands of 
the inner bark of the hickory. Two courses thus laid on would cover 
the one side of the roof, and a broad piece placed lengthwise at the 
ridge made all tight there. The fire was built on the ground, in the 
center, for there were no floors, the smoke finding vent through an 
opening in the roof. Neither tables nor chairs were provided within, 
but along each side, and across the end opposite the door, a rude wood- 
en bunk, raised a foot or more, and about three feet in width, covered 
with bark and skins, served instead of stools and beds. Four or five 
feet higiier was a shelf, on which were thrown provisions and domestic 
utensils. A village comprised from five to fifty huts, seldom more 
than the latter number, and, as the Indian dug no wells, were located 
near copious springs, or in later times on the banks of considerable 
streams. 

The simple culinary art required a kettle for meats and vegetables, 
one or more wooden platters and three or four hunting knives to a 
household. Wild game was often spitted on a stick before the fire and 
the loaf of pounded corn and beans was roasted in the ashes under the 
embers. The Indian woman's cookery ofTered few temptations to the 
white man's palate. Her loaf was kneaded with unwashed hands, in a 



42 HISTORY OF LIV1X(;ST()X COUMTY 

bark tray none too tidy, and her meats were prepared without atten- 
tion to the care which civilization demands. The Indian trail over 
Groveland hill ran near the foot of a long meadow of John Harrison's, 
where a fine spring of water often beguiled the natives to stop and 
cook their game. On one occasion they made a feast there of corn 
and venison boiled together. The deer was skinned, cut up and cast 
into the brass kettle, flesh, bones, entrails and all. 'Sir. Harrison, who 
was at work near bv, was urged by the Indians to partake of their 
pottage, but as he had seen it prepared, his appetite rebelled, and he 
declined with thanks. A pioneer on another occasion was invited to 
eat hominy with a strolling band of Senecas. who had already been 
some time at their meal. Tliere was but one spoon to the party, and 
that had been used by each in turn. The chief took the spoon and, 
after wiping it upon the sole of his moccasin, passed it to the guest, 
who, though welcome, feasted with long teeth. 

To us the Indian's home would not have been a place of comfort. 
Its single room, no.vious with smoke, and the members of the house- 
hold lounging here and there ujjon the ground, admitted neither of 
neatness or privacy nor of delicacy. On poles well varnished with 
soot, in the upper portion of the hut, if indeed the dusky atmosphere 
had [lermitted that part to be seen, might be noticed a motlev collec- 
tion of clothing, corn, skins of animals and dried pumpkins and 
squashes, intermingled with weapons and ornaments. The huts were 
without windows, tor the Indian knew little of the thousand nameless 
comforts which make our homes so grateful, but, being unknown, were 
unmissed by him. The Seneca here passed his winters in contentment. 
His wants were few, his food was ample in cpiantity and, to him. pala- 
table in kind: and if his hut was uncleanly, it may yet have been pref- 
erable to the abodes of squalor, in which many of the vicious and 
wretched of our great cities pass their lives. The squaw, who had 
planted, hoed and harvested the corn, prepared it for the winter's meal 
and cheerfully served it to her not e.xacting husband. And he was a 
happy ma!). Though taciturn in public, he was not tuisocial within 
his own domicile, where his neighbors often met to smoke his tobacco, 
laugh at his jest, not the most refined, and listen to his stories of war 
and the chase. 

The Senecas were willing to have schools established tor the educa- 
tion of their children. Accordingly, in December, 1815, the Presby- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 4J 

terian Synod of Geneva located one at Squakie Hill, in a building pro- 
vided through the efforts of tiie Reverend Daniel Butrick, and placed 
Jerediah Horsford in charge. The class averaged about twenty pupils, 
who proved attentive to rules and learned readily. The parents took 
kindly to the Ga-ya'-dos-hah sha-go'-yas-da-ni — meaning "he teaches 
thern books"— as they called the schoolmaster, and passed many 
hours in the class mom, curious spectators of proceedings so novel to 
them. 

Indian sports consisted of foot races, ball playing, pitching of cjuoits, 
and shooting with the bow and arrow. Dancing, too, was greatly en- 
joyed by both sexes. Foot racing was also a favorite pastime, and 
some of the Indian runners boasted that they could onttravel the 
horse in a long journey. Horatio Jones was heard to say that he had- 
known an Indian to strike a deer's trail in the morning and run the 
animal down before night. Morgan says that "in preparing to carry 
messages, they denuded themselves entirely, with the exception of the 
breech-cloth and belt. They were usually sent out in pairs, and took 
their way through the forest, one liehind the other, in perfect silence." 
"A trained runner would traverse a hundred miles a day. But three 
days were necessary, it is said, to convey intelligence fiom Buff.ilo to 
Albany. During the war oi 1812, a runner left Tonawanda at daylight 
in the summer season, for Avon, a distance of forty miles, upon the 
trail, delivered his message, and returned to Tonawanda again about 
noon the same day." 

Ball was usually played by a dozen or more quickfooted Indians. 
The ball once tossed up was to be kept up with bats, the longer the 
period the more successful the game. In the fall of 1799, a number of 
gentlemen from the city of New York, while spending a few days in 
Geneseo, subscribed a small ftind and invited the Indians of one of the 
neighboring villages to come over and play a game of ball. About 
three hundred responded, from whom a party of the more skillful was 
selected. The sport proved exciting both to players and spectators, 
and became so spirited that the most athletic batsmen were obliged to 
lie down now and then for short respites. 

In autumn, after the crops were secured, the Indian's season of 
hunting began. Men, women and children prepared for these occasions 
with alacrity. A stick leaned against the door from the outside, was 
sufficient to secure their homes from intrusion during their absence. 



44 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Camping from place to place in chosen spots, for a week or more 
at a time, the hunters would follow the game during the day, 
and the evening would be spent in dancing and eating, and in drink- 
ing, too, when spirits were procurable. A grassy pint near William 
Magee's distillery, in Sparta, was a station to which they were partial. 
Here, after a day's chase, the Indians would dispatch a brass kettle of 
whiskey, and then form a ring for dancing. Both se.xes and all ages 
joined in singing, as, hand in hand, they moved around in a circle, one 
of their number keeping time with a stick upon the emptied brass 
kettle. A dry bladder, containing a few kernels of corn or beans, or a 
gourd rattle, would also be shaken by one of the dancers as an accom- 
paniment. White persons were always welcome spectators of these 
merrymakings. 

The inlet of Hemlock lake on the Spring water side, about the season 
of the falling leaves, was a favorite haunt of the natives for trout fishing ; 
and hither with her tribe, from year to year, came a female known as 
the handsome squaw, whose grace of person and freedom of motion 
were long recollected. Indeed, we were accustomed not many years 
ago, to hear old persons speak of the sprightly ways and gentle wildness 
of Indian girls; and, were we seeking incidents of a romantic nature 
in this connection, enough might be gathered for an entertaining 
chapter. Near Scottsburg, also, under a clump of wild plum trees, 
growing hard by the old grist mill, the Indians were in the 
habit of encamping, to hunt and fish in the neighborhood ; while at 
Caledonia spring the whole tribe annually gathered, to renew their 
friendships and to enjoy the fine fishing afforded by its noted waters. 
A spot near the head of Conesus lake and many other hunting seats 
were also used. 

But the day of the hunter in this region is well nigh passed away. 
A century ago his efforts were richly rewarded. The woods abounded 
with deer and rabbits, the openings with woodcock, and the air with 
pigeons in their season; while wild geese, ducks and other water fowl 
swarmed the shores of the lakes and rivers. Bears, panthers and 
wolves, as well as foxes and wild cats, were so common that pioneer 
merchants drove a thrifty trade in exchanging goods for scalps of these 
destructive animals, to be redeemed, in turn, by the authorities at 
fixed bounties. 

Intercourse between the natives and the white settlers was marked 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 45 

by good nature. The Indians were general!}' truthful and honest ; 
though, after taverns and stores began to multiply, the younger class, 
tempted by the novelty, fell into the habit of lounging and were now 
and then caught in petty thefts. Colonel Lyman, an early mer- 
chant of Moscow, says that while out of his store for a moment one 
day, Cayuga Tom, an overgrown young Indian, took down a pair of 
stockings from a cross pole and stuck them under his belt. The arti- 
cles being at once missed, Colonel Lyman said, "Tom, you stole those 
stockings, now you can take a round flogging or go to jail." "Well," 
grunted the native, and drawing his blanket closely about him, he 
bent forward his shoulders, inviting the blows. A rawhide was applied 
with so much vigor as to bring the blood at every stroke. When the 
punishment ended, Tom straightened up and remarked, with the utmost 
good nature, "All settled now," and handed back the stockings. In 
unloading some potash one afternoon. Colonel Lyman dropped his hat, 
a new one. His brother, who noticed him going bareheaded, 
said, "If you can't find your own hat, there lies a first-rate one on the 
counter inside, which I have just taken of an Indian in pawn." The 
hat proved to be the Colonel's own, which the cunning native had man- 
aged to pick up unseen and dispose of. The whites often bartered 
with the Indians for splint baskets, which were ornamented with iiigh 
colored paints, splint brooms, vvillowware, moccasins, venison, berries 
and fish. The native was never wanting in shrewdness when conduct- 
ing a trade. An Indian fisherman, in ofifering Deacon Stanley a string 
of fine brook trout, was asked "What's your price?" "One shilling 
one fish," was the answer. "But there is a little one! a shilling for 
that?" "Oh yes, him just as hard to catch as big one," was quickly 
rejoined. 

The scjuaw usually had charge of the luggage, which she carried 
upon her back, fastened by the burden strap or tump line, a broad 
band of finely braided bark, suspended from the forehead, crossed at 
the shoulders, and fastened to a little belt behind. The usual small 
trading parties consisted of an Indian and his family, but sometimes 
two or three families united and drove a shaggy pony before a wagon, 
on which was piled their wares, the traffickers trudgjng along on foot. 
The men commonly wore the native costume, especially the inevitable 
blanket with its smoky smell. The .squaws, always bareheaded, wore 
cloth petticoats, often of fine texture, leggins of the same and deer 



46 HISTORY OF LIVI.\(;STOX COUNTY 

skin moccasins, neatly worked with colored beads and shells. The 
little pappoose, bound to its light frame, was borne upon the mother's 
back, its arms pinioned and its little copper visage often exposed to 
the sun. This baby frame of strong, light wood was a couple of feet 
in length and about fifteen inches wide 'at the shoulders, the whole 
surmounted by a hoop, placed just above the head, upon which a cur- 
tain or vail was then |)]aced, to screen the child's face, and from which 
also hung some jingling ornament to attract the little one. The frame 
served the infant abroad and at home. While the mother looked 
after her domestic affairs in the cabin, it hung from a peg so arranged 
that, on passing, a touch from her hand would set it swinging. In 
the field, suspended from a limb, it was secure from snakes and other 
forest dangers, and the wind, by giving it motion, would lull the little 
occupant to sleep. Schoolcraft says that moss was placed between the 
heels of female infants, to make them m-toed ; in males, the adjustment 
of the moss was designed to produce a perfectly straight [)osition of 
the foot. 

It was not an uncommon thing for the first settlers to awake far in 
the night and find their fioors covered with Indians, who had thus 
snatched a few hours' rest, quitting before morning as quietly as they 
came. A piece of venison or other article would often be left by those 
uninvited lodgers in requital. The early settlers profited by the 
native's knowledge of the forest. The pioneer who had lost his way 
in the woods, as not unfrequently happened, was fortunate if he 
chanced to meet an Indian, for the latter's sense of location seemed 
unerring. It mattered not how far astray the bcAvildered traveler 
might be, the native wcukl never leave him with verbal directions 
merely, but, acting the part of guide, would pilot the traveler safely 
back into the proper path. Colonel George Smith says the Indians 
would go to any new and strange location, pitch their wigwams and 
chase deer in all directions, the weather being ever so stormy or cloudy, 
and, at the proper time, would steer as direct for their camp as could 
a surveyor with his compass. 

The Indians did not at once learn to curb their propensity to use 
weapons for settling disputes or for olUaining what they desired, and 
the pioneers saw many examples of their impatient tempers. When 
in liquor they were easily exasperated; then the whites sometimes 
came in for a share of the blows, though seldom with fatal results. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 47 

But a knife or axe would be drawn on small provocatiun. An Indian 
named Yankee John caine to the house of William Fullerton. in Sparta, 
one winter evening, with a deer upon his shoulder,' He was cold and 
demanded liquor, though he evidently had been drinking. This 
denied, he became saucy, and at length drew his knife, in a threaten- 
ing way, upon Fullerton. The latter's Scotch blood was stirred. 
Stepping to the stairway, he took down from its wooden hook a heavy 
black horsewhip and gave the Indian a fearful weltmg, Mrs. Fuller- 
ton begged for mercy to the native, w!io by this time Ava? quite satis- 
fied to give up the whiskey, and to spend the remainder of the night 
in quiet, sleeping from choice, as he did, upon the pioneer's hearthstone, 
after partaking of a generous meal, liefore a well kept fire of smoulder- 
ing logs. Colonel Stanley saw much of the Indians while clerk fi)r 
Allen Ayrault, He relates that a young Indian, who had been drink- 
ing, came into the store one night, picked up a silk handkerchief and 
placed it under his belt. The act was observed, and the clerk, though 
alone, demanded the property, which was refused, A scuffle followed, 
the handkerchief was recovered, and the voung thief ordered to (juil 
the store, but he declined to go, Stanley stepped toward him, when 
the Indian drew a knife with serious intent, Stanley picked up an axe 
helve, knocked the knife from the Indian's hand, and the twcj clinched. 
The Indian, th(Migh the larger, was slightly intoxicated, and Stanlev 
managed tn hustle him to the doorway, elevated fully three feet from 
the ground, when, exerting all his strength, he thrust out his antago- 
nist, who fell upon the frozen earth with a groan, and lay for some time 
quite stunned by the fall, Stanley lost no tinie in closing tlie store 
that night. 

Surviving pioneers recollect many odd customs of the Indians. Col- 
onel George Smith witnessed the following ceremony over a young 
native: He was first made dead drunk. A " shavety knife," or razor, 
was sought for among the neighboring whites, but none being at hand, 
a hunting knife was sharpened. Placing a chip under the subject's 
right ear, a slit parallel with the outer edge of that member was cut 
all the way around, leaving a rim somewhat thicker than a pipe stem 
still attached at each end. The other ear was treated in the same man- 

I. )'ankfr' John was a large Indian, who had a halt in his gait. While hunting one day he 
was pursued by a bear. Attempting to escape, he started up a tree, but Bruin, too quick for him, 
pulled the Indian back, crushed his leg, and would have made short work of him had not the 
rednian's long knife speedily settled the bear's accounts. 



48 HISTORY OF LIVINCISTOX COUNTY 

ner, and both were bound up in sheet lead. When the Indian became 
sobered he sat up, felt of his ears, and finding that all was right, raised 
his hands in great delight and cried out, "Ga-ya-dos-hah sha-go-vas- 
da-ni Geh-sa'-no-wa-nah-nuh,"' meaning "Now lam a great name; 
no longer boy; big Injun me I" 

The curative means of the Indians consisted of roots and herbs. 
Dancing and singing were often resorted to, and, in extreme cases, 
witchcraft was employed; for the older natives still held to the belief 
that disease was the result of sorcery. Indian medicine-men might 
often be seen in the woods gathering their stores of simples. Tall 
Chief and John Jemison were noted for their skill in medicines, espec- 
ially in applying remedies for the rattlesnake's bite, the ingredients 
of which they steadily refused to reveal, though they would go far and 
near to relieve a wliite patient. Mr. Horsford witnessed a dance 
designed to restore an Indian seriously indisposed. Three natives 
with false faces, each wearing a deer skin wrapped around the shoul- 
ders and another about the waist, entered the hut. They at once began 
a slow dance, passing, at each round, between the fire and the patient, 
who, cpiite naked, was seated upon the hearth. On stepping by the 
fire, two of the dancers would gather up ashei and scatter over the sick 
man, while the third shook a turtle shell rattle at him and then darted 
to the sides of the room and shook it about the walls and over the bed. 
The ceremonies continued several minutes, when the dancers took off 
their masks and. without a word, left the house. The squaM- of the 
household then brnught in food, which had been prepared for the occa- 
sion, and distributed it to the guests. 

The Senecas believed in a Great vSpii it, whom they feared, and in an 
evil spirit whom they hated, but whose power they held as scarcely 
inferior to that of the other. After death the good were to go directly 
to pleasant hunting grounds, where game would be always abundant; 
the bad to a place of temporary punishment, whence, in due time, 
they also were to be permitted to enter the happy home. The journey 
after death was one of considerable length. Hence, a dish of food and 
a wooden spoon were buried with the corpse, and the gun, tomahawk 
and scalping knife of the warrior were placed by his side in the grave. 

1. The latter Indian word was ofteu prouoiiiiced shinne-wauna. But the orUio>fra])liy of Rev. 
Asher Wripht, a niissiouary at Cattaraugus Reser\-ation, who rednced the Seneca language to a 
written system, is followed. 




3 H 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 49 

The Indian's heaven was designed for his race alone, though an excep- 
tion was made in favor of Washington, in reward for his acts of kind- 
ness toward the red man. 

Aboriginal belief that the soul survives the body rested on traditions 
like this:^ In ancient times a war broke out between two tribes. On 
one side the forces were jointly led by a great warrior and a noted 
hunter. The latter had killed much game for the skins, the remains 
being left for beasts and birds of prey. The battle was going against 
his side, and he saw that to save his own life he must quit the field. 
As he turned, the body of a great tree lay across his path. He came 
up to it, when a heavy blow felled him. On recovering, he foimd, 
strangely enough, that he could as easily pass through as over the 
obstruction. Reaching home, his friends would not talk with him; 
indeed, they seemed quite unaware of his presence. It now occurred 
to him that he too had been killed and was present in spirit only, 
human eyes not seeing him. He returned to the place of conflict, and 
there, sure enough, lay his mortal part quite dead and its scalp gone. 
A pigeon hawk, flying by, recognized the disembodied hunter and 
generously ofliered to recover his scalp, so, stretching away in its flight 
to the retiring victors, he plucked it from the bloody pole. The other 
birds had meantime prepared a medicine, whicii soon united the scalp 
to the head, when bears and wolves gathered around and joined in the 
dance. The hunter got well and lived many years, his experience 
strengthening their religious faith and teaching them how to use the 
remedies so strangely acquired, which, to this day, are among the most 
efficacious knovv'n to the Indians. 

The Senecas recognized a variety of subordinate spirits. Medicine, 
water, trees; their three favorite vegetables, corn, beans and squash, 
and other material objects, had each its tutelar deity. They observed 
six periodical festivals: the maple, the planting, the green corn, the 
berry, the harvest and, crowning all, the New Year's jubilee, at which 
the white dog was sacrificed. The Great Spirit was thus thanked for 
blessing their labors and invoked for future favors. Their thanksgiv- 
ing did not assume the character of prayer. Indeed, they did not 
appear to comprehend the nature and design of prayer, since sins of the 
heart were not contemplated by their system, which considered only the 
outward act. 

I. Mr. Horsford had this tradition from the lips of an aged Seneca. 



50 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The New Year's festival at Squakie Hill, in 1816, opened on the 
morning of the 7th of February. ' A white dog was brought to the 
council house and strangled, care being taken not to break its bones or 
shed its blood, and hanged to a post. Its body was then striped with 
red paint, and five strings of purple beads were fastened about the neck. 
A stem of hedgehog quills was attached to the body, from which hung 
a clump of feathers, a rag filled with something like fine tobacco being 
placed under them. To each leg was tied a bunch of feathers with red 
and yellow ribbons. The day was spent in short speeches and dream 
telling. Near night, two Indians, with blackened faces, appeared in 
bear skins, with long braids of corn husks about their ankles and 
heads. Keeping time to a dolorous song, they began a tour of the 
village. Entering a house, they would pound the benches and sides 
and then proceed to the next, and so on throughout the village. 

The discharge of three guns opened the second day's proceedings, 
when five Indians appeared with long wooden shovels and began to 
scatter fire and ashes, until the council house became filled with dust 
and smoke. This ceremony was repeated at each house several times 
during the day, but to a different tune at each round. 

Speeches, exciting levity, and dreams occupied the third morning. 
About noon the fire shovelling was repeated with increased vigor. 
This over, the clothing of the actors and others was changed, their 
heads were adorned with feathers and their faces with paint. A num- 
ber of squaws in calico short gowns and blue broadcloth petticoats, 
ornamented with bead work and a profusion of silver brooches, joined 
in the dance, which, beginning at the council house, was repeated at 
every hut several times during the day. A species of gambling with a 
wooden dish and six wooden balls and a like number of white beans, 
was practiced from house to house. In the evening a party of dancers 
would enter a dwelling, and .soon a person dressed in bear skin and 
false face would come in, when the dancers, as if afraid, beat a retreat 
to the next house. 

The fourth day was devoted to ceremonies in which false faces and 
dancing held the princi|)al place. 

The maskers reappeared on the fifth day. They approached every 

I. Hon. Jerediali Horsford was present at this festival aiul noted the cereiiiouies from day to 
■day iu his diary. Lieut, (iovernor Oeorge W. Patter^ion attended the festival three years later. at the 
same place, in company with several young men of Grovelatui. and iu a similar way described 
the ceremonies herein mentioned. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 51 

person for a trifling gift. An apple, a plug of tobacco or a few pen- 
nies was enough, in default of which the party refusing was often 
roughly handled. Two Indians, disguised as bears, came next. On 
their entering a house the inmates would at once quit it, when the 
mock bears pretended a disposition to tear everything in pieces or to 
overturn whatever fell in their way. A number of Indians followed 
them, flashing guns, as though forcibly to drive out the simulated 
bears. Next in order was a game of ball upon the ice, played with 
great energy by a party of seven on each side. Many a hard fall 
occurred, which always drew forth shouts of laughter. Three 
Indians then appeared in deer skins and rags, one of whom, personat- 
ing the evil one. had his clothing literally torn from his body by his 
companions, who quickly covered him with skins, and then led him 
from hut to hut. In each hut he would lie down and roll along the 
ground, tumble into the fire, paw out the ashes and scatter it about 
the room, all the while groaning and making great ado. A dancing 
group next entered the council house with painted faces, attired in 
skins, with feathers around their heads and with deer's hoofs or pieces 
of tin fastened about their legs. A large Indian with bow and arrows 
soon came in, bringing three lads. The four enacted a rude drama of 
hunter and dt)gs. The boys got down on hands and knees, barking, 
growling and snap[)ing at whatever came in their way, as they passed 
from door to door, demanding bread for their final feast, which two 
girls gathered into baskets. 

On the morning of the sixth day, seven lads, one of whom was cov- 
ered with wolf skins and used two short sticks for fore-legs, went from 
house to house. The dwellers brought out corn and placed it in a 
basket carried by an aged female. Next followed a dance at the 
council house. "The female dancers," says an eye witness, "were 
the most graceful, and, I may add, the most modest I ever saw tripping 
the fantastic toe upon the bare ground." An old squaw stepped into 
the ring with a live pig under her arm. She would strike it upon the 
head, when the dancers would spat their hands and sing. ^ About noon 
preparations were made for burning the white dog, which was taken 
down and laid upon a small pile of dry wood, ornaments and all. An 
Indian gave three yells. The wood was then placed around and over 
the dog. When old and young had gathered quite near Jim Wash- 

I. Quis-qttis, meaniug pigs or swine, was a word coustautly repeated. 



52 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ington, a favorite speaker, he applied the fire, and, as it began to burn, 
he walked around inside the circle, occasionally throwing pulverized 
mint into the flames, all the while talking as if to some invisible being. 
The spectators appeared quite solemn, and at length joined in singing. 
When the pile was partly consumed Jim stopped. After a moment's 
pause, he put a qiiestion, which met with loud response from the circle, 
and then all dispersed. 

A general feast was now prepared at the council house. Two brass 
kettles, filled with squash, corn, beans, pumpkins and venison, which 
had been boiling for hours over fires in the center of the room, were 
placed on the ground, and the contents dipped away in calabashes and 
eaten with spoons, or from wooden sticks, with the bread gathered the 
day before. The evening was devoted to dancing, in which all joined. 
Finally, one after another withdrew, and by ten o'clock the council 
house was empty and silent. The ceremonial part of the festival was 
over, and though the seventh and last day was to follow, it was mainly 
spent in petty gambling and feats of strength. 

The burning of the dog was designed to appease the Great Spirit's 
wrath. So were the burnt sacrifices of ancient Hebrews. The cere- 
monies at the huts were intended to scare aw'ay bad spirits, which, as 
was imagined, had become secreted in the crevices. The Jews had 
professional e.xorcisers, who also professed to drive aw-ay evil spirits; 
while with the smoke of the burning mint these heathen red men 
believed their thanksgivings and petitions w(juld ascend to the Source 
of all good. None but a white dog, the emblem of purity, could be 
used. The same caution was observed in selecting the sacrificial heifer 
by the Chosen People. Other parallels might be noted, and the 
inquirer is tempted to ask, why the days of their celebration should cor- 
respond with the sacred seven of the Jews. Is it a coincidence simply? 
or does it aid.^^with other facts of a similar nature, in solving the origin 
of the aborigines? 

Late in the last century a new religion was announced by a native 
of Canawaugus, the Indian village located near Avon. The prophet 
of this new (aith was a half brother of Cornplanter, named Ga-nyu'-da- 
i-yuh, or Handsome Lake. Its effect was greatly to mitigate intem- 
perance, a vice then fatally jirevalent among the natives. The early 
life of the prophet had been one of idleness; but, in lighting his pipe 
one day after a debauch, he fell back upon his mat, where, for many 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 53 

hours, he lay as dead. Four beautiful young men from heaven, angels 
he called them, appeared, he said, and told hiin the Great Spirit was 
angry with the Indians because of their habits of drunkenness, false- 
hood and theft. They conducted him to the open gates of Paradise, 
where, for several hours, he witnessed scenes glorious beyond concep- 
tion. A command was there given him to proclaim what he had seen 
and heard. On recovering, he entered upon his mission with the zeal 
of a crusader. ^ Ungifted as a speaker, he called four young men pos- 
sessed of superior parts for missionary work, to whom he committed 
the heavenly precepts. Through them, and by his own personal inter- 
course, he incited young and old to better courses. His labors were 
crowned with abundant success. 

It has been urged that Handsome Lake was inspired to the work by 
Cornplanter, rather than from a higher source, that crafty chieftain 
■designing thereby to preserve for his kinsman the high position in 
councils so long held by himself. .But this is quite improbable, for 
Cornplanter was at no pains to conceal his doubts as to the truth of 
the revelation, especially after the following incident. He had a 
beloved daughter who fell very sick. His anxiety on her account 
induced him to appeal to the prophet. The latter, in turn, inquired of 
the four angels if the girl would get well. They answered, she would, 
and continued to give like assurances until shedied. Cornplanter then 
said that the revelation was but a pretense, and Handsome Lake 
became so incensed that he left the reservation of his half brother and 
went to Tonawanda. It is certain that Handsome Lake chose a course 
which quickly checked fhe sad inroads made by rum among the Iro- 
quois. He was aware from experience of the strength of appetite for 
fire-water, and knew that, single handed, he could accomplish little 
against the formidable evil; hence he sought the powerful agency of 
superstition. His name is justly venerated among his people, who 
call him the Peace Prophet, as distinguished from the noted brother of 
Tecumseh, who is known as the War Prophet. At his death, August 
10, 1815, his grandson, So-se-ha-wa, or Johnson, who was also born 
near Avon, succeeded him as a teacher and expounder, and, like the 
uncle, exerted a great and salutary influence among the Indians. 

I. Creiiit is <Uie to Morgan and to Nathaniel T. Strong, Esq., himself a Seneca, for data here. 
The father of Mr. Strong was one of the four chosen missionaries, and, like the sou, was a man of 
superior abilities. 



54 HISTORY OF LIVIXdSTOX COUNTY 

Trails, or footpaths, connected the Indian villaLces and distant 
places. Portions of these forest highways can yet be traced at certain 
points in the county, though the latter were generally cross trails inter- 
secting the great central pathway, which, starting at Albany and fol- 
lowing a well chosen route, terminated on Main street in the modern 
city of Buffalo. Morgan says, " This trail ran through the overhang- 
ing forest for almost its entire length. It was usually from twelve to 
eighteen inches wide, and deeply worn in the ground, varying in this 
respect from three to si.^i and even twelve inches, depending upon the 
firmness of the soil. The large trees on each side were freqiientlv 
marked with the hatchet. This well beaten footpatli, which no runner 
or band of warriors could mistake, had doubtless been trodden bv suc- 
cessive generations from century to century. It proved, on the survey 
of the country, so judiciously selected, that the great turnpike was laid 
out mainly on the line of this trail, from one e.xtremity of the State to 
the other." 

From Canandaigua were two trails. The one, after crossing the 
outlet of Honeoye lake and going over the hill in sight of Hemlock 
lake, came out upon the Conesus, near its southern end. when, follow- 
ing its shore to the foot and fording the outlet, the path proceeded 
west, and, passing over the site of Geneseo, led into Beardstown. 
The other, or main trail, leaving Canandaigua, passed over the site of 
West Bloomfield, through the Honeoye outlet, to the site of Lima, 
thence, westward, passing the site of Avon, crossing the river a few 
rods above the bridge, and entering the village of Canawaugus, about 
a mile above the ford. Pursuing then a northwest direction, it led to 
the Caledonia cold spring. 

" From Rochester there were two trails up the Genesee, one upon 
each side. That upon the west side, following the bank of the river, 
passed into the Indian village of Ca-na-wau-gus. From thence the 
trail pursued the winding of the river to 0-ha-gi a Tuscarora village 
on the flat, between two and three miles below Cuylerville. It next 
led to the Seneca village of Big Tree." Turning the bend, the 
trail entered Beardstown and thence led to Squakie Hill. Leaving 
the latter village, it continued up the river, crossing the outlet of 
Silver lake, and, entering Gardeau, followed on over the site of Portage, 
and thence to Caneadea, the last Seneca village on the Genesee. 

The east side trail started from the ford near the aqueduct, at Roch- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 55 

ester, and turning a little back from the river, crossed Mount Hope. 
"It followed the windings of the river up to Mount Morris. From this 
place ran two trails up the Canaseraga creek, one upon eacii side. 
They led into the small Indian village of Ga-nos-ga-go, upon the site 
of Dansviile at the head of the valley." 

Branches intersecting these main [lathways at fording places, con- 
nected the smaller villages. Of this class was the trail leading from 
the Indian town on Conesus inlet westward over the hill, passing the 
battleground of Boyd's scouting party, thence through Groveland, by 
way of Williamsburg, to Beardstown. Over this Sullivan's army 
marched on its way to' the Seneca settlements. 

In numbers the Senecas exceeded any other nation of the League. 
In 1651.1, the period of their highest prosperity, they were reckoned 
at ten thousand. Thence forward their strength g'radually diminished. 
A few years later the Jesuits reported the fighting men at one thou- 
sand. In our Revolution they were able to furnish four hundred 
warriors to the British. Their own estimates are much larger. 
According to a tradition, they once took a census of their nation. 
A kernel of white flint corn, dropped by each into a husk basket, 
assumed to hold a dozen quarts, was thereby filled. This would 
indicate a population of nearly eighteen thousand. 

The Indian title to Little Beard's reservation was extinguished by 
the treaty of June 3U, 1802 at Buffalo Creek; that to Gardeau reserva- 
tion, except two square miles thereof west of the river in present 
AVyoming County, by the treaty of September 3, 1823 at Moscow, and 
that to Squakie Hill, Big Tree and Canawaugus reservations and the 
remaining two square miles of the Gardeau reservation, by the treaty 
of August 31, 1826 at Buffalo Creek. 1- In 1826 most of the Senecas 
left the country. A few families lingered another twelve-month, but 
their homes had passed into strangers' hands, and they, too, followed 
to the Buffalo and other new reservations. Indeed, coincident with 
the advent of the whites began the exodus, for, by 1816, there were 
not more than four hundred Indians within the limits of the present 
county, all of whom lived on the westerly side of the river. Cana- 
waugus, at the latter date, contained about ninety souls, of whom 
several were descendants of Cornplanter. The Big Tree village 
numbered less than a score, consisting in most nart of John Montour's 

I. See Appendix No. ^ for copies of each of these treaties. 



56 IIISTORV OF LIVIXOSTON COUNTY 

family; a little knot still remained at Beardstown ; Squakie Hill had a 
population of eighty; and at Gardeau lived Mary Jemison, some of her 
descendants and a few others, about four score in all. These consti- 
tuted the remnant of that aboriginal host which had long peopled this 
region and throughout the Genesee valley held undisputed sway.^ 

I. " Realm of the Senecas! no more * 

In shadow lies the ' Pleasant Vale;' 
Gone are the Criiefs who ruled of yore, 

Like chafT before the rnshinj; gale. 
Their rivers riiu with narrowed bounds, 
Cleared are their broad, old hunting grounds, 
And on their ancient battle fields 
The jd^reetisward to the plowman yields ; 
Like mocking echoes of the hill 
Their fame resounded and grew still, 
And on greeu ridge aud level plain 
Their hearths will never smoke again." 

—Proem to Hosmer's Vonnoudio. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



57 



CHAPTER IV 



THE CHARTS of Western New York, prior to 1730, afford 
little or no definite information respecting the Genesee country. 
Pouchot's Map, prepared about the j'ear 1758,' a portion of 
which is there given, was perhaps the first attempt made to fix the 

location of Seneca towns, 
and even this, as will be seen, 
gives the position of very 
few. History, however, 
more than two centuries 
earlier, had shed a glimmer 
of light upon this region. 
Scarcely two score years 
had passed away after the 
advent of Columbus, when 
James Cartier, while explor- 
ing the gulf of St. Lawrence, 
in 1535, was informed by the 
savages living on its borders, 
"that, after ascending many 
leagues among rapids and 
waterfalls, he would reach 
a lake (Ontario), one hun- 
dred and fifty leagues long 
and forty or fifty broad, at 
the western extremity of 
which the waters were whole- 
some and the winters mild, 
and that a river (the Gen- 
esee) emptied into it from the south, which had its source in the 




1. M. Pouchot writes under date of April 14, 1758. that he handed to the Marqnis de Vandreuil 
a Map, and a memoir ou the subject of the French and English Frontiers in .\nierica. 



58 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON" COUNTY 

country of the Iroquois."' This, it may be sate to assume, is the first 
mention in [irint of the rej^ion of the Genesee. Next, Lescarbot, 
using the information gained by Cartier from the lips of the Indians 
of Canada, in 1535, says: "A little further west (of the Oswego river) 
at the Sf)uthern bend of the said lake (Ontario) there is another 
river (the Genesee), which comes from the country of the Iroquois. "^ 
Though scanty enough, these two references form the sum of direct 
historical mention of the (^enesee river and of the Indians in its 
neighborhood ])rior to the seventeenth century, so far as we have 
been able to learn. 

The original village of the Senecas, according to all tradition, was 
situated on a knoll, (ienundewah, near the village of Naples, as has 
been noted. After the extinguishment of the council fire at that 
ancient hill home by a great serpent, in the strange manner given in 
their traditions, villages sprang up elsewhere. Much obscurity rests 
about this particular era. The remains of a series of earthworks or 
rude fortified towns have been found extending from the county of 
St. Lawrence, by way of Jefferson, ^^'ayne, Ontario and Livingston, 
to Lake Erie, throu,gh (Cattaraugus and Chautau(jua counties upon a 
general line parallel to lake Ontario. It is estimated that more than 
two hunilrcd of them must have originally existed. They were 
especially numerous in this region. 

Squier,'' whose extensive researches among aboriginal remains in 
Central America and elsewhere fitted him for the task of careful 
inquiry, visited this county and other portions of the State three 
score of years ago. His object was to determine if these enclosures 
had a common origin with the vast system of earthworks of the 
Mississippi valley, whose construction in a remote age is assigned to 
the mysterious Mound-builders. But they proved to be wanting in 
the regularity of outline of those unique western structures. The 
Builders, he says, instead of planning them upon geometrical prin- 
ciples, like those of the west, regulated their forms entirely by the 
nature of the ground upon which they were built. The pottery and 

1. Miirshall's yia^ata Froiilier 

2. I.escarbot, Paris Kd., 1609, p. 381 

3. Hon. E. O. Sqitier, .See SmUltsonittti Coult ibuiiom. to KHo2vledge,\'o\. II. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 5'> 

other relics found scattered among their ruins are "absolutely 
identical with those which mark the sites of towns and forts known 
to have been occupied by the Indians within the historical period;" 
and, instead of placing their construction back in the ages of the 
misty past, it may be referred to the period succeeding the discovery 
of America or not long anterior \.o that event. 

The Senecas, quite likely, on being driven from Genundewah, took 
the precaution to provide their new habitations with defenses against 
unfriendly tribes of the west and north; fur they were then in their 
weakest condition, and had most need of such security as their simple 
art of defense might afford. Earth walls would, without doubt, be 
f5rst suggested as the means of local protection against assaults by 
hostile neighbors. These earthworks generally "occupy high and 
commanding sites near the bluff edges of those broad terraces by 
which the country rises from the level of the lakes. When met with 
upon lower grounds, it is usually upon some dry knoll or little hill, 
or where banks of streams serve to lend strength to the position. 
A few have been found upon slight elevations in the midst of swamps, 
where dense forests and almost impassable marshes protected them 
from discovery and attack. In nearly all cases they are placed in 
close proximity to some unfailing supply of water, near copious- 
springs or running strean:s. Gateways opening toward these are 
always to be observed, and in some cases guarded passages are visi- 
ble."' 

In preparing to construct these defenses (Cusick says), "they set 
fire against several trees required to make a fort; the stone axes 
were then used to rub off the coals so as to burn quicker. When the 
tree burned down they put fire to it in places about three paces 
apart and burnt it off in half a day. The logs were then collected at 
a place wherfe they set them up around according to the bigness of 
the fort, and the earth heaped on both sides." Embankments were 
dispensed with, after the introduction of the .spade and other European 
implements enabled the Indians to plant their pickets more firmly in 
the ground. 

Traces of long occupancy are found in all these works. Relics of 
art, such as clay pipes; metal ornaments; earthen jars of clay 
tempered with pounded quartz and glass, or with fine sand, and 

I. Squier, Smithsonian Contridutions. Vol. 11.. p. 12. 



60 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



covered with rude ornaments; stone hammers, and even parched 
corn, which by lapse of time had become carbonized, were discovered 
by Squier and others in caches or "wells." The latter, designed for 
the deposit of corn and other stores, "have been found six or eight 
feet in depth, usually located on the most elevated spot within the 
enclosure." Fragments of bones, charcoal and ashes and other 
evidences of occupancy are always to be met with. 

Many of these works, traced by the pioneers, were covered with 
heavy forests, and, in several instances, trees from one to three feet 
in thickness were observed by Squier grtnving u|ion the embankments 
and in the trenches. This would carry back the date of their con- 
struction several hundred years. 

While the enclosures usually varied from one to four acres in area, 
ruins of much greater extent have been found. The larger ones 
were designed for permanent occupancy, the smaller for temporarj'' 

protection — "the citadels in 
v'^>'0^^^ \\^\\ ni.'i;///x- '^ noMomoMtm* w imm, . u-hich the builders sought 

safety for their old men, 
women and children in case 
of alarm or attack,'' or 
when the braves were absent 
on the warpath. The em- 
bankments were seldom 
more than four feet in 
height. The spot selected 
was generally convenient to 
lishing places and hunting 
grounds, and contiguous to 
fertile bottoms. Indeed, all inilicalicms render it probable that the 
occupants were fixed and agricultural in their habits. 

The remains of nearly a score of these earth works have been 
traced within this county, the largest of which, is located in the town 
of Livonia, on the farm formerly owned l)y James Haydock, now 
owned by John Peel. It is three miles northeast of Livonia Centre 
on the Lima road, and covers an area of sixteen acres. It occupied 
the "summit of a commanding hill, a position well chosen for defence. 
Sixty years ago, where the lines of intrenchments were crossed by 
fences and thus preserved from the encroachments t)f the plow, the 




HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 61 

embankment and ditch were distinctly visible. General Adams, who 
had often been over the ground before the removal of the forest, 
states that the ditch was then breast high."i Caches were laid 
open and many fragments of pottery picked up within the enclosure. 
The gateway opened toward the spring as shown in the engraving, 
and some indications existed of parallel embankments extending in 
that direction. Colonel George Smith, who was familiar with the 
works a century ago, was of opinion that the eastern ditch was 
straight rather than elliptical as in the engraving, and ran 
due north and south, or nearly so. Within the fort, the ground 
was then smooth and was covered by a growth of small timber. A 
steep bank bounded the fort on the west, while on the north and 
south the ground sloped gradually away. From the western boundary 
of the fort to the present highway and beyond the whole surface was 
a gentle descent. From the bottom of the ditch, in which stood 
several oaks, to the top of the bank was about five feet. 

Another work of similar character was situated on the farm form- 
erly of General Robert Adams, now owned by Morey Adams, two 
miles northeast of Livonia Centre, occupying "a beautiful broad 
swell of land not commanded by any adjacent heights, upon the west 
side of a fine copious spring, for which the Indians constructed a 
large basin of loose stones. Upon a little elevation to the left, as 
also in the forest to the northward, are extensive cemeteries." The 
area of the work was nearly ten acres and the earth walls were cpiite 
distinct in 1847. 

Two and a half miles southeast of the head of Hemlock lake, in 
the town of Springwater, a mound of similar character, though much 
smaller in size, was known to the pioneers in early days. Its precise 
location cannot now be fixed. 

The names of the various places already described have passed into 
oblivion. We are a little more fortunate respecting another work of 
the same class at no great distance from those mentioned. It was 
located about thirty rods northeast of Bosley's mills near the outlet 
of Conesus lake, and in the field now bounded by the Avon road and 
the highway leading due north from the latter. The aboriginal 

I. The diagram on piecedint; page is from actual measuremeuts, after out made by Mr. 
.Scjuier. who was aided iu tracing tlie outline by Mr. Haydock, who himself had been familiar 
with the ruius before they became greatly impaired. 



62 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



name, Kan-agh-sawsi^ clinjjs to the ruins of this inclosure, though it 
is generally called "Fort Hill." A tradition still extant, already 
given in connection with the Battle of Geneseo, peoples it with the 
women and old men of the Senecas. Upon a knoll of two or three 
acres, along the westerly side of which ran a small !?tream, there 
existed a line of embankments, two or three feet in height, the whole 
being covered, at the advent of the whites, with a low undergrowth 
of wild plum, hazel and other bushes, but no large trees. A fine 
spring which suiiplicd the occupants, continued to be used by the 




SITK 111-- FllRTIHIKIi TiiWN NEAR liOSI.HV.S MU.I.s. 



early settlers for many years. John Bosley came into the country in 
1792, and acquired the mill property in that year. The same year 
he planted this lot with corn and potatoes. A grist mill was soon 
erected on the site of the present mills. The excavations therefor 
revealed tomahawks and axes, and other iron relics were found within 
the ruins in sufficient quantities to iron the mill. Jarvis Raymond, 
who occupied the farm, picked up a rust eaten gun barrel here. 
Eighty years ago, during the construction of Olmsted's mill, a thigh 
bone, two inches longer than that of the tallest man of the day, was 

1. Or C.ah-nyuh-sas. The more modern village, neai- the head of tlie lake, liore the .same 
name. But, singularly enough, an eutirely different meaning is attached to the word. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY (.3 

exhumed within the inclosure, and a shin bone of unusual size was 
also found. Large beads of green glass, coal ashes and burnt bones, 
a brass kettle, an iron pot and flint arrow heads in great numbers 
have also been discovered. Skulls to the number of two score or 
more were found at one time, and under a stump well nigh two feet 
through, w'hich stood near the crest of the hill, a skeleton was 
revealed some years ago. Orotesque ornaments, ivory or bone and 
metallic crosses and an urn of graceful form have likewise been 
gathered from the ruins of this wiM^k. 

Near the westerly bank of the Genesee, on the open flat of the 
Canawaugus reservation, might be seen as late as 1798, the embank- 
ment of an old fort which included very nearly two acres. "It cor- 
responded in situation and appearance with many others which I 
have seen in this part of the country," said Judge Porter, who sur- 
veyed the Indian reservatiiMis, "and which seemed to bear a high 
antiquity." This inclosure was located not far from the old Indian 
orchard, across the river in a southwest direction from the village 
of Avon. 

When Horatio Jones came into the country there was a "fort" of 
this description located on the flats near the river and distant about 
thirty rods north of the residence of the late Colonel William Jones. 
The highway running eastward to the river and which it strikes 
opposite Williamsburg, passes a few steps to the south of the inclos- 
ure. Before the land was placed under cultivation the embankments 
were two or three feet high and had every appearance common to 
this class of earthworks. The lot in which it was situated has been 
frequently plowed, yet the outline can still be traced and relics of 
the stronghold may now be gathered thereabouts. The tract of land 
on which it is situated is still called Fort Farm. 

On the farm of Andrew McCurdy, half a mile west of the village of 
Dansville, across the Canaseraga creek and a few rods south of the 
Ossian road, is another work of this character. 
Its site, a blufl; at the foot of which runs the Can- 
aseraga, overlooks the fertile valley to the east- 
ward and is commanded by no neighboring height. 
To the north of the inclosure a rapid stream 
takes its way through a gorge about fifty feet in 
depth, which, after running parallel to the creek 




64 HISTORY OF LI\-IXGSTOX COUNTY 

for a short distance, bends alirnpily to the right, as in the engraving, 
and enters the Canaseraga. Near the confluence of these streams the 
inclosure was situated. The sharp acclivities which form the banks 
protected it on the north, east and west, while on the south side it 
was guarded by an earth wall and ditch (from two and a half to three 
feet deep), which were still quite distinct as late as the year 1859, 
when the field was plowed for the first time. Under a large oak 
stum[), which stood in the bottom of the ditch near the northeast 
corner, and which showed 214 annual growths, as counted by Profes- 
sor Brown, were found parts of three or four dark earthen jars, 
which, on analysis, yielded animal oil, indicating their original use 
to have been that of cooking vessels. Ashes and burnt bones of men 
and animals indiscriminately mixed, and in one place human skeletons 
entire or nearly so, an earthen pipe, a stone pestle and a deer's horn 
curiously carved, were found within the inclosure. 

A century ago a circular mound, composed in jiari of black earth 
and cinders, about thirty feet in diameter and from four to five feet 
in height, stood a few rods east of the old Havens tavern house in 
the highway leading to Groveland. The mound was quite entire in 
1806, when the family of James Scott came into the country, and 
excited consideraliie attention. Its origin was ascribed to the 
aborigines, and early settlers classed it among the fortified towns. 
The northerly side of the mound extended to the fence, the track 
way making a detour around its southerly side. A score of years 
later the road was widened and the mound was thus brought near to 
the center of the highway. Thirty or forty feet to the eastward was 
a deep hole into which, from year to year, portions of the mound 
were thrown, as it would be plowed and scraped away, until finally 
leveled with the surrounding surface. 

A mound similar to the last, though not so large, was to be seen 
less than a century ago near the highway leading from Scottsburg to 
Dansville. Its location was on the hill-side about midway between 
the two places, and lay partly on the farm formerly of James McAVhorter. 
Upon a side hill field of the farm of the late Henry Driesbach, two miles 
north of Dansville, was to be seen, in an early day, a succession of 
holes in two rows parallel to each other and regularly arranged. Their 
excavation is also naturally referred to the red man, and, with plausi- 
bility, to the era of fortified places. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 65 

In the wood lot, on 'Mr. Austen's "Sweet Briar" farm, twenty rods 
to the west of the highway leading from Geneseo to Mt. Alorris, and 
about the same distance south of the road running to Jones bridge, is 
a small aboriginal inclosure embracing 2 acres. Its outlines are still 
defined. It was, most likely, used as a temporary abode by the ancient 
Builders while they were cultivating, from year to year, a favorable 
spot on the productive flats just below. 

Seneca town history may be said to have had five eras. The 
first applied to the original home of the tribe, Genundewah; the next 
brought the intrenched habitations to which we have just referred. 
Following these was the period of the four villages destroyed by De- 
Nonville in 1687; then that of the numerous towns established between 
1687 and 1779, all of which, with possibly one or two exceptions, were 
burned by General Sullivan; and lastly, of the five or six new villages 
which grew up on the return <jf the remnants of the Indians to the 
Genesee from Niagara, near the close of the Revolution. The older 
towns were confined to the easterly side of the river, while the later 
ones were located on the westerly side of that stream, usually at or 
near a bend in its channel. It must be borne in mind that Indian 
towns had not the definiteness of limit known to modern incorporated 
villages. They were nowhere marked by metes and bounds. A head 
man would select a spot which united beauty of location, convenience 
to good water and other advantages, and would there erect his hut. 
Any member of his tribe, who liked the site, was at liberty to build there 
a cabin and call the place home. If the chief was popular a town would 
be the result. Sometimes a solitary hut only would be found, as was 
the case between Beardstown and Big Tree, where a log house was 
standing when the pioneers arrived. It was called O-noh-sa-de-gah, or 
"burnt house." To this rude domicile General John A. Granger took 
his bride, and there resided while his frame house was building. Some 
confusion has arisen respecting certain villages, from the custom of the 
Indians to change, from time to time, both location and designation. 
The more ancient towns were located at a distance from the river or 
other body of water navigable by canoes, for, until the nation became 
strong, it would have been unwise thus to expose their families to chance 
parties of enemies, drifting noiselessly down upon their settlements. 

The four villages destroyed by DeNonville ' were Gan-na-ga-ro, or 

1. Sec .\ppen(1i.x Nn.4 for fieneral .lohu .S. Clark's description ol' these viilages. 



66 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON" CoL'NTY 

vSt. James, as called by the Jesuit missionaries, located on Boughton 
hill; Chi-nos-hah'-sjeh, or St. Michael, situated on Mud Creek in East 
Bloomtield, near the old stage road crossing; To-ti-ak-to, or Conception, 
in the northeastern bend of the Honeoye outlet, and Gan-nou-na-ta,' 
at the source of the Little Conesus or Gore Brook, in the town of Avon. 
The latter town is better known by its Seneca name, Dyu-do'o-sot', sig- 
nifying, "at the spring." and is the only one with which these pages 
have to do. The other three lay in Ontario county. 

Dyu-do'o-sot', - was situated on the Clarey Estate farm in Avon, a 
few rods from the line between the latter town and Lima, and two 
miles north of Livonia Station. John Blacksmith, the venerable 
sachem, whose recollections have usefully served the cause of aboriginal 
history, hunted in his youth over this section of country, and thus ac- 
quired an intimate knowledge of old Indian localities. He described 
the location of the town so accurately, that Marshall, while on a visit 
to Avon Springs a year or two afterwards, drove without ditificulty 
directly to the site, and there found indubitable evidences of former 
Indian occupancy. The spring which had sui)[)lied the village and 
originated its name, still poured forth a copious stream, and though 
the plough had nearly leveled the surface, the soil was yet loaded with 
beads, fragments of pottery, charcoal and other signs of an e.xtensive 
settlement of Indians. Hard by was their ancient burial place, still pre- 
served from desecration by its use for the white man's cemetery; thus 
mingled in death the dust of tw-o antagonist races that destiny seems 
to have forbidden to live and flourish together.'^ DeNonville, after de- 
stroying the three other ancient towns, lay at Dyu-do'o-sot' with his 
army, on the 21st of July.l'iS", through the day. He calls it a small 

1. The nil rac's are given in the M(jlia\vk dialift. 

•-'. Pronounced as chough written De-o-dou-sule. literally ■ at the spring." O. H. Marslinll, Esq., 
in a letter respecting this village, refers to the puzzling orthography of Indian proper names when 
conveyed through different languages. The name <>t Dyu-doo-bf>t. for instance, is given by DeN'on- 
ville, as (Jannounnata; in the pincrs 7>f'ihitl of taking possession of the village by the French, it is 
written Gannoudata; Belmont, in his history, calls it Ounenaba; Oreenhalgh, in his journal UP'"i. 
gives it Keinthe; La Hon tan calls it Danoncaritaoni, and Ackes Cornelius Viele writes it Kaunonada. 

3. The spot was visited by Colonel Doty in August, lSf>9. One of the then owners of the farm, Mr. 
Caton. was. at the moment, engaged in luirvesting barley in the Held, containing about 20 acres, where 
the grave-yard was located. He said that stone liammers, axes and beads were from time to time 
found in plowing. The graveyard, a small one, was then no longv;r uuich used, and was grown up 
with shrubber>'. Memliers of the Chai>pell and Wlialey families, and a few others, repcse there over 
the dust of the long forgotten Seneca warrior and councillor. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 67 

village, distant two leagues from To-ti-ak-to, and remarks that one 
would hardly credit the quantity of old and new corn found by him in 
store there, all of which perished by fire, ' as likewise did a "vast 
quantity of hogs." As he entered this village, he found the symbol of 
British sovereignty, the coat of arms of England, placed there three 
years before by Governor Dongan, though the arms were ante-dated as 
of 1683. While DeNonville lay here, a Huron belonging to his force, 
brought in the scalps of a Seneca man and woman, whom he had found 
in an excursion to the eastward. The Huron, in reporting, speaks of 
the "multitude of paths by which the enemy had fled." In 1677, 
Greenhalgh counted the houses in the four Seneca towns. Dyu-do'o-sot' 
was found to contain twenty-four.- Influenced by a supersitition, 
never a solitary hut was rebuilt, but the Senecas sought now the banks 
of the Genesee, along which they reared their villages, and for ninety 
years remained undisputed masters of the region. 

On the western shore of the Genesee nearly opposite the sulphur 
springs at Avon, lay Can-a-wau-gus,' the northernmost of the river 
towns. Its site was a few rods south of the old toll bridge, on land 
formerly owned by heirs of vSimon McKenzie. Both the great central 
trail betw'een the Hudson and the Niagara rivers, and the principal 
pathway leading from the falls at Rochester to the homes of tribesmen 
on the upper Genesee, passed through it. The population of Canawau- 
gus at the period of its greatest importance, has been estimated at one 
thousand souls. ^ It was the birth place of Cornplanter, and of his 
scarcely less noted half brother, Handsome Lake, the Peace Prophet. 

1. On the basis aflordetl by DeN'onville, the corn ricstroyedat Dyu-do'o-sot' was uot less than a 
quarter of ii million bushels. He says. "We had the curiosity to tstimate the whole quantity, green 
as w ell as ripe com, which wc have destroyed in the four villages, and we found that it would amount 
to 3,i0,0flti miiiotsof green, and .50.000 minots of old corn." He adds, "There was no less corn in (Dyu- 
do'o-sot' or) Gannimnta than at any of the other villages. ' A minot is a French measure of three 
bushels: making the total of corn destroyed by the E.xpeditiou, 1,200,000 bushels! [Sec note to Mar- 
shall's trans, p. 37.] 

2. Greenhalgh says "Keint-he contains about 24 houses, well furnished with corn." (See Col. 
Docs. X. Y.. Vol. III.] 

3. Ca-nn-;va-gas, also Ga-no-wa-gas. literally "stinking water; " or, "ithas the smell of the scum." 
■Col. Hosmer's orthography of the name is followe<l in the text. 

4. Col. Hosiuer is authority for this statement. Previous thereto, according to tradition, the popu- 
lation was much greater. Col. Hosnier said in 1869: "My cousin James Hosmer, now over 70, thinks 
in his boyhood the t'anawaugus Indians numbered only 50O or 600." These estimates appear quite too 
large. 



68 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Here, the latter received his revelation, and here often came the wise 
men of the Senecas to counsel with these and other noted residents. 
The Indian medicine-man often resorted to the healing waters of the 
neighboring spring, making his temporary home at this village, which 
thus acquired consequence in the minds of the natives. Their burial 
place, situated a score of rods to the north of the town, has often yielded 
up its bones to the plowman, and relics such as stone hammers, flint 
arrow heads, iron a.xes and other aboriginal weapons, have, from time 
to time, been found in the vicinity. "Often," says Colonel Hosmer, 
speaking in 1869, "I pay visits to the old Indian orchard, lying two 
miles away, as the crow flies, in southwest direction from the old 
bridge. Two apple trees have been spared by the axe, and I regret to 
say that their windbowed and mossy trunks will soon share the fate of 
the race who planted them. The early settlers of Avon discovered 
peach trees growing in the forest on the site of an ancient corn field of 
the Indians, the fruit of which was of good flavor. Many years since 
the council house at Canawaugns was standing. When last visited by 
me, a quarter of a century ago, it was in a state of decay — the roof, 
overlaid with bark, was falling in, and the storms had partly beaten 
down the walls. The building was low and about sixty feet in length. 
In the centre of the roof, which was bark bent to a rounded form over 
the ridge pole, was an open place for the escape of smoke, when the 
elders of the tribe convened." 

Mrs. Berry' was heard to say that in olden times there was an Indian 
village on the east side of the river, not far from the red bridge (Ijuilt 
in 1817); and that many huts were burned on that side of the river by 
a scouting party from Sullivan's army. 

Dyu'-ne-ga-nooh'2 was situated near the northwestern margin of 
the great spring at Caledonia. To the east and south of the Indian 
town lay oak openings, where the vSenecas pastured their rough coated 
ponies. To the southwest, a grove of wild plum trees and grape vines, 
on forest grown trellises, opened before the natives, supjilying them 
with fruit, while the waters of the spring afforded trout and other fine 
fish in abundance. Standing near the westerly border of the spring 

1. Wife of the Indian trader, Gilbert R. Berry. 

2. It is often written Z?<'-()o-«f-if(7/(-Hn, and means "clear cold water. "(7a«-('-o-(/<'-j'«, was the 
name given by the Senecas to the Caledonia spring, and signifies "clear small lake." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 69 

was the fatal post to which the condemned prisoner was fastened for 
torture; and hither, from other Seneca towns, were brought captives 
of consequence, the prisoners of state. Horatio Jones pointed out to 
John i\IcKay, the precise spot where the post stood, as the two strolled 
one evening along the Spring creek. "John," said the former, "do 
you ever see ghosts after nightfall wandering through these woods? 
If Indian hunters are to be credited, sights are often seen here that 
would make your hair rise." The Indian burial place was located 
about twenty rods northeast of the spring, where in digging wells and 
cellars, bones in abundance have been disinterred. A young woman,' 
while in pursuit of her cows in an early day, passing near the burial- 
place observed a grass grown hillock by the footpath. Thrusting in 
her walking stick, she disturbed a quantity of bones from their slight 
covering, doubtless those of poor captives who had suffered torture at 
the stake. Articles of pottery, bearing curious devices, copper kettles 
similar in style to those in use among Spanish colonists, and rudely 
formed hatchets and arrowheads, have been met with here. Long 
after the permanent occupancy of the village ceased, it continued to 
be a noted stopping place for bands of natives and parties of pioneers, 
or travelers passing to and fro along the central trail leading from 
Albany to Niagara river. Turner cites the remark of an old Canadian 
emigrant, who, after the Revcjlution, often passed over this route. He 
said that camping here was so frequent that the fires of one party 
would be burning when another arrived. At this village rested for a 
few hours the fugitive families from Beardstown as they fled before 
Sullivan; and here, too, halted, next day, the force under Butler as it 
retreated toward Niagara. In 1796, a detachment of regulars on their 
way up lake Ontario to take possession of Fort Niagara in batteaux, 
were driven by stress of weather from the lake to the mouth of the 
Genesee. They came thence to the mouth of Allen's creek and quar- 
tered on the farm of Peter Shaeffer. When they broke up their quar- 
ters there, Mr. Shaeffer piloted them to Caledonia springs where they 
bivouacked for the night. - 

The village of the Tuscarora Indians, O-ha-gi ^ lay a mile 

1. Later Mrs. Johu McKay. 

2. Turuer's Phelps & Gorham's Pur. — p. 409 

3. A few steps south of the old canal culvert. Mr. Wright thinks the true orthography ni.-»y 
he Dyu-h.ih-yaih. meanin» "the current bites the bank," or. "eats it away." 



70 



HISTORY OF T.IVIXr,STOX COUNTY 



north <^f the Bi^- Tree town on the same side of the river. Its 
site was a gentle swell of land rising westward from a marshy fiat, 
some thirty rods south of the old Spencer warehouse. The canal 
passed through the old Indian town, on the easterly border of which 
there were standing until quite recently two apple trees planted by the 
natives. A spring of slightly brackish water which sujJijlied the vil- 
lage, and around which the houses clustered, is still in existence. 
Richard Osbon, whose farm now owned by Hon. James W. 
Wadsworth, lies just south of the site, came to this country in 
1806. He said that then plain traces of several huts were yet to be 







SITE OF TUSC.\ROR.\ BIRI.-VI. PI.ACK NK.\K M.\JOR SrKXCKR'S. 



seen; but all e.xternal evidences of alniriginal occupancy have since 
disappeared. The Indian burial place which lay to the northeast of 
the village, from which it was divided by a little stream, is well 
represented in the engraving. Two or three great oaks stood, 
until recently, among the graves. In the season of fall shooting, 
pigeons in great numbers flocked to these trees, attracted by the 
peculiar water of the spring, a fact well known to hunters, 
w-ho seldom went away from the spot with ein])ty game bags. 



HISTIlRY OF LIVIXCSTOX COUNTY 



71 



Within seventy years the Indian graves, scattered here and there, 
indicated by slight grassy knulls, could be distinctly traced. Major 
Spencer protected the spot with much care, the plow not being suf- 
fered to invade the red man's resting place. Some years ago it became 
necessary to cut a ditch along tiie northern edge of the old burial 
ground. Major Spencer visited the spot while the work was going on, 
and, seeing one of the vvorkmen opening his tools over the graves, he 




SITE OF BIG TREK VII.I..\<.E, IIONTOIRS CRAVE IX FOREGROUND. 



said with emphasis to the ditcher, "Hi, hi, you are standing on the 
bones of IndiansI have a care, sir. have a care!" 

Ga'-on-do-wa-nuh, located on the westerly side of the river near the 
great bend, was long known as the village of the wise and intliiential 
Seneca chieftain. Big Tree,' A mile above on the opposite side of the 
river, stood the great oak'-, and directly to the east, distant two miles, 
is the present village of Geneeeo. The reservation embraced two 

1. Ca-oti-<lo-7ca-nuh. was located on the farm lot ofEasoii 1". Slocuni, in Leicester. The name 
signifies "Big Tree's village." bnt the tree is supposed to be lying prostrate. 

2. This great c.ak. wiiiih has licciuif popularly known as the "Big Tree." and to which it has been 
ernmcously snpimscd 'aneseo is indebted for its amicnt name of Big Tree, was not remarkable for its 
height, being probably in the niighborhood <if>event! feel, but it was a very broad spreading tree, 
the bole meafiired twenly-eit ht feet in lircumfereme, tour feet from thi> ground. 



72 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

square miles, uniting with that of Beardstown on the south. The vil- 
lage occupied an area of about thirt\' acres, divided by a small brook, 
now dry, the present hi<i;hvvay leading to Cuylerville, crossing the bed 
of the stream at right angles. One of the apple trees, planted by the 
Indians, yet remains. It stands across the gully at the northeast, and 
points the spot where the orchard was located. Before the canal 
was dug. Colonel Lyman occupied a storehouse on the river just east 
of Big Tree village. The river for some distance is very crooked here. 
In an air line Gilmore's mill is Init a mile and a half below, but mea- 
sured by the river's channel, it is quite seven miles. The graves of 
John Montour and four other Indians occupy a spot a couple of rods east 
of the highway. Sugar maple trees were plentiful about Big Tree vil- 
lage while the Indians occupied it, and in the sugar season the Senecas 
from other towns were in the habit of visiting their tribesmen here. 
In 182(1 the village had become reduced to eight or nine bark roofed 
huts, and was among the last of the towns west of the river to .be va- 
cated. Descendants (jf its former occupants still venerate its site. 
About forty years ago a band of Senecas visited the spot, and spent 
some hours in mourning over the graves. Their lamentations were 
plainly "tieard by Mr. Slocum's family, who resided a half mile distant. 
Dyu-non-dav-ga'-eeh, ' or Beardstown, I'lng held the principal r.mk 
among the Seneca villages. When Mary Jemison reached there in 
17()1, siie found the Beardstown warrior.s preparing to assist the- French 
in retaking Fort Niagara, whence they soon returned in triunqih, 
bringing white prisoners and driving a number of oxen, the first meat 
cattle, by the way, ever brought to the (ienesee fiats. Against this 
town Washington especiallj- directed the expedition under Sullivan in 
1779. The tribal council fire lay elsewhere, but here lived the noted 
chieftain Little Beard, and about him had gathered the wise and brave 
of his tribesmen.- Here were planuLcl their forays and here they met 
for consultation, and whenever the Senecas were summoned to the 
warpath, the Beardstown braves were always among the foremost. 
Quartered for security at this village for months, perha])s for years, 
after the Revolution began, were families from Nunda, and other out- 
lying towns, while their natural i^rotectors were absent harassing the 
eastern settlements; and frr.m this s|)ot went nut Rrant and the Butlers 

I. Or "stL'ep hill creek." or ■•where the hill i^ (or lies) upon it.*' Ttie litilian. \\'illiain .loiies, suid 
Ihtit Beariistowii wiis cuUeJ Qa-nah-ftn-niit-hn-ali. The plnfc is often eiilled LUtte Heanlstowu. 




Old Apple Tree Planted by Indians on Big Tree Reservation. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 73 

to the massacre of Wyoming, and to engage in other bloody work. 
From this spot, too, in the rain of an autumn day, fled the panic- 
stricken women, children and old men of the Senecas, and others who 
had sought its asylum, to escape the "Yankee army" when it broke 
camp at Conesus Lake. Sullivan calls Beardstown the capital of the 
western Indians, and adds, "we reached the castle or village, which 
consisted of one hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly very large 
and elegant. The town was beautifully situated, almost encircled with 
a clear flat which extends for a number of miles where the most exten- 
sive fields of corn were, and every kind of vegetable that can be con- 
ceived." The diaries of other e.xpeditionary ofificers dilate upon the 
beauty and relative importance of the village. It occupied the eastern 
part of the site of Cuylerville, extending eastward toward the river for 
several rods beyond the canal. Russell Beebe, while in the employ of 
Oliver Phelps, cleared the lanil on which Beardstown was situated. 
He found the ruins ot many huts, and here and there a straggling house 
near the river, showing that at one time the village extended well in 
that direction. The Indian orchard stood near John Perkins's barn, on 
the road from CuylerviUe to the bridge, and a single apple tree, which 
survived the destruction by Sullivan's soldiers might, in recent years, 
still be seen there. "When planted, this tree was close to the ferry, as the 
river then ran. In excavating for the canal a few Indian bones were 
discovered, and fifty years ago Jacob Clute, on preparing to build a brick 
blacksmith shop near the distillery, dug up the skeletons of half a dozen 
natives. Tomahawks and knives, stone arrow heads and other relics, are 
still found about the old village. The Indian burial ground was situ- 
ated a mile south of Cuylerville, on the farm of the late Hiram Jones, 
where a partial examination of the mounds, about seventy five years ago, 
discovered a large quantity of human bones. Soon after the death of 
Little Beard, the families began to leave the village for Tonawanda, 
the number of occupants gradually lessening until Beardstown wjc^ 
depopulated. 

De yu'-it-g.i'-oh,> known tu the whites as Squakie Hill, was situated 
on the westerly side of the river, opposite Mount Morris, and not far 
from the brow of the northern bluff terminating with the narrows of 

1. Monniuir. "wlifre the valley beKiiis tii e.xpaiid or wiflen out." .lohii Shiiiiks and other Iixlimis 
say that S.|iiaki.- Hill was iilsii called Uu-nuh-daianl-hwali, which means, "the hemlock was poured 
out." nieiiliiug the line leaves. 



74 HISTORY OF LIVINISSTON COUNTY 

the Genesee. It had ready access to the river, between which and the 
hill, lay a broad fiat, whose exhaustless soil, even under the scanty 
tillage of the Indians, yielded them corn and other vegetables in pro- 
fusion. The reservation embraced two square miles. By 1816 its 
population had become reduced to about eighty souls occupying a 
dozen bark roofed houses of small logs, scattered here and there as best 
suited the owner's notion, thrjugh all clustered about the council house. 
The latter, located on a level spot of two or three acres west of the 
present highway, and a feu- rods north of John F. White's residence 
building, was a log building about 25 feet by 40. Inside, a row of 
rough seats extended around the walls for spectators, the center being 
reserved for the council fire. The burial place lay to the northwest of 
the village, a few rods beyond the marsh or flat. Bones and weapons 
are yet found, and a few years since a silver earring was picked up on 
the old burial ground site. There were two houses half way between 
the village and the corn grounds, and at the latter place each family 
had a smaller hut in which they often lodged while planting and har- 
vesting their crops. Few traces remain of Indian occupancy at 
Squakie Hill. A part of Thomas Jemison's log house, located east of 
the highway, is yet standing and is still occupied as a dwelling. The 
orchard, to the south of the Jemison house, contains several apple trees 
planted by the Senecas, as likewise were a number of the venerable 
trees still standing on the flats to the east of Squakie Hill, and on the 
hill to the south, where the Peer rt^sidence, now occupied by John F. 
White, Esq., stands. 

A knoll just across the stream, south of where the cheese factory 
stood and east of the highway, was the spot where John Jeuiison was 
killed. The Senecas believed that this medicine man's ghost haunted 
the place. "Friends," said the Tall Chief, "you have killed an Indian 
in lime of peace and made tin- wind hear his groans and the earth 
drink his blood. If you go into the woods to live alone, the ghost of 
Jemison will follow you, crying. Blood I blood I and will give you no 
peace. "^ 

Samuel Magee was at the village in 1802. Before entering, he met 
a score of bareheaded squaws, each shouldering a hoe, on their way to 
the corn patch, under the leatl of one of their number, who, according 
to the habit, usually laid out ihe day's work. On reaching the village 

1. Ilosiner's notes. 




Apple Tree at Squakie Hill, Planted by the Senecas. 



HISTORY OF LIVINdSTOX COUNTY 7S 

Magee found a number of youngs Indians playing ball, an older set 
were pitching quoits, and a group of venerable natives were gravely 
watching the games. The shouting and boisterous laughing of the 
players obliged Magee to dismount, to the great mirth of the Indians, 
and to lead his scared horse through the town. Squakie Hill kept its 
population longer than any of the other river villages, and was the 
scene of their farewell dance, when the natives were about to quit the 
Genesee country. 

O'-non-da'-oh^ was located near the modern village of Nunda, though 
Thomas Jemison thinks a couple of miles nearer the river than the 
latter ttnvn. In this other Indians agree, but the precise spot is not 
determined. Philip Kenjockety told Colonel Doty at Versailles, that 
a large spring of very cold water suf)plied the village, and as he recol- 
lected CJ'-non-da'-oh in early youth, a hundred and thirty-five years 
ago, it was larger than Beardstown then was. Previous to the battle 
of Fort Stanwi.x the warriors of O'-non-da'-oh and other Seneca villages 
had been invited by the British to come and see them whip the Yan- 
kees. The Indians were not asked to take part in the fight but to sit 
down and smoke their pipes and look on. "Our Indians," said Mary 
Jemison, "went, to a man, but instead of taking the part of spectators 
were forced to fight for their lives, and, in the end. were completely 
beaten, and that with great loss in killed and wounded."- (J'-non-da'- 
oh shared in the disaster, losing among others its chieftain, Hoh-sque- 
sah-oh.'' His death was much deplored. The distress following their 
losses begot a feeling of insecurity and when the warriors again took 
the war-path the families composing the town removed to Beardstown. 
Kenjockety, who dimly recollected the exodus, followed with his par- 
ents. We find the village again occupied in 1780. In the spring of 
that year Joseph Gilbert, a Quaker, with his parents and family had 
been taken captives by a band of Senecas and Mohawks in Northum- 
berland county. Pennsylvania, and carried, with another pioneer, 
named Thomas Peart, to Caracadera where they were treated some- 
what roughly. Gilbert was soon separated from Peart "and removed 

1. Meaning "where many hills tome together." It will be observed that the Gilbert Narrative 
gives the orthography Xundoii: It is alsii given in ciirly doeuments .Viinrfji/. 

2. The Be.-irdstown Indians had 36 killed and a number wounded. 11 is not known just how 
many we're lost from 0-non^la-oh village. 

;l. Signitying "a man who carries it trimahiiwk." 



76 HISTORY OF LI\'IX(;STOX COUNTY 

to Xiindow, almost seven miles distant, where, soon after his arrival, 
the chief himself brought Joseph some hominy and otherwise treated 
him with much civility and kindness, intending to adopt him into his 
family." For several weeks he resided with the chief, whose wigwam 
was superior to the huts of the other Indians. He was then taken 
back to Caracadera, his weakness of body from scanty nourishment 
being so great that he- was two days in accomplishing the journey of 
seven miles. 

Peart was also taken to Nundow where he spent the fall and winter. 
Gilbert occasionally visited him there. Gilbert finally escaped- to 
Niagara, and Peart was carried to the same place by his Indian mother, 
where the two captives rejoined their friends. 

Ga-da'-oh' was situated on the Genesee river, near the great land 
slide. The reservation originally embraced 28 square miles, lying on 
both sides of the river, the village being on the westerly shore. On 
the return of the Senecas to the Genesee, after Sullivan's invasion, 
Mary Jemison went with others to Beardstown. Food was scarce 
there, and the weather by this time had become cold and stormy. As 
the houses had all been burned, she resolved to look out for herself 
elsewhere. Taking two of her children upon her back and the three 
others following, she traveled on foot to Gardeau flats. "At that time, 
two negroes, who had run away from their masters, were the only 
inhabitants of those fiats. They lived in a small cabin and had planted 
and raised a large field of corn, as yet unharvested. They were in 
want of help to secure their crop, and I hired to them. I have laughed 
a thousand times to myself when I have thought of the good old negro 
who, fearing that I should be injured by the Indians, stood by me con- 
stantly with a loaded gun, and thereby lost as much labor of his own as 
he received from me. "^ She thus secured a supply of samp and cakes 
for the fearfully cold winter that followed. Deciding to take up her 
residence here, she occupied a part of the negro's cabin and the next 
season built a hut for herself. The lands at Gardeau subsequently 
became hers by formal grant at the Big Tree treaty of 17't7. She 
remained here until 1831. when she removed to the Rutl'alo reser- 
vation. 

1. The Senecas name was h'au-Ta-n. meaning ■■down and \i\^ " <»r ;i vjtll.-v ;iii<l hilKjdf. in ii \\or<i 
a lilulT. The word is now spelled Gardeau And Onrdnn: 

i. Lik' of Miir.v .feniisoii. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 77 

Ga-nos'-ga-go occupied the site of the vilhige of Dansville. It was 
a small Seneca town, of comparatively modern date, and for some 
cause had ceased to be occupied as a winter village at the advent of 
the early pioneers, "though fifteen or twenty huts were standing 
when white settlements commenced, and several Indian families 
lingered for some years in the neighborhood"! ilain street cuts 
through the Indian burial ground, which covered two or three acres 
including the site of the Lutheran church. In sinking wells in the 
vicinity, a number of Indian relics and skeletons were exhumed, and 
about fifty years ago workmen engaged in digging a cellar, near the 
southerly part of this burial ground, came upon two skeletons of 
giant sized Indians, which lay side by side. They had evidently long 
reposed there, some favoring element in the soil having preserved them 
beyond the ordinary limit. 

In a battle that took place between the Canisteo Indians and the 
Senecas, on a hill three miles to the northeast, a noted chief of the 
Senecas was killed. To mark the spot where he fell, an excavation, 
several rods in extent, shaped like a man with arms extended, was 
made by his tribesmen. - An Indian trail led by this novel memorial 
and the natives in passing were in the habit of clearing therefrom, 
with tender regard, the leaves and brush which the winds had drifted 
into it. The chief's remains were brought to Ga-nos'-ga-go for burial 
and, singularly enough, now lie underneath the altar of the Lutheran 
church, a Christian memorial to a pagan warrior. A rude monument, 
consisting of a pile of small stones brought hither, one by one, by the 
Indians, from a hill a mile distant, was worked by the white man's 
hands into the church foundation walls. The Indian trail, which led 
from the Genesee tc the Canisteo river and thence to eastern Pennsyl- 
vania, may yet in places be traced, especially at a point half way up 
Big Hill, where the path intersects the highway leading from Dans- 
ville to Hornellsville; and for many miles below the latter place its 
deeply worn course is yet visible. Ga-nos'-ga-go was established after 
DeNonville's invasion of 1684. In Pouchot's map, as will be seen, it 
appears under the name of Ka-nons-ke-gon, a Frenchman's iDode of 

1. Conrad Wek'li's Reccllectioiis. [See Turner's, Phelps & tiorlinni, 3,i9.] The meaning of 
the Indian word Ga-nus-ga-go is "HmonK the milk-weeds." 

2. Thespotcannot be fi.und. though some o( the earl.v settlers were heard to speak of the exca- 
vation which they had seen. 



78 HISTCJRY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

indicating' in writinjj; the Indian spoken name. The two trails, pass- 
inji^ up either side of the Canaseraga connected the village with the 
towns along the river. 

Sho-no'jo-waah-geh' occupied both sides at Damon's creek, which 
runs on the northerly edge of the village of Mount Morris. The resi- 
dence of John M. Hastings, Esq., occupies a portion of the site. The 
name signifies Big Kettle's town, and is derived from the circum- 
stance of (ieneral Mills bringing a ccjpper still or kettle into the place 
to put into a distillery. In opening Grove street, hatchets, knives 
and beads were discovered in considerable quantities. Samuel Magee, 
who visited the Indian village in 17'J5, found the town ([uite compact, 
and the natives, who were enjoying themselves upmi the green, very 
civil. Magee, then a pioneer youth, and until then holding the red 
man in no little fear, lost his dread and grew fond of their company. 
When Jesse Stanley came to Mount ^lorris in 1811, an Indian mound, 
nearly a hundred feet in diameter and from 8 to 10 feet high, covered 
the site of the late General Mills' residence. The mound had long been 
crowned by a great tree, which had recently fallen under the axe, the 
stump remaining, though much weather beaten. Deacon Stanley was 
told that when freshly cut it discluseti a hundred ami thirty concentric 
circles or yearly growths. About the year 1820, the moimd was re- 
moved, and, in its removal, arrow heads, a brass kettle and knives 
were thrown out. A number of skeletons were also disinterred. 
Among the bones was a himian skeleton of enormous size, the jaw 
bone of which was so large that Adam Holtslander ])laced it, mask- 
like, over his own chin and jaw, although he was the largest man in 
the settlement, and his face was in proportion to the rest of his body. 
Metal, in the form of rude medals, a pipe and other articles, were 
picked out of the earth thrown from the excavation. Sho-noh-jo-waah- 
geh was generally called Allen's Hill by the whites; and the fiats 
directly to the east, cultivated by the Indians, they called Allen's 
flats, deriving the name from Ebenezer Allen, or Indian Allen, as he 
was generally called, the Blue Beard of pioneer history. This notori- 
ous character had acquired possession of a large tract of land where 
Mount Morris now stands, and of which the village is nearly the 

1. Literally, S/io-iio/i-jVj-iiaa'i, Big Kettle, and ,(7e/(, the location or town of, hence " the town of 
Big Kettli'." .Morgan says that the I'ainous Seneea orator. Big Kettle, once re.sided here, but this is 
imihably an error. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 7'» 

geographical center, ' occupying for residence and also for business 
purposes a long log house that stood within the bounds of Mr. Has- 
tings' grounds. 

Kan-agh-saws, or Conesus, was a small Seneca town, situated half 
a mile south of the head of Conesus lake, on the flat between Hender- 
son's creek and the inlet, though nearer the former than the latter 
stream. Sullivan's invading army breakfasted at this village on the 
morning of the 13th of September, 1779, and there spent the earlier 
half of that day. They found it to consist of twenty-five houses, and 
the surrounding bottom lands covered with patches of corn, ripening 
melons, squash and beans. Close at hand was an orchard of 
apple and peach trees. The army, with the exception of the light 
corps which encamped a mile in advance, had bivouacked on Richard- 
son's farm at a late hour the previous evening. After marching all 
the afternoon through drizzling rain and over muddy paths, a scanty 
supper and short supply of water, added to damp garments, had not 
rendered the night one of comfort, and the men were glad enough to 
move forward at early dawn to a spot which, like this, promised boun- 
tiful rations of seasonable vegetables, good water and an opportunity 
to dry their clothing by the heat of the burning cabins of the little 
town. Arms were also to be examined and prepared for use against 
the enemy, who were expected to be found gathered in force near 
their villages, which lay at no great distance beyond the brow of the 
wooded hills in full sight to the westward of Kan-agh-saws.- Sullivan 
says in his repi)rt, "Here we found some large cornfields, which part 
of the army destroyed while the other part were employed in l)uilding 
the bridge" across the inlet. When the army broke camp to move 
over the temporary bridge, cabins, crops and orchards had disappear- 
ed. The destruction of every species of property had been effected 
under tbe eye of Sullivan himself and was complete. The Indian vil- 
lage was never rebuilt. The Senecas have a tradition that a fort 
belonging to their tribe once occupied the site of this town, but it is 

1. Called the Mount Morris tract. See reference to this in (^liapt^r 8. and copy of grant to .\llen's 
<iaughters in the appendix. 

2. See appendix to Marshall's Expedition of DeNonville. Snllivan gives the orthr yrapliy of 
Conesus thus— A'aiie.ciAsatcs: Col. Huble.v spells it Kanaflhs<is aw\ .Major N'orris, of the Xew Hampshire 
regiment, gives it A'«jM7A«ta.'! or Vnrksin. The name is alM^ said l") be derived from the old scoop net 
fishing ground at the outlet of the lake, but this would apply ipiite as well to the old fortified pliice 
near Bosley's or Olmsted's Mills. 



so HISTORY OF LIVIXUSTOX COUNTY 

more than probable that this has reference to the fortified place near 
Bosley's ^lills. Its nanie is derived from the abundance of sheep 
berries which tormcrly ijrew on the western border of the lake. 
Poiichot gives the name Oni;)tade. 

l)yii-hah-gaih' was the village of the Oneida Indians. It will be 
recollected that the Oneidas, as a tribe, took sides with the colonists 
in the Revolutionary struggle. A few families, liowever, clung to the 
British cause. Of the latter, a portion removed to the Genesee, 
retreating thence to Niagara at the approach of Sullivan. When the 
Kenecas returned, a remnant of the Oneidas. consisting of 15 or 20 
families, also came back and established their homes on the easterly 
side of the river, a mile below Gilmore's mill. Near the site of their 
village, the river banks are quite bold. The Oneida youths were 
e.vyjert swimmers and often astonished the pioneers by their daring 
lea])s into the water. Charles Shackleton said they could dive as deep 
and stay as long beneath the surface as a fish. The spot became quite 
noted as a bathing place, and, on a warm afternoon, the river was 
frequently alive with their black heads. The whites were on good 
terms with them, and often visited the ground to play ball with the 
natives. The Senecas of the u])i)er villages imagined that the Oneida 
town harbored two or three witches, and about the year 1800 one of 
the suspected squaws was secured and taken to Beardstown, where, it 
is said, she was burned. This village was the occasional residence of 
two or three of the more noted Seneca wise men. It was among the 
first to be abandoned after the treaties. 

Chenussio was until 17().S the "'Western door of the Long House" 
and was in existence as early as \7r<0 and as late as 1770; at the time 
of Sullivan's cam])aign it had ceased to exist or had dwindled into an 
insignificance unworthy of mention. It was located on the east side 
oi the river at its confluence with Canaseraga Creek, a little south of 
Williamsburg, on the Colonel Abell farm, now owned by Major William 
A. Wadsworth. A small grove standing between the site of the old 
tavern (Allen's Tavern) and the Fitzhugh mansion "Hampton" now 
the residence of James W. Wadsworth, junior, marked, it is believed, 
the precise location of this village. Colonel William Jones recollected 
visiting the spot when about ten years of age, and could then trace 

1. Meaning "the stream or current duvouis it." that is, the bank. There is some uncertainty as 
to the eorrc'tness of this name when applied to this village, Ihougli it is believed to be acenmte as 
given. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 81 

the remains of eight or ten Indian huts. Samuel Magee said that 
from the town square as originally laid out, to the river, was about 
eighty rods, and that, about halfway between the square and river, 
was quite a large Indian burial ground. In 1806 a number of the 
Indian graves were opened and rifled of brass kettles, tomahawks and 
other property usually buried with the dead. Agriculture has long 
claimed the spot, and the surface now presents no evidence of 
aboriginal occupancy, though occasionally articles of Indian handiwork 
are found in breaking up the soil. This village appears on the Guy 
Johnson map of 1761 as Chenussio; on the Pouchot map of 1758 as 
Sonnechio, in both cases at the point described and where Mary 
Jemison's narrative says it was in her day. In 1750 it was visited by 
Cammerhof? and Zeisberger, two Moravian missionaries, who called it 
Zonnesschio and describe it as then containing forty houses. All of 
these names are dialectical and orthographical variations of the 
modern word Genesee, signifying the beautiful valley. Gaustavan, a 
celebrated Seneca chief, was for many years a leading spirit of the 
town, and during the French and Indian war, being thoroughly in the 
interests of the French, it required all the diplomatic ability of Sir 
William Johnson and the influence of the other natives of the league 
to neutralize his efforts. In 1768 it had ceased to be the western door, 
which honor was then held by the great town of Chenandoanes — Little 
Beard's town — on the west side of the river. 

Cbenussio was the town that Boyd was sent to reconnoitre, and 
which Major Norris says General Sullivan expected to find on the east 
side of the river and two miles north of Gathtsegwarohare. Writers 
have confounded it with Little Beardstown, and it greatly perplexed 
the General in his examination of the maps. It was near this village 
that both Schoolcraft and Cusick fix the place of the bloody battle 
between the Kah-kwas, who had been sent into the Seneca country by 
their female chief, and the latter tribe. 

Gaw-shegweh-oh,*or Gathtsegwarohare, was located about two miles 
above the confluence of the creek and river, and is described in a sub- 
sequent chapter. 

1. Samuel Magce gave the name a.s L'lahulan. .An old Seneca, Samuel Wilwin, who was raised on 
the Genesee, said Gmc-she-gueh meant a spear, and that O-ehr^girehont meant rattlesnake. When the 
place wa.e first occupied by tne Indians.the jioint. at the confluence of the Genesee and the Caiiaseraga 
creek, abounded with rattlesnakes. They would lay curled up on the i)Oint. basking on sunshiny 
days, from which fact the town took its name. 



82 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Sga-liis-ga-aah was a modern Seneca town occupying the site of the 
present village of Lima. The name signifies, "it was a long creek," 
and had reference to the stream whicli Hows at the foot of the ridge 
whereon tlie Indian town was located and which leads to one of the 
tributaries of Honeoye creek.' The importance of Sga-his-ga-aah con- 
sisted mainly in its convenience as a halting-place between the Indian 
village at Caledonia spring and that which lay near (leneva, on the line 
of the great central trail connecting the Hudson and the Niagara 
rivers. The village had entirely disappeared in 1797, when Matthew 
Warner came to the Genesee coiintrv. Fifty years ago Franklin Carter 
found traces of five lodges, in plowing his orchard lot situated on the 
easterly slope of the ridge. The lodges appeared to have stood a 
■couple of rods apart, fronting on a straight line.- Evidences of 
a large aboriginal population here have, from time to time, 
appeared. The Indian burial ground must have been quite extensive, 
as we may judge by the portions of it that have been disturbed by the 
plow and spade. Miles Bristol, in the first two years' plowing of his 
orchard lot in early days, found Indian axes in such ciuantities that 
their sale more than covered the cost of tillage; and William A. Bristol 
■on different occasions, found in the saine lot, situated ujjon this ridge 
back of his residence, a number of Indian skulls and bones; full fifty 
brass kettles, the bottoms of which were generally rusted out ; pipes, 
with the bowls ornamented by such devices as the huinan face and 
the heads of deer and other animals; beads and arrow heads, and several 
quarts of parched corn and beans. Many years ago, when the yard in 
front of the Presbyterian church was graded, Indian skeletons were 
■discovered by the hundred, as reported by those who then saw tliem. 
Fiftv years since an excavation was made at the corner of Main and 
Rochester streets, whith exposed the bones of a number of aborigines 
and articles usually found buried with them. The spot originally 
belonged to the church lot and it is a coinridence worthy of mention, 

1. This ridKC runs east and west, panillei witli Miiiii .'^tU'Ct. The central iwirtion of the Inilum 
town was a few rods south of tlie .Vmericim II del. 

2. The precise .s()Ot. where the remains of these Indies was fovnid, is about tweiii; -live rods to the 
rearof the Ameriean Hotel. .Morgan, in his"Ijei\.i;ue of the Iroiiuois." gives an engravinc of an Indian 
pipe found at Lima. It was id" black pottery, well tiuished, nnd nearly as hard as nuirhle. Col. Geo. 
Smith wai in Lima in 179S. There were then traces of an old fortihcation on the ridse where the In- 
dian village had teen lo"ated, the west end of the ditch crl^ssing the present highway on the ridge. 
i\ short distance west of the centre of the modern village, and remained vi.si hie for .some years after 179s. 



HISTORY OK LIVINGSTON COUNTY 83 

that the Indian burial oroiinds at Dansville and two or three other 
places in the county are used by Christian churches as cemeteries for 
white men. AuDtlier, lhnut;h smalk'r, Indian burial ground is known 
to exist about one mile north of the village of Lima, where hatchets, 
knives and other weapons have been occasionally found side by side 
with skeletons. In 1822 citizens discovered remains of Indians here, 
in a sitting posture, with earthen pots in their laps filled with corn and 
bones of squirrels. About the same period large trees, which grew 
over Indian graves, were cut away. Sullivan makes no mention of 
Sga-his-ga-aah, and, most likely, he was unaware of such a town, 
which, if then a winter habitation, had already been deserted for safe- 
ty, the families probabh' imiting with those of Beardstown or Cana- 
waugus, as was the case with many Seneca towns lying east of the 
river. 

Ga-non'-da-seeh was a favorite place of resort for the Indians in the 
season of pigeon shooting. The name signifies "New Town," and was 
located near the modern hamlet of Moscow, though never used for 
winter occupancy. 

The site of Deo-wes-ta is known to the whites as Portageville. It 
lay upon the neck of land on the easterly side of the river between 
Portageville and the lower falls. 

At or near the site of the present village of East Avon, was located 
a modern Seneca town called Gah-ni'-gah-dot, which signifies "the 
pestle stands there." 

It would be quite impossible to embrace, in a single chapter, every spot 
associated with Indian occupancy, for there is scarcely any portion of 
the cduniv where traces of aboriginal villages or burial places of the 
red men, have not been found. Oftentimes these consist of mounds 
of inconsiderable extent, or are the remains of temporary villages only. 
It is sought to preserve, with some particularity, a record of the places 
which belong to history. An instance of the many minor relics of In- 
dian abode is found near the village of Geneseo. Within a narrow 
circuit a mile west of the village, three small mounds may yet be traced, 
one of which occurs about forty rods south west of the Big Tree farm. 
This is three feet in height and near twenty five feet across; underneath 
a great oak, close by the old dairy hou.se is a second, somewhat smaller 
in diameter, and about half as high as the former; and, near the Jones 
bridge, on the easterly side of the river, is a third. When the railroad 



84 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was being constructed, the skeletons of four Indians were exhumed 
from the latter. These spots are venerated by the Senecas, who, within 
the last half century, were in the habit of visiting them and spending 
hours in mourning over the ashes of their dead there buried. Gen- 
eral James S. Wadsworth met every suggestion to have the mounds 
leveled, with a peremptory refusal. "Let the dead rest," he would 
say, and the same regard continues to be observed. Strangely, indeed, 
is the dust of the red man and the white being mingled in our midst. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 85 



CHAPTER V. 

THE Jesuits, true to their zealous spirit, were first among relig- 
ious societies to establish missions in the Seneca villages. In 
1616, Le Caron, a missionary of the order of Franciscans, 
passed through what is now known as the Genesee country, and other 
portions of the territory occupied by the Iroquois, but made no 
attempt to propagate his faith: A score of years later these inland 
tribes of aborigines became knowMi, by personal intercourse, to the 
Jesuits, who, as early as 1635, make particular mention of the Senecas. 

In August, 1656, Father Chaumonot left the Onondaga lodges to 
establish the mission of St. Michael, or Gandongare, in the present 
town of East Bloomfield. When the Father arrived at the village, the 
chiefs assembled a council to receive him and hear his message. He 
told them that his church intended to establish a mission in their 
country. He then gave them some presents. The way thus opened, 
he said, writes ilarshall; "I offer myself as a guarantee of the truths 
which I utter, and if my life is deemed insufficient, I offer you, in 
addition, the lives of all the French I have left at Onondaga. Do you 
distrust these living presents? Will you be so simple as to believe 
that we have left our native country, the finest in the world, to come 
so far, and to suffer so much, in order to bring to you a lie?" They 
were moved by this appeal, and the council, after solemn deliberation, 
resolved to receive the missionaries, and allow the Senecas to be 
instructed in their mysteries. The Jesuit visited the other villages 
with similar success, in one of which he found the principal sachem of 
the nation (Ga-no-ga-i-da-wi) bedridden with disease. Him he con- 
verted to the faith, and the distinguished chief, having subsequently 
recovered, became a powerful friend of the French and Jesuits. The 
name which he bore, and by which he is always mentioned by the 
French, is the title of a sachemship, still preserved among the 
Senecas 

In 1668 came Father Fremin to St. Michael's, to minister regularly 
at this most prosperous of the Iroquois missions. The field of his 



86 HISTORY OF LIVIXCSTC )X COUNTY 

labors, however, embraced at least three of the four Seneca villages 
of that clay, one of which was Dyu-do o-sot, situated near East Avon. 
A contagious fever broke out among the natives soon after his advent 
among them, and much of the good missionary's time was spent in 
responding to the physical needs of the sick. His skill in the treat- 
ment of disease not only tended to mitigate the ravages of the fever — 
of which one hundred and fifty dicLl in tiie four villages — but secured 
the favor of the natives as well. DeNonville mentions tlie fact that 
Fathers Fremin and Garnier had been stationary missionaries for 
twenty years at the four Seneca villages destroyed by iiini, pr'nn to his 
invasion in 1687. The two other Seneca missions were called LaCon- 
ceiition and St. James. Dablon, rector of the college of Quebec, and 
Superior of the Jesuit missions in New France or Canada, says, in 
1672, that the Fathers count two or three thousand snuls at these 
three stations. 

Father Fremin addressed letters to the general of the order of the 
Jesuits at Rome, giving an account of the progress of spiritual things 
among the rude converts here, thus opening communication between 
this land of forest and wigwam and that ecclesiastical centre, which, 
for so many centuries, swayed the political, as it sought to swav the 
religious, destinies of the civilized world. Garnier writes to Dablon 
in July, l'i72, of the Senecas, who had threatened his lite. He says 
their minds being ill-disposeti, the devil uses every occasion to make 
them speak against the faith and those who preach it. An old man, 
he adds, who, some years before, came from the ountrv of the 
Cayugas, a pragmatical fellow of big words, does what he likes with 
the Senecas, and passes among them for a prodigy of talent, has per- 
suaded some of them that our reHginn causes them to die, and cites 
instances. Breviaries, ink horns and manuscripts were considered as 
so many instruments of sorcery, and their prayers as magical incan- 
tation. A niece of one of the chiefs was sickly, and the cliief was 
suspicious that the missionary, who spent much time in the rude 
chapel, was plotting with some demon for the death of the girl. 

Bishop Kip says, "There is no page in our I'ountry's histor\- mure 
touching and romantic than that which records the labors and sutier- 
ings of the Jesuit missionaries. In these western wilds they were 
the earliest pioneers of civilization and faith. The wild hunter oi- the 
adventurous traveller, wlu), penetrating the forests, came to new and 



HISTORY O'F niVINGSTON COUNTY 87 

strange tribes, often found that, years before, the disciples of Lovola 
had preceded him in the wilderness. Traditions of the 'Black 
robes' still lingered among the Indians. On some mossgrown trees 
they pointed out the traces of their work, and in wonder he de- 
ciphered, carvetl side by side on its trunk, the emblem of our salva- 
tion and the lilies of the Bourbons." 

Without arms or other compulsory means, but simply by kindness, 
the Jesuits sought to secure the desired end. Music, knowledge of 
the healing art, assimilation to the peculiarities of the strange people 
among whom they labored, and curiosity, toci, had their influence. 
Father Fremin says : "I neither see, nor hear, nor speak to anv but 
the Indians. My food is very simple and light. I have never been 
able to conform my taste to the meal or the smoked fish of the sav- 
ages, and my nourishment is only composed of corn which they 
potmd, and of which I make each day a kind of hominy, which I boil 
in water." Sometimes he was compelled to live on acorns. 

Father Fenelon, afterward famous as the Archbishop of Cambray, 
and author of Telemachus, was engaged for a short period at St. 
Michael's. 

One of the good Father's letters to Rome gives this incident: "A 
woman being surprised by the falling sickness, cast herself int" the 
middle of a large fire. Before they could extricate her she was so 
badly burnt that the bones of her hands and arms fell from her one 
'after the other. As I was not then in the village, a yotmg French- 
man whom I have with me, and who performs worthily the functions 
of Dogique, hastened to her, and finding her in possessi(jn of her 
senses, spoke to her of God and His salvation, instructed her, caused 
her to perform all the religious offices necessary upon such an 
occasion and baptised her. The poor creature passed the eight or 
ten days of life which remained to her in prayer. This was her only 
consolation in her grievous sufferings. In an entire hopelessness of 
all human succor, she suffered with admirable patience in the faith 
of eternal life. Such works of grace make the most sensible im- 
pression in these barbarous regions, and greatly assuage the anxie- 
ties, the fatigues and the afflictions of a missionary." 

Though wedded to the interests of their order, the missionaries 
were not unmindful of the spirit of conquest then prevalent in their 
beloved France. Indeed, it has been said that the Seneca missions 



88 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

were suggested by the Grand Monarch, Louis XIV himself, the 
splendor of whose reign encouraged adventurous spirits to under- 
take distant enterprises, prompted by a desire to add to the glory of 
that proud ruler. Certain it is that to the missionaries were the 
French indebted for their knowledge of the Genesee country. 

The command of Lake Ontario, and control of a certain valuable 
fur trade, were, late in the seventeenth century, matters of conten- 
tion between the French and English; and especially were the rich 
lands of western New York a coveted object by the French Canadian 
authorities. M. de La Bar, an infirm old man, had long held the 
office of Governor-general of those provinces, but, being signally 
overmatched by the shrewd and eloquent Seneca Garangula, in an 
expedition he had undertaken against the Iroquois, his government 
recalled him in IdSS, and, -in his stead, appointed the Marquis De 
Nonville, a colonel in the French' dragoons, an officer equally 
esteemed for his valor, wisdom and piety. 

The Iroquois had of late grown defiant toward Canada, and the 
new governor, to curb their pride, resolved upon an expedition to 
destroy the villages and fields of the Senecas, then located near the 
Genesee, and to construct a fort at tlie mouth of the Niagara, which, 
in connection with Fort Cadaracqiii. would mil only hold that war- 
like tribe in check, but protect, as well, the savage allies of the 
Frencli, who, in small detachments, could then make predatory war 
upon the Senecas, which distance and want of a place of refugt? 
hitherto had prevented them from doing, as well as to accomplish 
other favorite objects of French desire. 

The watchful Iroquois, penetrating these hostile designs, lost no 
time in notifying Colonel Dongan, the English governor of New 
York. The latter at once informed DeNonville that the Indians 
were persuaded at) attack was meditated against them; and that, as 
they were subjects of the crown of England, any injury done them 
would I)e an open infraction of the peace existing between their two 
kings. DeNonville replied, that the Iroquois feared because they 
deserved the chastisement ; that the provisions collecting were nec- 
essary for the large garrison at Fort Cadaraccjui. and that England's 
pretensions to the Indian lands were baseless. 

Dongan seems to have taken iio measures to avert the blow; and as 
it could not be known upon which tribe the evil would fall, due pro- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 8'J 

vision could not well be made for protection. The Seiieias weri.- 
destined to feel its exclusive force. The first open act of hostility was 
the seizure of some Iroquois chief, who had been hired within French 
power, near Kingston, Canada, b_v the Jesuit Father Lamberviile, 
under the pretext of preventing them from conveying- intelligence to 
their tribes. 

DeNonville's plans were wisely made, his army was commanded by 
able officers; and so perfectly were his orders obeyed, that his own 
armv and the reinforcements from Niagara, which he had directed to 
meet him, arrived simultaneously at the outlet ot Irondequoit bay, a 
coincidence considered ominous of success by his savage allies. 

On the afternoon of the 12th of July, 1687, the army set out from 
Irondequoit bay for the four villages of the Senecas, guided thither- 
ward by the trail along the eastern side of the river, and carrying 
thirteen days' provisions. They numbered two thousand French regu- 
lars and militia and nine hundred and eighty-three Indians. Advanc- 
ing m three columns through the oak openings, after a nine miles' 
march they encamped for the night. Next morning they moved early, 
with the design of approaching as near as possible the Indian village 
which held the tribal fire, before the enemy could seize upon two dif- 
ficult defiles necessary to be crossed, but which were undefended. The 
heat was sultry, and the- men were fatigued. There yet remained a 
third defile near the entrance of the village, where it was intended to 
halt for the night, and the army still advanced. The scouts discov- 
ered the fresh trail of the enwmy, and warned the troops to keep 
together. About three o'clock in the afternoon three companies of 
the French, together with the French Indians, fell into an ambuscade 
prepared by the Senecas, who were posted in the vicinity of the third 
defile. A smart but brief action ensued, with heavy firing on both 
sides. The Senecas were in turn thrown into confusion, and most of 
them flung away their guns and clothing and escaped to a dense woods 
and across a brook bordered by thickets. Ignorance of the paths and 
fatigue of the armv, left the invaders in no condition for immediate 
pursuit. The Senecas had eight hundred men under arms in the action 
and in the village clo.se at hand. They left twenty-seven dead on the 
field, and had a much larger number wounded, judging from the traces 
of the blood. The French had about half the number killed and 
wounded. The battle occurred a short distance west of the present 



90 HISTf)RV OF 1.1 VI XCxSTf )X COVSTY 

village of Victor, near ihe northeastern edge of a large swamp, on the 
northerly side of a stream now called Great Brook. 

Some writers claim that the action took place on the eastein bank 
of the Genesee, ne;ir the modern village of West Avon. DeWitt 
Clinton located the battles^round on a farm purchased by Judge Porter 
in 1795, situated about six miles northeast of Avon, and half a mile 
east of Honeoye Falls, On ])liiwiiig this land, three hundreil hatchets, 
gun barrels and locks, lead and pieces of brass kettles, weighing up- 
ward of one thousand pounds, were there found, being more than 
sufficient in value- to pay for dealing it. Beds of ashes and small 
mounds of black earth, formed from chips, were also duguj). On the 
first settlement of this country unmistakable evidences of its having 
been the site of a large Indian village were numerous. vScj uneven 
was the ground, occasioned by the numberless graves, that the 
pioneers were compelled to level it with spades before teams could 
pass over it. But Joiin Blacksmith, wlm, in his youth had hunted 
over the country embraced within the limits of Monroe, Livingston 
and Ontario counties, and thus acquired an intimate knowledge of 
the old Indian localities, on attentively examining a maj) of the 
country overrun by the French, on which lakes, rivers and creeks 
were correctly delineated, placed his finger on a point a short distance 
west of the vill,age of \'ictor, as the place of conflict. 

After the battle, the troops being fatigued, the night was s[)ent on 
the spot where the ambuscade occurred. The following niorning it 
rained heavily, but >lackened alxuit noon, when the army set out in 
battle array to find the enemy. Moving forward, they found that 
the old village had been burned, and the intrenchments of the new 
village deserted. Encamping on the height neai- the jtlain nothing 
more for the day was done beyond protecting themselves troni tile 
rain whiili had. again set in. 

On the 15th the savages brought in two old men, whom the enemy, 
in their retreat, had left in the woods. Two or three women came to 
surrender themselves, and informed us, says the Marquis, that for the 
space of four days all the old men, women and children had lieen 
fleeing in great haste, being able to carry with them only the best of 
their effects. Their flight was toward the Cayugas. One of the old 
men, who had been of note in the village, and was father or uncle of 
the chief, told us the ambuscade consisted ot two hundred and twenty 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTV 91 

men, stationed on the hillside, to attack us in the rear, and of five 
hundred and thirty in front. The former force directed a part of 
their efforts against our rear battalion, where they did not expect 
such strong- resistance, as those battalions drovt- them back more 
rapidly than they came. 

In addition to the above, there were also about three lumdred in 
their fort, situated on a very advantageous height, into which they 
all pretended to withdraw, having carried there a quantity of Indian 
corn. There were none Init Senecas. After obtaining from the aged 
Seneca all the information he could impart. Father Bruyas, a Jesuit 
priest, baptised him. The French Indians then desired to burn the 
old man, but, on the solicitatinn of the white French, "thev cimtented 
themselves with knocking him on the head with a tomahawk." 

The Hrst act of the day was to burn the fort. It was eight hundred 
paces in circumference, flanked liy an intrenchment advanced for 
the purpose of communication with a spring on the declivity of a 
hill, it being the only . one where water could be obtained. The 
remainder of the day was employed in destroying Indian corn, beans 
and other produce. 

This fort, although the plow has leveled its trenches, and nearly 
obliterated the evidences of its former occupancv, is still an object of 
much interest. The same solitary spring referred to by DeNonville, 
yet oozes from the declivity of the hill. Its site has long been known 
as Fort Flill among the inhabitants in the vicinity. Its sunnnit is 
perfectly level, embracing an area of about forty acres. Marshall, to 
whom history is indebted for a clear and reliable account of the e.xpedi- 
tion, has preserved, in an interesting paper, facts to which we are 
here indebted. 

On the afternoon of the 16th, the camp was moved to approach those 
places where there was corn to destroy. "A party of our savages," 
says DeNonville, "arrived in the evening with considerable booty, 
which they had captured in the great village of Totiakton, four 
leagues distant. That village was found abandoned by the enemy, 
who, in returning, had set it nn Hre, but only three or fnur cabins 
were consumed. " 

"The 17lh," cnntinues the Marquis, "was occupied in destroying 
the grain of the small village of St. Michael, distant a short 
league from the large village, and prosecuted the work the 18th, 



92 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

after having moved camp, in order to approach those fields which 
were concealed and scattered in the recesses of the forest. On the 
night of the 19th. a slight alarm resulted from a shot fired by a senti- 
nel at an Illinois woman, a captive for nine years among the Senecas. 
She escaped from the enemy, and was wounded in the thigh. She 
said the Senecas had fled to the Onondagas, and that forty were 
killed, and fifty or more severely wounded in the late attack. The 
morning of the 19th camp was moved to near village of St. James, or 
Gannagaro, after having destroyed a great quantity of fine large corn, 
beans and other vegetables, of which lliere remained not a single 
field; and. after having burned so large a quantity of old corn that I 
dare not tell the amount, and encamped before Totiakto, called the 
Great village, or village of Conception, distant four leagues from the 
former. We found there a still greater number of cultivated fields, 
with' which to occupy ourselves for many days. Three captives 
arrived this day, a young girl and two women of the Illinois natives. 
In the sanguinary wars which long raged between the Senecas and 
Illinois, many persons had been taken by the former, who profited by 
their recent defeat to escape, though it should appear that many of 
the prisoners had been put to death by the Senecas. 
. "The 20th we occupied ourselves in cutting down and tlestrnying 
the new corn, and burning the old. On the 21st we went to the small 
village of Gannounata,' distant two leagues from the larger, where 
we caused the destruction, the same day, of all the old and new. corn, 
although the quantity was no less than in the other villages. It was 
at the entrance to this village that we found the arms of England, 
which the Sieur Dongan, Governor of New York, had placed there, 
contrary to all right and reason, in the year 1684, having antedated 
the arms as of the year 1683; although it is beyond question that we 
first discovered and took possession of that country, and for twenty con- 
secutive years have had Fathers Fremin, Garnierand others as station- 
ary missionaries in all their villages. One would hardly credit the 
quantity of grain wc found in store in this place and destroyed by fire. 
"This same day a Huron came in with two scalps of a man and 
woman, whom he liad knocked on the head, having found them near 
the Cayugas. He had noticed a multitude of paths by which the 
enemy fled. 

1. Or l>>iu-flof)-mt, on ihr little Conesus. tiear Ka.st Avon. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 'J5 

"We left the above mentioned village on 22d, to return to Totiakto, 
to continue there the devastation we had commenced. Notwithstand- 
ing the bad weather and incessant rain, we continued all day to make 
diligent' preparations for a departure, which was the more urgent, 
because the sickness increased in the army, occasioned by the great 
number of hogs killed by the French army, and our fcjod and fresh 
provisions diminished rapidly. 

"On the 23d a large detachment of almost all the army was sent to 
complete the destruction of all the corn still standing in the distant 
woods. By noon the corn was all destroyed. We had curiosity to 
estimate the whole quantity, green as well as ripe, which we have de- 
stroyed in the four Seneca villages, which we found would amount to 
350,000 minots of green, and 50,000 minots of old corn,* by which we 
could estimate the multitude of people in these four villages. - 

"Having nothing further to accomplish, and seeing no enemy, we 
left camp on afternoon of the 23d of July, to rejoin our beatteau-x, ad- 
vancing only two leagues. We reached beatteaux on the 24th. 

"On 2f)th we set out for Niagara, resolved to garrison that port as 
a protection for all our savage allies, and thus afford them the means 
of continuing in small detachments the war against the enemy, whom 
they have not been able to harrass, being too distant from them, and 
no place of refuge. Although only thirty leagues from Irondequoit 
Ray to Niagara, contrary winds so delayed that it took four days and 
a half to accomplish the distance, arriving on the morning of 30th, 
and immediately set to work choosing a place and collecting stakes fcir 
construction of a fort." 

By the second of August the temporary fort was completed, and the 
militia set out at noon for their quarters at Montreal. The following 
day DeNonville embarked to join the militia, and reached Montreal 
on 13th of August, leaving the regular troops to complete some details, 
with orders that M. de Troyes, a veteran officer, captain of one of the 
companies, should winter there with one hundred men. A sickness, 
caused by climate and unwholesome food, soon after broke out in the 
garrison, by which nearly all perished, including the commander. 
For so closely were they besieged by the Iroquois, that they were un- 

1. A Diinot is equal to three bushels. 

■2. Secnppeiulix for General Clark's deseiiptiou of these villages. 



94 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

able to supply themselves with fresh provisions. The fortress was 
soon after abandoned and destroyed, much to DeNonville's regret. 

The French gained little honor and no ad\antage in their expedition. 
Their inefficiency disgusted their Indian allies, one of whom, an 
Ottawa, said they were only fit to make war on Indian corn and bark 
canoes. 

The Jesuit missionaries retired with the French army, and their 
missions among the vSenecas were never revived. 




Red J&cket's Hut* Geneseo, and Residence of Kora.t!o Jones. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ')5 



CHAPTER VI. 

MANY leading names among the sachems, warriors and wise men 
of the Senecas are more or less intimately associated with this 
region, and other pers.ms, well known to the pioneers, whose 
career was identified with the Indians here, claim mention in these 
pages. 

Red Jacket, Sa-goye-wat-ha, ^ was born at Canoga, on the west bank 
of Cayuga lake. He lived for a time in Gentseo, on the farm of (Je(jrge 
Austen, Esq., south of Fall Brook, and half a mile east of the 
Genesee. His relations with tiibesnien along the river were 
intimate and his visits here frequent and prolonged. His sa- 
gacity and wisdom are as well known as his great oratorical gifts. 
In these respects, this tioted chieftaiti had no superior among the best 
of his race. He was not a warrior, though he led a company of Sene- 
cas against the British in the war of 1812; but he was a negotiator, 
the diplomat -of his nation. Toward the t lose of his life he became intem- 
perate. On one occasion, the government having business with the 
Indians, sent an agent to Buffalo, who there met Red Jacket as the 
re|.)resentative of the Senecas. The day fixed upon came, but the chief 
failed to put in an appearance. Horatio Jones, whi) was to act as 
interpreter, after a 'ong search, found him in a low tavern quite 
drunk. The porter, who was about shutting u]) the house for the 
night, was preparing to put him out of doors when Jones interposed. 
As soon as the effects of the liquor were slept off, the chief wanted 
more, but was denied. He was i eminded of his neglect of the public 
business, and of the regret his course must cause the President. Red 

1. Rod .IackL■t'^ Indian name .signities, "He keeps them awake." in allusion to hi.« stirring elo- 
quence. His Yankee Uiime was tlius obtained: In his younser da.vs he was very swift of foot, and 
was often suffered by British ortieers engaged in the trader service, to carry messages of importance. 
One of these, as a reward, gave liini a richly cml)riiidered .scarlet Jacket which he wi>re with great 
pride. Wlicn tlie lirst (nie was w(n-n out another was given him. and. as lie always appeared thus 
arrayed, the name followed quite naturally. His original name was Oictiani. .signifving "Always 
ready." evidemly compounded from other dialects of tlie Six Nations than Seneca. The well known 
silver medal, oval in shape seven inches long by five inches tjroad. presented b.v order of I'resiflent 
Wa.«hington to Red .lacket. in 1792. is now owned liy the Bullalo Historical Societ.v. 



% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Jacket's under lip dropped for a moment, a peculiarity of his when 
annoyed; then, raising himself in his stately way, he said, with a mo- 
tion of his hand as if to ward off the approach, "All will blow over, I 
guess." In a quarrel at ('anandaigua in early days, an Indian killed 
a white man. A rising young lawyer, whose subsequent business 
career was a distinguished one, conducted the prosecution. Red Jacket 
the defense. In his appeal to the jury, the orator of nature rose to 
high eloquence, and. though speaking through an interpreter, jury, 
court and spectators were ail won to his cause. Captain Jones said it 
was cjuite impossible for him to ])reserve the full force and beauty of 
this atldress. The opposing advocate never again appeared at the bar, 
for, said he "If a heathen redskin's voice can so bewitch men's reason, 
wiiat call is there for either argument or law. " Red [acket obstinately 
refused to use the English language, and was a pagan in religion. 
Thatclier says a young clergyman once made a zealous eft'ort to 
enlighten the chief in spiritual matters. He listened attentively. 
When it came his turn, he said, "If you white people murdered the 
Saviour, make it up for yourselves We had nothing to do with it. 
Had he come among us we should have treated him better." Dining 
one day at Horatio Jones's. Red Jacket emptied a cup of salt into his 
tea, mistaking it for sugar. The mistake passed without remark, 
though not unnoticed by the guests. The chief, however, cooly 
stirred the beverage until the salt was dissolved and then swallowed 
the whole in his own imperturbable way, giving not the least sign that 
it was otherwise than palatable. 

"In debate Red Jacket proved himself the peer of the most adroit 
and able men with whom he was confronted. He had the provisions 
of every treaty l>etween the Iroquois and the whites l)y heart. On a 
certain occasion, in a council at which Gov. Tompkins was present, a 
dispute arose as to the terms of a certain treaty. 'You have forgot- 
ten,' said the agent: 'we have it written down on pajier.' 'The paper 
then tells a lie,' rejoined Red Jacket. 'I have it written down here,' 
he added, placing his hand with great dignity upon his brow. 'Tins 
is the book the Great Spirit has given the Indian; it dors not lie!' A 
reference was made t<i the treaty in question, when, to the astonish- 
ment of all present, the document confirmed every word the unlettered 
statesman had uttered. He was a man of resolute, indomitable will. 
He never acknowledL:;ed a defeat until everv means of defense was 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 97 

exhausted. In his demeanor toward the whites he was dignified and 
generally reserved. He had an innate refinement and grace of man- 
ner that stamped him the true gentleman, because with him these vir- 
tues were inborn and not simulated or acquired. He would interrupt 
the mirthful conversation of his Indian companions, by assuring their 
white host that the unintelligible talk and laughter to which he listened 
had no relevancy to their kind entertainer or their surroundings. 

"At the outset Red Racket was disposed to welcome civilization and 
Christianity among his people, but he was not slow to observe that 
proximity to the whites inevitably tended toward the demoralization of 
the Senecas; that to preserve them from contamination they must be 
isolated from the influence of the superior race, all of whom, good and 
bad, he indiscriminately classed as Christians. He was bitterly oppos- 
ed by the missionaries and their converts. He could not always rely 
upon his constituency, torn as they were by dissensions, broken spir- 
ited, careless of the future, impatient at any interruption of present 
gratification, and incapable of discerning, as he did, the terrible inex- 
orable destiny toward which they were slowly advancing. 

"In this unequal and pitiable struggle to preserve the inheritance 
and nationality of his people, his troubled and unhapp)- career drew 
slowly to its close. That keen and subtle intellect, that resolute soul 
which, David-like, unpanoplied, without arms or armor, save the 
simple ones that nature gave, dared encounter the Goliaths of the 
young republic, were dimmed and chilled at last. Advancing years 
and unfortunate excesses had accomplished their legitimate work. The 
end to that clouded and melancholy career was fast approachmg. But 
until the close, when death was imminent, he had no concern or 
thought which did not aJiect his people. He visited them from cabin 
to cabin, repeating his warnings and injunctions, the lessons of a life 
devoted to their interests, and bade them a Id^i antl affectionate fare- 
well. He died calmly, like a philosopher, in the arms of the noble 
Christian woman who has made this society the custodian of his sacred 
relics. He was a phenomenon, a genius, with all the frailties and 
all the fascination which that word implies — in natural powers equal 
to any of the civilized race. 

"Granted that he was vain; granted that he sometimes dissembled 
like one of our modern statesmen; granted that toward the close of 
his unhappy life he partook too often of that Circean cup which has 



<)8 HISTORY DF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

proved the bane of so many men of genius of every race, we cannot 
change our estimate of his greatness; he remains still the consummate 
orator, the resolute unselfish patriot, the forest statesman centuries 
in advance of his race; the central figure in that little group of abor- 
iginal heroes which stands out in lurid rt-iief on the canvas of Amer- 
ican history." J 

Red Jacket was not sufficiently identified with this region to justify 
an elaborate sketch of him here, but it will not be out of place to lefer 
to the fate that awaited his bones. At his death, on January 20, 1832. 
his remains were Iniried in the Indian grounds on Buffalo creek, nearly 
•opposite the grave of Mary Jemison, a sim[)le marble slab marking the 
spot. 

After many years the project of reinterring his remains'and those of 
cotemporary chiefs, lying in neglected graves in the vicinitv of Buffalo, 
engaged the attention of the Buffalo Historical Society. 

Mrs. Asher Wright, the devoted and \enerable inissionary, had 
written concerning the condition of these graves as follows: 

"About four miles from the City of Buli'alo, on what was the Buffalo 
Creek Reservation, may be found the f)ld Indian burial ground. This 
little spot, consecrated as the last resting place of many of the chiefs 
and head men of the Senecas. occupied the site of an ancient Indian 
fort. In lS42the line of the intrenchments could be distinctly traced, 
especially on the \ve5t and south. A little to the north of the principal 
entrance was the grave of the celebrated chief. Red Jacket, so long 
the faithfid friend and protector of his people against encroachments 
of the whites, and still as we might imagine, the watchful sentinel, 
solemnly guarding this little spot, where so many of his chosen friends 
recline around him, from the desecrating touch of tiie race whom he 
had so much reason to fear and hate. 

"Nearly opposite the grave of Red Jacket, on the south of the en- 
trance, was a solitarv white stone This marked the .grave ftf "i'he 
White Woman,' as she was popularly called, Mary Jemison." The 
stone was partly broken and the inscription defaced, for so strange 
was the story of the ancient sleeper that strangers visiting the place, 

1. From the address of Mr. Willinm c. Hr,\aiu at the t'erenioiiii'S atlt'iidiii!; the fimil reiuterment 
-of the remains of Red .lackel in the bm-ial lot at Turest Lnwn Cemetery. 

2. See Seaver's Life of Mary .lemisoii. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 99 

and wishing to carry awa)' mementoes of their visit had dared to chip 
off considerable portions of the marble. 

"It is a little remarkable that so many of the characters who figured 
on the stage with her, and took part in the eventful scenes with which 
she was so familiar, should have been brought into such close proxim- 
ity to her in the last scene in which they were concerned on earth. 
Here they lie, side by side; the stern old warrior and his feeble victim 
might shake hands and exchange greetings. 

"No stones marked the graves of these primitive nobles, but while 
the tribe still resided on the Buffalo Creek Reservation the graves of 
Red Jacket, Young King, Little Billy, Destroy Town, Twenty Canoes, 
Two Guns, Captain Pollard, Jnbn Snow, Old Whitechief and others 
were pointed out to the curious traveler." 

The matter took somewhat definite form "when ilr. William C. 
Bryant, a member of the Board of Councillors of the Buffalo Historical 
Society, on September 22d, 187(>, visited the Cattaraugus Reserva- 
tion and laid the matter before the Council of the Seneca Nation, 
which was then convened there. Chief John Jacket, a grandson of the 
great orator — pipe in mouth, as became a great Indian Councillor — 
presided over the assemblage. After a full discussion of the subject, 
the assembled chiefs by vote gave the project their unqualified ap- 
proval." 

On the 2d day of October, 1879, Messrs. O. H. Marshall and 
Mr. Bryant, officers of the vSociety, visited the Reservation, and 
obtained from their aged custodian, the remains of Red Jacket, which, 
thereafter and until their final sepulture in Forest Lawn, were deposit- 
ed, inclosed in a plain pine l)o.\. in the vaults of the Western Savings 
Bank of Buffalo. 

The following correspondence between the famous soldier and Indian 
chief. Gen. Ely S. Parker, who was chief of Staff" ot General (irant 
during the war, and wrote out the terms of Lee's capitulation, and 
Mr. Bryant gives an authoritative account of the vicissitudes of these 
remains; "" 

No. 3(JU :\Iull)erry Street, New York, May 8, 1884. 
W. C. Bryant, Esq., Buffalo, N. Y. : 

Dear Sir — Yours of the 25th ult. was duly received. I am very 
much obliged to Mr. ^Marshall for mentioning to you the circumstance 
of my having written him on the subject of the re-interment of Red 



1(1(1 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Jacket's remains. My principal object was to obtain an assurance of 
the ^genuineness of the remains. This I did because I was informed 
many years ago that Red Jacket's grave had been .surreptitiously 
opened and the bones taken therefrom into the City of Buffalo, where 
some few Indians, under the leadership of Daniel Two Guns, a Seneca 
chief, recovered them a few hours after they were taken.- They were 
never reinterred, but were securely boxed up and secreted, first in one 
Indian's house and then in another. At length I saw by the papers 
that they were now lodged in the vault of some bank in Buffalo. I wished 
only to be satisfied that the remains which the Buffalo Historical So- 
ciety proposed to re-inter were really those of the celebrated chief Red 
Jacket. That was all. Whatever views I may have entertained re- 
specting this scheme, which is not new, is now of no consequence, for 
your letter advises me that the subject has been fully discussed 
with the survivors of the families of the departed chiefs, and also of the 
Council of the Seneca Nation, who have all assented to the project of 
re-interinent and to the site selected. 

I am, with respect, yours, etc. 

Ely S. P.\rkkr. 

Buffalo, June 25, 1.SS4. 
Gen. Ely S. Parker: 

Dear Sir — In 1852, Red Jacket's remains reposed in the old Mission 
Cemetery at East Buffalo, surrounded by those of Young King, Capt. 
Pollard, Destroy Town, Little Billy, Mary Jemison, and others, re- 
nowned in the later history of the Senecas. His grave was marked by 
a marble slab, erected by the eminent comedian, Henry Placide, but 
which had been chipped away to half of its original proport-ions by 
relic hunters and other vandals. The cemetery was the pasture ground 
for vagrant cattle and was in a scandalous state of dilapidation and 
neglect. The legal title to the grounds was and still is in the possession 
of the Ogden Land Company, although at the time of the last treaty the 
Indians were led to believe that the cemetery and church grounds were 
excluded from its operation. At the time mentioned (1852), George 
Copway, the well known Ojibwa lecturer gave two or more lectures in 
Buffalo, in the course of which he called attention to Red Jacket's neg- 
lected grave and agitated the subject of the removal of his dust to a more 
secure place and the erection of a suitable monument. A prominent 
business man, the late Wheeler Hotchkiss, who lived adjoining the 
cemetery, became deeply interested in the project, and he, together 
with Copway, assisted by an undertaker named Farwell, exhumed the 
remains and placed them in a new coffin, which was deposited with the 
bones in the cellar of Hotchkiss' residence. 

There were a few Senecas still living on the Buffalo Creek Reservation 
among them Moses Stevenson, Tliomas Jemison, Daniel Two (iuns, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 101 

and others. They discovered that the old chief's grave had been 
violated almost simultaneously with its accomplishment. Stevenson, 
Two Guns, and a party of excited sympathizers among the whites, 
hastily gathered together and repaired to Hotchkiss' residence, where 
they demanded that the remains should be given up to them. The 
request was complied with and the bones were taken to Cattaraugus 
and placed in the custody of Ruth Stevenson, the favorite step-daugh- 
ter of Red Jacket, and a most worthy woman. Ruth was the wife of 
James Stevenson, brother of Closes. Their father was a cotemporary of 
Red Jacket and a distinguished chief. She was the sister of Daniel Two 
Guns. ^ Her father, a renowned warrior and chief, fell at the battle of 
Chippewa, an ally of the United States. 

When the demand was made by the excited multitude Hotchkiss 
manifested considerable perturbation at the menacing attitude of the 
crowd. He turned to Farwell and, indicating the place of deposit of 
the remains, requested that-Farwell should descend into the cellar and 
bring up the coffin or bo.\, which, by the way, was made of red cedar 
and about four feet in length. 

Ruth preserved the remains in her cabin for some years and finally 
buried them, but resolutely concealed from every living person any 
knowledge of the place of sepulture. Her husband was then dead 
and she was a childless, lone widow. As she became advanced in 
years it grew to be a source of anxiety to her what disposition should 
finally be made of these sacred relics. She consulted the Rev. Asher 
Wright and his wife on the subject, and concluded at length to deliver 
them over to the Buffalo Historical Society, which, with the approval 
of the Seneca Council, had undertaken to provide a permanent resting 
place for the bones of the old chief and his compatriots. 

I do not believe there is any ground for doubting the identity of the 
remains, and I think Hotchkiss and his confederates should be ac- 
quitted of any intention to do wrong. It was an impulsive and ill- 
advised act on their part. The few articles buried with the body were 
found intact. The skull is in excellent preservation and is unmistak- 
ably that of Red Jacket. Eminent surgeons, who have examined it 
and' compared it with the best portraits of Red Jacket, attest to its 
genuineness 

The Rev. Asher AVright was a faithful missionary among the Sene- 
cas for nearly half a century. 

There was no opportunity afforded Hotchkiss and his companions to 
fraudulently substitute another skeleton, had they been so disposed. 
I knew Hotchkiss well and have his written statement of the facts. 

1. Colonel Doty .sjnv Daniel Two (inns, who was a step solicit Ked .laeki't. im a visit to the Cat- 
taraugus reservation in I.Htiu. He said through an interpreter, that just before Red .lackct's death, the 
latter requested hiui to take charge of his remains. He was a.sked w here they then wore. 'That 
must remain a secret." said Two Guns. 



102 HISTDRY OF LIVIXCSTOX COUNTY 

Farwell, who still lives, and is a very reputable man, says that when 
the remains were surrendered to the Indians the skull had (as it has 
now) clinging to it in places a thin crust of plaster of Paris, showing 
that an attempt had been made to take a cast of it, which probably 
was arrested by the irruption of Two Guns and his band. 

I have dictated the foregoing because on reperusal of your esteemed 
letter I discovered I had not met the question which was in your mind 
when you wrote Mr. Marshall, and I greatly fear that I have wearied 
you by reciting details with which you were already familiar. 

The old Mission Cemetery, I grieve to say, has been invaded, by 
white foreigners, who are burying their dead there with a stolid indif- 
ference to every sentiment of justice or humanity. 

Yours very respectfully, 

\VlLLI.\M C. P.kV.\XT. 

Finally, the 'nh day of October, 18.S4 was the day set apart by the 
Buffalo Historical Society for the final reinterment of the remains of 
Red Jacket and the other famous Indian chiefs in the burial lot at 
Forest Lawn, which had been donated for the purpose by the officers 
of the cemetery. 

The committee on selection of Indian chiefs for interment had maiie 
several visits to the old mission cemetery, of which mention has been 
made, accompanied by Mrs. Wright and by aged Indians who had been 
long familiar with the locality, some of them related to Red Jacket by 
ties of blood or marriage. The leading men of the Senecas, before the 
removal of the tribe from Buffalo Creek Reservation, laid in graves 
excavated in a small elevated area at or near the center of the ceme- 
tery. The earth there is a dry loam. The graves were two or m ire 
feet deeper than it is the practice now to dig them. They unifijrmly 
faced the rising sun. About forty graves in all were opened; few, if 
any, articles were found with the remains, save an occasional pipe and 
decayed fragments of blankets, broadcloth tunics, silken sashes and 
turbans, and beaded leggins and moccasins. But seven of the skele- 
tons could be positively identified, namely, those of Young King, 
Destroy Town, Captain Pollard, his wife and his grand-daughter. Tall 
Peter, and Little Billy, the war chief. Nine tithers, d'oubtless the 
remains of warriors famous in their day, were exhumed. These were 
all removed to Buffalo, and on the day appointed, the remains of Red 
Jacket and the warriors named, were, conveyed to Forest Lawn, in 
suitable oak caskets, and there interred with impressive ceremonies. 



PIISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 10.1 

On June 22, 1892. a magnificent culunin, suitably inscribed, SLir- 
moiinted by an heroic figure in bronze of Red Jacket, erected by tiic 
Buffalo Historical Society, was unveiled on the bu/ial plot, where it 
will remain an enduring monument to the splendid public spirit of 
that Society.^ 

Cornplanter, Ga-yant-hwah-geh, or Gy-ant-wa-chia,-' was the last war 
chief of the Senecas and of the Iroquois and one of the wisest and best 
of Seneca notables. As a councillor, indeed, none of his race was better 
esteemed. Canawaugus, near Avon, had the honor of being his birth- 
place; in after years he usually resided on the Allegheny river, yet he 
remained closely identified through life, by consanguinity and other- 
wise, with the Indians of the Genesee. He claimed that (jeneral 
Washington and he were of the same age. This would make 17o2 the 
year of his birth. He was partly white. The Indian boys early took 
notice that his skin was more fair than theirs, and he mentioned the 
matter to his mother, who told him that his father was a white 
trader named ABeel or O'Bail, who lived near Albany.' After growing 
up he sought out his father and made himself known. The father 
gave him food to eat at his house, but "no provisions on the way 
home. He gave me neither kettle nor gun, nor did he tell me liiat the 
United States were about to rebel against Great Britain," said the 
much offended half-blood.^ Cornplanter was among the first to adopt 
the white man's costume, and in latter years, might easily have been 

1. I am iiuiebted to Vol. 3 of the Transactions of the Buffiilo Historical Society and the .\nnual 
Report of the Board of Managers of that .Society for fti9".> for the acconntof the removal of thereniains 
of the chiefs and the correspondence relating thereto. [Editor.] 

2. Meaning "in, or at the planted field." 

3. .-Vt the periixl of the birth of Cornplanter the trade with the Six Nations was chiefly in the 
bands of the English. One of their principal traders was .lohn ABeel, generally name<l O'Bail or 
O'Beel; his name is nientionci in the annals of the time on several occasions. At one time it is 
stated that he made ['resents of considerable value to the Indians. It was one of the hospitable cus- 
toms of the people to give their fiiends a wife. John .\ Heel had his Iniiian squaw and Cornplanter 
was the fruit of the temporary union. Probably his mother was the daughter of an Indian sachem: 
this is evident from the fad that 'he best traders were regarded with great favoi by the Indians and 
the circumstance that three of her son» were recognized as chiefs of the Seneca tribe, namely: Corn- 
planter. and her younger sons Ilandsume Luke and Blacksnake. (Ta-wan-ne-ars ) From .Snowden's 
historical sketch of Cornplanter. to «hi<h the author adils the following note : 

"I have recently been informed that John AlSecl. the father of Cornplanter, was a Hollander. The 
original manner of writing the name was ABeel. The family now wrjte it Abeel. I regret that the 
name is inaccurately engraved on the monument erected at Jennesadaga." 

4. Coruplanter's letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania, in 1822. 



104 HISTORY OF LIVIX(tSTON COUNTY 

mistaken for a well-to-do farmer. He was of medium height, inclining 
to cor[)ulency, though late in life he became quite thin in person; was 
easy in manners ^nd correct in morals. His face was expressive and 
his eye dark and penetrating. He ranked above Red Jacket as a war- 
rior and was little inferior to him as an orator. He was at Braddock's 
defeat, where. Washington, then a colonial major, first distinguished 
himself. He held the original papers and treaties of the vSenecas, 
which he often carried about with him in a pair of saddle-bags, to 
silence disputes or to assert the rights of his people. On one occasion 
Red Jacket was boasting of what he had'said at certain treaties, when 
Cornplanter quietly added, "Y'es, but we told you what to say." He 
was a man singularly upright in all relations. Horatio Jones said, 
"He was one of the best of men to have on your side, and there you 
would be sure to find him if he thought yours the right side, but it was 
deucedly unlucky if he thought you wrong." He was much older than 
Red Jacket and looked, with pardonable jealousy, upon that rising 
young orator. 

Cornplanter greatly cotnmended himself to General Wasliington, 
who said of him : "The merits of Cornplanter and his friendship for 
the United States are well known to me and shall not be forgotten." 
Jn cecognition of his services in preventing the Si.\ Nations in the 
State of New York uniting in the confederacy of the western trilies in 
17'J0-'M, and thereby sparing the entire western frontier of Pennsyl- 
vania the bloody realities of war, and rendering the victory of General 
Wayne in 1794 possible, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania gave him 
a grant of a very extensive tract of land, in the patent of which it is 
designated "Planter's Field," and was called Jennisheo, in remem- 
brance of his former home on the Genesee river. It also erected in 
ltS66 a handsome memorial, at an expense of $1,000, on the sides of 
which are inscribed the following words: "Gy-ant-ma-chia, the Corn 
Planter, joim O'Bail alias Corn Planter, died at Corn Planter's Town, 
February IS, 1S36, aged about 100 years. Chief of the Seneca Tribe, 
and a principal chief of the Si.x Nations, from the period of the Revolu- 
tionary war to the time of his death. Distinguished for talents, cour- 
age, eloquence and love of his race, he dedicated his energies and his 
means during a long and eventful life. Erected by authority of the 
State of Pennsylvania, by act of January 25, 186(1." His name was 
acquired from his persistent efforts after he grew to manhood to induce 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 105 

the Indians to plant corn, which it is supposed was ingrafted in his 
youthful mind b}- his mother; and he prevailed on them not to rely so 
nuicli on the gun, the forests and the stream for food. 

Henry O'Bail, Gas-so- wah-doh,' was a son of Cornplanter and was 
also born at Canawaugus. He was generally addressed as Major 
O'Bail. In person he was portly and fine looking, and his manners 
were not without polish. He was placed at school in New Jersey by 
Benjamin Bouton, and graduated at Dartmouth college. He was 
somewhat boastful of his courage. In early times, while at the Man- • 
sion house in Avon, some question arose one day between him and 
Doctor Ensworth. O'Bail was told that nothing short of a duel would 
adjust the matter. The ground was paced off, and principals and 
seconds took their places. Word was given and O'Bail fired. The 
Doctor reserved his charge and walking close up to his opponent fired 
point blank at his heart. O'Bail, supposing himself shot, fell into the 
arms of his second, but recovered on learning that the pistols had been 
loaded with blank charges, a fact of which the Doctor had been duly 
apprised. While not wanting in honesty, O'Bail's business transactions 
were not always marked by that scrupulous promptitude so agreeable 
to early merchants. Colonel Lyman had trusted O'Bail for goods and 
went diiwn to Canawaugus to remind him that the debt was past due. 
"Oh, yes," said the Major, "I will pay you at once. Mr. Hosmer 
owes me. You know him of ctnirse, and I'll go to him and get the 
money." He went, but forgot to return, and, after two or three 
similar attempts, the debt was carried to loss account. Of his advan- 
tages of parentage and education the Major did not fully avad himself. 
He was fond of the Genesee country and was one of the last of the 
natives to quit this region. He left a son, Solomon O'Bail, who was 
born about I8(l(i. 

Handsome Lake, Ga-nyu'-da-iyuh,^ the Peace Prophet, was a younger 
half-brother of Cornplanter, as already stated, both having the same 
mother; he was born at Canawaugus about 1735. He stood high with 
his people both as a medicine-man and a spiritual guide. Mr. Hors- 
ford was told of a young Indian girl of Squakie Hill who was cured by 
him of a dangerous illness. All remedies failing, the friends dis- 

1. MeuuiiiK •■WnnipiiMi niemoriiil bi^lt." lU- was jiImp iiilleu 6Vi/i-»</i-.i/"-"'0. 

2. The nirtian name means "BBautitiil lake." The nameof thi^iirojihet of raortern paRanism is 
sometimes written Ga-nc-o-tii-yo: also Ga-na-di-uh-ga-ch. • 



10f> HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON CCJL'XTY 

patched a runner to the Prophet, with the clothes of the afflicted 
squaw. He took them, laid a handful of tobacco upon the fire, and, 
as it burned, otYered an address to tlie (ireat Spirit. After a moment's 
silence he observed, looking at the clothes, "This affliction is a pun- 
ishment to her for wickedly drowning a nest of young robins, and, a 
few hours later for repeating the offence. Twf> young deer must be 
killed — a yearling buck and yearling doe — the whole of both must be 
boiled at once and the entire village be called to the feast, and then to 
dance." Some days were spent in finding the deer, when the direc- 
tions of the Prophet were complied with, and the girl recovered at 
once. In person the Prophet was of medium size, of goodly presence 
and of modest and quiet demeanor. A reference to the Prophet is 
made in another chapter. 

Little Beard, Si-gwa'-ah-doh-gwih,' resided at tiie town to which he 
gave his name. He was noted botli as a warrior and councillor, and 
for great firmness and zeal, and, though not an orator, was a fluent 
talker. Physically he was a favorable specimen of the Indian chieftain, 
rather below the medium size, yet straight and firm. In faith a pagan, 
he always awarded respectful attention to the views of Christian 
teachers. Border annals show how fierce his nature was, yet, after 
tile Re\'(iuiti()n, he proved friendly to the pioneers and was esteemed 
by them for his good faith. No Indian was better informed, none 
more sociable than he, and with none could an hour be more profitabl)' 
spent. He conversed with good sense on the events of the colonial 
wars and the future of his race, and though it is a fact well established 
that he not only consented to the death of the scouts, Boyd and 
Parker, and quite likely suggested the exquisite tortures to which 
these devoted soldiers were subjected, yet , it must not be forgotten 
he was chief of the village menaced by Sullivan's army. Moreover, he 
took these two men in the act of securing information that \v<")idd 
enable the American general to march directly to the destruction of 
his peoples' homes, possibly to put to death any of them who chanced 
to fall into his hands, facts which serve to mitigate, [lerhaps, tiiough 
by no means to e.vcuse, this act of almost unparalleled barbarity. In 
a drunken quarrel at the old Stimson tavern in Leicester, in ISOf), 
Little Beard was thrown from the outer door, and, falling upon the 

I. Meaning ".Spear hanging down," conipouudetX of 0(i/t-si-^7vaa/t, spear, aiul Oh-sac/i-doh, it 
hangs down. I^is name is also written Sltigu-aif'ntvug/ik-U'i. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 107 

steps, received an injury from which, as he was advanced in years, he 
shortly died. 1 The great eclipse, which occurred soon after his death, 
filled the Indians with superstitious fears. The manner of his taking 
off could not but give him offence, the natives thought, and they 
imagined he was about to darken the sun, so that their corn could not 
grow. The hunters assembled and shot arrows and bullets at the 
obscured luminary, while others screamed, shouted and drummed, 
until the brightness was fully restored. 

Tall Chief, A-wa-nis-ha-dek-hah,- lived alternately at Squakie Hill 
and at a group of five huts known as Tall Chief's village, located on 
^Murray Hill, Mt. Morris, near the residence of General Mills. The 
spring whence he got his supply of water, and called Tall Chief's 
Spring, is still used to su[)ply the residence of Mr. Swett; this is sit- 
uated near' the site of his lodge. Tall Chief was favored by nature 
with more than ordinary grace of person. He was very tall, his 
relatives claiming that he stood not less than si.\ feet si.K inches high; 
from this circumstance he derived his name. Straight as an arrow 
and quite senatorial in deporttnent, he was always cool and self-pos- 
sessed While not in the same class with Red Jacket and Cornplanter 
as an orator, he is said to have commanded profound attention when 
he spoke. He talked little and only when he had something of con- 
sequence to say; his language was always well chosen, and his views 
exhibited great forbearance and a mild and kindly temper. He was 
greatly esteemed by the early settlers, and was a chief of much influ- 
ence among his people. Thomas Jemison said that he closely resem- 
bled in featur'i the portraits of Washington. An Indian of his village 
had killed a companion. Believing that Tall Chiet could aid in secur- 
ing the guilty man, the authorities at once informed him of the deed, 
but he did nothing. They at length urged him to act. "Yes," said 
he, "may be, bime-by, somebody ketch um, kill um, may be, can't 
say." But he performed better than he promised, and the culprit was 
duly secured and handed over. Tall Chief's name appears to the Big 
Tree treaty, and is otherwise associated with the business affairs of 
his nation. The pioneers recollected him with peculiar interest. His 
habits some of them at least, showed the freedom of forest birth. 
Colonel Lyman, having an errand with him one warm day. called at 

1. Marshall sa>-«i he died on the Touawanda reservation. 

2. Meaning "Buruiug day." .\lso spelled thus: On-niU-shat-ai-kaii . 



108 HISTORY OF 1,1 \-IX(;STO.\ COUNTY 

his hut. The squaws uf his household were found sitting on the 
ground, enjoying the shade of a great tree. On risking for the chief 
they pointed to another tree, near at hand, where he was seen lying 
upon his hack quite naked, barring a cloth about the loins. The 
visitor was graciously received, though the chief did not offer to rise. 
After the object of the (-all was effected, he politely invited the Col- 
onel to remain lor a visit. The females e.xhibited no surprise, though 
the visitor was inclined to regard the chief's attitude as somewhat odd 
for a personageof his consequence. Tall Chief dined with Washington 
on the occasion of a visit of a deputation of his nation, sent to smoke 
the peace pipe with the President. After a-ceremonious dinner, a big 
pipe was lighted and Washington tried unsuccessfully to draw the 
smoke through the long stem. He handed it to Horatio Jones, who 
succeeded better. The President then took a whiff, and passed the 
pipe to Tall Chief, to whom he paid marked attention, and then to 
each in turn. The dignified Seneca was always proud of referriiig to 
this occasion. He possessed the secret Indian remedy for the rattle- 
snake's bite, and was often sent for, far and near, to ajjply it, and 
usually with signal success. 

Tall Chief belonged to the "Beaver" clan, and he is said by Dr. Mills 
to have been chief of Kanaghsaws village at the age of thirty, at the 
time it was destroyed by Sullivan in 1779. He was probably born 
about 1750 and went to Mount Morns in 17.S0 or thereabouts. He 
resided there and at Scjuakie Hill, as stated, until 1S27, when he 
removed to the Tonavvanda reservation. He died there in the fall 
of 1831, having retained to the last a great affection for the Genesee 
country, which he occasionally revisited. He left three sons and 
three daughters. He was buried in the old Indian ^Mission burial 
grounds of the Buffalo Creek reservation, not far from the graves of 
Red Jacket and Mary Jemison. His remains were disinterred and 
brought to ilount Morris and placed in the cemetery there May 27, 
1884, through the instrumentality of Dr. Mills and the generous co- 
operation of the Cemetery Association. It is an interesting circum- 
stance that two of the relatives of Tall Chief, who were present in 
Mount Morris, at the ceremonies of reinterment, Mrs. Mary Logan 
(mother of A. Sim Logan) and Alexander Tall Chief, recollected well 
their residence at Squakie Hill and remembered attending the school 
taught by Jerediah Horsford sometime prior to 1827. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY l(i'> 

Straight-back, so named because of his erect walk and stately man- 
ner, was a son of Tall Chief, and seems to have acquired no little 
of the respect held by the whites for his father; it is said that he was 
a very fleet runner and was never beaten in a race by white or red man. 
William Tall Chief, ^ and Sundown were also sons of Tall Chief. All 
were born at Squakie Hill. In personal appearance William was quite 
striking, of "splendid physique," says one who knew him. He was a 
man of integrity, but more noted as a hunter than a councillor. In 
1846 he went to Kansas with a party of Senecas, to settle upon the. 
lands there set apart for the New York Indians. On their way thither, 
several of the band contracted ship fever on board a ilissouri river 
steamboat, and nearly fifty fell victims to the disease. Dissatisfied 
with the country, William set out to return, but died on the way, of 
consumption, and was buried at Beaver, Ohio. No stone marks his 
resting place. Colonel Doty saw his widow, who was a granddaughter 
of the White woman, and her grown up children, in the fall of 1865. 
They were possessed of striking personal appearance and seemed 
greatly interested in hearing about the former home of their relatives 
on the Genesee, recollecting much that had been told them of early 
days hereabouts. The beauty of Conesus lake, and the fertility of the 
Mount Morris flats, were facts that seemed to dwell most freshly in 
their memories. 

Big Tree, (ja-on-dah-go-waah'- was a useful friend of the American 
cause in the Revolution, and a leading adviser in all treaties and coun- 
cils of the Senecas. He was of the "Hawk" clan and a pure Seneca. He 
resided many years at Big Tree village, ^ which took his name. In 
person he was grave and dignified. In the summer of 1778, Washing- 
ton sent Big Tree to the towns of his tribe along the Genesee, in the 
hope that his personal influence and eloquence might win the Senecas 
to the cause of the colonies. He found the villages of Kanadaseaga-* 

1. His Indian name was //o-i.<-rfii-jft7;-/AW, ineauiiig, "he carries the medal," a name given 
him on account of the pride he took in wearing a medal. 

2. Sometimes called Great Tree. The name signifies "large tree, lying down. ' It is also 
written Karontowaneti. 

3. On the farm of the late Easou P. Slocnni. in Leicester, now owned by Hon. James W. 
Wadsworth. 

4. The Indian village situated near Geneva. 



11(» HISTORY OF LIVIX'iSTOX COUXTV 

and little Beardstnwn crowded witli uarriors from remote tribes. The 
Senecas at first seemed incliiieci to hearken to his wishes, but learning 
by a spy that the Americans were about to invade their countrj', all 
flew to arms, and Big Tree put himself at their head, "determined," 
as he is reported to have said, although his errand and well known 
loyalty to the settlers woidd seem to discredit the incident, "to chas- 
tise an enemy that would [iresume to encroach upon his peojile's terri- 
tory." His mission proving unsucoessftd, he returned to the conti- 
nental army. At a meeting of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs 
held in Albany in March, 17S7, I3ig Tree and tour other Indian chiefs 
represented that nation, and, in the same year, his name was afifi.\ed to 
the famous John Livingston lease, a document forming a part of a 
grand scheme to secure all the Indian lands in the state. The consti- 
tution of 1777 forbade the sale of Indian lands, but by securing a lease 
ff)r nine hundred and ninety-nine years, as was the purpose of the con- 
trivers, the inhibition was to be avoided. The lessees, known by their 
title of The New Y(jrk Genesee Company of Adventurers, numbered 
eighty persons, among whom were several members of the legislature, 
county officers and leading citizens. Their plan, though long matur- 
ing, was doomed to total failure, and the project holds no enviable 
•place in history. ' Little Heard and Hot bread were also signers of 
the lease, as indeed were many others of the Iroquois leaders. The 
legislature must needs pass u[)on the lease. But here its design was 
readily penetrated and its summary rejection followed. John Living- 
ston himself, and two other partners in the company, held seals in the 
Assembly, and one had a seat in the Senate.- In 1788 Big Tree was 
invited by Governor Clintc^n to attend a coinicii at Fort Stanwix, and 
in the following year he, together with Brant, Little Beard and Hot 
Bread, addressed a letter to the (Governor, forcibly presenting their 

1. It is quite likely the movers iu this scheme had somethiug in view beyond the possession 
of the land. In November, 1793, James VVadsworth aiid Oliver Phelps each received a circniar let- 
ter, signed by John Livingston and Dr. Caleb Benton, as officers of a convention pnrporting to 
have been held at Geneva, proposing a plan of organizing the counties of Otsego, Tioga, Herki- 
mer and Ontario, then comprising the whole of central and western Kew York, into an independ- 
ent .State. But this daring atteni])t at revolution was met in the true spirit of patriotism. A 
meeting was held at Canandaigua to denounce it. As it found little or no favor it was aban- 
doned. [See Turner's, P/tf/ps's Ct* (iorhant's Purchase and Hough's Indian Treaties, for a full 
account.] 

2. The IvCgislature afterward granted the company a tract ten miles square in Clinton county, 
in lien of their great expectations, rhe lease bi)re dale Nov. 30, 17S7. 



HISTORY UF LI\'IX(JSTO.\ COUNTY 111 

grievances. In December. 1790, a laroe deputation, consisting. amonL;: 
others, of Big Tree, Cornplanter and Half Trnvn, visited AVasliington, 
at Phiiadel])hia, and presented him with an address which has been 
[jresei'ved as a tine specimen of Indian ekiquence.' In 17'il, the legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania granted to Big Tree a patent to an island in the 
Allegheny river for a home but his death occurred before he took for- 
mal possession of it. He lamented the disaster to St. Clair's army in 
tiie Miama expedition, and, especiall)', the brutal treatment received 
by General Richard Butler, who was scalped and tomrdiawked while he 
lay wounded and bleeding. The Senecas hereabouts never forgave the 
deed, and Big Tree was heard to say that "he would have two Miama 
scalps in revenge for this cowardly act." Wliile in Philadelphia, in 
1792, with a large delegation of chiefs and warriors of the Six nations, 
he fell sick at his lodgings and died April I'Jth, after a few hours' ill- 
ness, of surfeit, a victim, says Turner, to the excessive hospitality 
extended to the delegation, and was buried at Philadelphia the follow- 
ing Sunday, April 22d, with something like public honors. His 
daughter was the mother of Captain Pollard. 

A son of Big Tree was quite noted as a runner and wrestler. Col- 
onel William Junes often wrestled with him, and being somewhat 
younger and less muscular, generally foimd himself undermost at the 
end of the scuffle. At one of the early day gatherings, the Indian 
as usual, challenged him. This time Jones managed to throw the 
native, who was greatly offended, and jumping up, drew from his belt 
a little tomahawk which he usually carried. This he raised and aim- 
ed at his antagonist. The bystanders were excited, but Jones, who 
remained cool, taunted him with cowardice for threatening to strike 
an unarmed man who had always till now been unlucky in these bouts. 
The Indian saw he was wrong, and, dropping his weapon, stepped for- 
ward to Jones and grasped him by the hand. The two continued 
attached friends and neither ever renewed the challenge. 

Black chief, Tha-on-dah-diis,'- resided at Squakie Hill where he 
died. His swarthy complexion procured him his English name. He 

1. It opens thus: "Father, the voice of the Seneca nation speaks to you, the great councillor 
iu whose heart the wise men of all the thirteen fires (or states) have placed their wisdom. It 
may be very small in your eyes and we therefore entreat you to hearlteu with attention, for we are 
able to speak of things which to us are very great." 

2. Meaning, "Long tree or log." 



112 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

signalized himself in war as well as in peace, and enjoyed, in a large 
degree, the confidence and respect of his people. He had four sons of 
giant size, one of whom was called Jim Washington. Black Chief was 
recollected by the younger portion of early settlers as sedate and taci- 
turn. "All my ideas of savage barbarity," says one, "were expressed 
in a single look of his. " He had an only daughter, whose generous 
nature and unusual grace of person made her a great favorite. After 
her father's death the tribe paid her peculiar honor. The Squakie Hill 
Indians held to a superstition, that during her lifetime the Iroquois 
would regain thuir ancient place among the nations; hence, no kind- 
ness toward her was omitted. Her path was often literally strewn 
with flowers, and the finest venison and rarest fruits found their way 
to her hut. A pestilence passed over the villages and many died, but 
so long as she remained unharmed, the natives could bear their person- 
al afflictions with resignation. The plague at length died away, and 
general health returned. But now she sickened, and although the 
wisest medicine men, even the Prophet himself, exerted their best 
powers, she died. The light that had been so beautiful in their eyes 
went out. Grief for many days filled the villages, and all that affec- 
tion could suggest was done to indicate their sorrow. Her remains 
were carried to a platform in a fine grove and placed in a sitting pos- 
ture. The rose and myrtle were scattered about the funeral couch, 
and corn in the ear, mint and costly furs, were hung around the life- 
less form or decorated her place of burial. Fires were lighted at night 
and watchers relieved each other at all hours. When it was no longer 
possible to keep her from interment, she was buried with every mark 
of regret. The quick fancy ot the Indians seems to have invested this 
girl with more than mortal purity and sweetness. 

Jack Berry or Major Berry, as he was usually called, lived at 
vSquakie Hill and Little Beardstown until he removed to the Buffalo 
reservation; his home in 1781 was at Little Beardstown. His father 
was a white trader lesiding near Avon, and the Major was in the habit 
of referring to his white relatives as father, uncle or cousin, as the 
case might be. He spoke the English language fluently, and often 
acted as interpreter for Red Jacket, on one occasion accompanying 
that chieftain to Washington in this capacity. He had a peculiar way 
of prefacing and clinching every sentence of the great orator's 
speeches, thus, "Jacket says," then interpreting his words he would end 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 113 

with, "that's what Jacket says." He was somewhat consequential and 
proud of his importance among the Indians, but proved on many occa- 
sions, a useful friend of the whites. It is said he dropped a hint to 
Horatio Jones, just before the latter ran the gauntlet as a prisoner at 
Portage Falls, which saved him many a blow from the savages' clubs, 
lu person he was rather short and stout. His house at Squakie Hill 
had a chimney and floor, conveniences possessed by but one other; and 
the wife of Thomas Jamison, the senior, bought the house of Berry 
when he went to Buffalo. He was somewhat given to his cups, but 
under all circumstances preserved his self-respect. He died in the 
winter of 1838-9. 

Captain Pollard, Ga-oun-do-wah-nah, ■ a Seneca sachem of the first 
class, and the noblest of the tribe after Cornplanter's death, lived at 
Big Tree village. His mother was a Seneca squaw, the daughter of 
Big Tree, and his father an English trader at Niagara^, whose name 
he took, and identified it with Indian affairs and their domestic mat- 
ters of this region. The celebrated Catharine Montour (Queen Cath- 
arine) became his stepmother and bore his father three sons, all of 
whom were renowned in the border warfare of those troublous times. 
He had great weight in councils; his judgment was sound, and his 
oratorical powers scarcely inferior to those of Red Jacket. "About 
the year 1820 Tommy Jemmy, armed with the unwritten decree of the 
Seneca council, put to death a squaw accused of witchcraft. He was 
arrested and imprisoned in ButTalo. The next morning a band of 
angry warriors. gathered in the streets of that city."'' "Among them," 
says Mr. Bryant in his biography of Orlando Allen, "was Red Jacket, 
who addressed them with fiery invective, and lashing the Indians into 
fury by his artful eloquence. A massacre seemed imminent, but just 
then the tall form of Captain Pollard was seen moving through the 
multitude. Commanding silence by a gesture, he urged the assembled 
warriors, in a temperate and eloquent speech, to disperse to their 
homes, and remain quiescent until an appeal to the white man's law 
and sense of justice should prove ineffectual. His voice was obeyed. 

1. Meaning, "Ilig Tree." .\lso written A'a-oti tt-tio-wa-tia . 

2. His ludiau name wa^ S/ta-go-{ii-yo/-/iti/i. He was a settler in Niagara in 1767, and a mer- 
chant there in 17.S8. 

3. From the article of W. U. Samson, Esq. in Post Express. 



114 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The subsequent trial and acquittal of Tcimmy Jemmy were a triuni])h 
to Red Jacket, and a vindication of the assailed sovereignty of the 
Seneca Nation." "He was one of the most honest, pure-minded, 
worthy men I ever knew, white or red," says Hon. Orlando Allen. 
Horatio Jones said, "Morally speaking. Pollard was as good a man as 
any w-hite minister that ever lived." Some seventy years ago Thomas 
Jcmison was in Washington with a party of natives. Pollard and 
Captain Jones were both there. The latter one night at the hotel said 
to Pollard, "I- outran you, I think, some years ago." "Oh, yes." 
responded the chief, good naturedly. "but I have often wanted to try 
it over again, and you were never quite ready." Captain Jones 
laughed and said no more. He was a man of commanding presence, 
of dignified and benevolent aspect, showing but little traces of his In- 
dian lineage. He was one of the earliest fruits of missionary labors 
at Buffalo Creek, and became a most devoted and exemplary Chris- 
tian, and took an active part in the prayer meetings in the chapel on 
the Buffalo Creek reservation and, unlike Red Jacket, was an earnest 
advocate of civilization; he was extremely solicitous of being buried 
according to Christian rites, and arranged with Mr. Allen for such 
articles as were necessary for decent Christian burial. In youth he 
was an ambitious warrior, and made himself conspicuous in the many 
forays against the border settlements by the British and Indians dur- 
ing the Revolutionary war; he was one Of the fiercest warriors in the 
Wyoming massacre, but in after life always spoke with abhorrence 
and deep contrition of the events of his warrior days. He was for- 
mally selected by the Indians as their leader, or war captain, at the 
commencement of the war of 1812, and w-as an able and valiant ally of 
our forces during the entire struggle. In the summer ol 1.S34, when 
Black Hawk and the War Pro[)het and other Sac and Fox Indians 
were returning from their tour through the States and about to be re- 
leased by the government, they stopiied a day or two in Buffalo. Ar- 
rangements were made for their meeting the Indians on the reservation 
at the Seneca cotmcil house. Young and old gathered to witness the 
interview. Captain Pollard, who was familiar with the Black Hawk 
war, made the speech; "One of the most appropriate and telling ones 
I ever heard," says Orlando Allen, "not a Senator in Congress would 
have done it better." Both Black Hawk and the Prophet replied, and 
owned that they had had enough of fighting the United States. He 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 115 

died April 10, 1841, and was buried on the Buffalo Creek reservation, 
whence his remains were removed in 1884 to rest beside those of Red 
Jacket in Forest Lawn cemetery at Buffalo. ^ 

Hot Bread, O-ah-gwa-dai'-ya, ^ was one of the leading wise men 
at Canawaugus. He was quite gifted as a speaker and stood well 
with his brother chieftains and tribesmen. In person he was rather 
short, and his complexion more than usually dark. Hot Bread signed 
the letter of the 30th of July, 178'J to Governor Clinton, a document 
likely enough prompted by persons interested in the Livingston lease, 
and marked by more of spirit than courtesy. The letter claimed that 
the State had not observed treaty stipulations; that the money due 
the Indians had not been fairly divided, and they objected to having 
the State surveyor mark out the lands, even threatening the vState 
authorities, though somewhat obscurely. Hot Bread was indolent, 
and his appetite voracious. Red Jacket once said of him, "Hot 
Bread, waugh ! big man here," pointing to the stomach, "but very 
small here," bringing the palm of his hand with emphasis across the 
forehead. He died at Canawaugus, it is believed, of small pox. 
Many others of the natives died the same year of that disease. The 
number included Corn Tassel. Indeed, but few of the Indians recov- 
ered. About the year 1815 a disturbance took place between the In- 
dians and whites at Caledonia Springs. Hot Bread figured promi- 
nently in this. Some offence was taken, and the Indians rallied in 
their war paint and made an attack upon the settlers. The fracas 
was quelled at last without serious results. Hot Bread was one of the 
leaders of the anti-Christian party among the Senecas, and his name 
apears in the memorial addressed to the Governor of New York, in 
respect to the "Black coats," as the Indians usually designated clergy- 
men. This unique paper closes thus: "We ask our brothers not to 
force a strange religion upon us. We ask to be let alone, and, like 
the white people, to worship the Great Spirit as we think it best. We 
shall then be happy in filling the little space in life which is left us, 
and shall go down to our fathers in peace." 

Half Town, Ga-ji-ot,-' lived at Big Tree. His name appears to the 

1. I am imich iudebted to the accounts of W. C. Uryant and W. H. Samson, Esqs., for this 
sketch of Pollard. (Editor.) 

2. Meaning, "Hot Bread," [See Niles' Reg. Vol. XXVIII, 18,28.] Also written Oaghgziadahihea. 

3. Meaning "Stopper in a hole," and applies equally to a cork in a bottle, and to a rock iu 
the month of a hears deu, shutting him in. Half Town sometimes signed his name Achioul. 



llf, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Livingstun lease, and to the noted address to President Washington.* 
He possessed a strong mind and was a wise councillor. His demeanor 
was grave. In comple.xion he was very dark; in stature rather below 
the medium height. Though the Senecas fought against the colonies 
in the Revolutionary war, the remnant of their warriors took the 
American side in 1812. Two years before hostilities opened. Red 
Jacket informed our government that Teciimseh and other native 
leaders in the territories were trying to draw the Senecas into a great 
western combination then forming against the whites. The Senecas 
promptly volunteered their services, but their aid was declined by our 
authorities from motives of policy. The action of the British officers 
in taking possession of Grand Island in the Niagara river, a ter- 
ritory of peculiar interest to the vSenecas, was too much for the 
pride of the race; and Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother, Half Town and 
other chiefs called a council, to which the American agent was in- 
vited. Red Jacket here presented the reasons why his nation insisted 
on taking up arms on the side t)f the States. These were so cogent 
that the President concluded to accept their offer, and General Porter 
volunteered to lead them. The Indians bore themselves with signal 
bravery and humanity throughout the war. A body of them took 
part in the action near Fort (ieorge, in August, 1812, in which the 
enemy were routed and a number of British Indians were taken pris- 
oners. Captain Half Town, Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother and other 
chiefs, all took active parts and were in a number of sharply contested 
engagements. As a manager of moneys belonging to his nation, 
Half Town was at one time advised to place certain funds in a bank, 
at interest. He did not readily comprehend how money could grow, 
as it \vas not placed in the earth like corn, but locked up in an iron 
chest. Once made aware of the operation, however, he became 
keenly alive to its advantages. He was at Fort Harmer in 1789, 
where, with twenty-three other chiefs, he executed a treaty with the 
commissioners. General St. Clair, Oliver VVolcott and Arthur Lee. 
Big Tree was also numbered among the signers. Pennsylvania, in 
1791, granted eight hundred dollars to Corni)lanter, Half Town and 
Big Tree, in trust for the Senecas. An Indian war was then feared; 
settlers were intruding upon their lands, and otherwise exciting their 
enmity, and every movement of the natives was regarded with sus- 

I. Particularly referred to in the sketch of the chief Big Tree. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 117 

picion. Half Town was the "white man's triend," and kept the 
neighboring garrisons of Venango and vicinity informed of every 
movement of the hostile bands, which, for a long time, hovered about ; 
and, but for the vigilance of himself and.other friendly chiefs, much 
evil would have resulted to'the whites. Cornplanter and Half Town 
kept a hundred warriors under arms, and their runners w'ere out con- 
stantly, watching the movements of war parties until the danger was 
.over. Colonel William Jones, who was personally acquainted with 
Half Town, thought he died at the Big Tree village. ^ 

Sharp Shins, Haah-tha-o,^ was a small Indian with diminutive 
legs, thin features and a squeaking voice, but possessed of a gentle- 
manly demeanor, and, though sometimes violent in temper, was gen- 
erally reckoned among the leading men of his people. In early life 
he was a noted runner for a long race. In 1815 Colonel Wadsworth, 
of Durham, made a visit to his relatives, the Wadsworth brothers, at 
Geneseo. Colonel Wadsworth was greatly respected by the Indians, 
with whom he had transacted much public business, and, in his honor, 
James Wadsworth invited several chiefs to dinner at his house. Cap- 
tain Horatio Jones came as interpreter. The Indians were dressed 
with care and conducted themselves with great propriety. They 
smoked in a friendly way, and talked freely of their past history and 
of the future of their race. Sharp Shins took a leading part in the 
conversation, and Colonel Lyman, who was there, recollected that his 
views were notably sensible and made a decided impression upon all 
present. Turner says, that on one occasion Sharp Shins attempted 
to amuse himself by throwing tomahawks at Horatio Jones. It soon 
became earnest. Jones threw them back with such effect as to harm 
the Indian seriously and render liis recovery quite doubtful. He, 
however, got well, and was afterwards careful how he provoked the 
Yankee warrior. Thomas Jemison describes, with much humor, the 
e.xperience of Sharp Shins in breaking a pair of unruly steers, espec- 
ially his earnest advice to them in a set Indian speech. 

Tommy Infant, Ha-no-gaih-khoh, lived at Canawaugus. In person 
he was above the ordinary size, being six feet and one inch high, 
though rather fine looking, and appeared like an overgrown youth. 
Hence his name. He was good natured, and many anecdotes are re- 

1 Dr. Mills believed that he died at Veiiaugo, Pa., whither he had removed. 
2. Meaning *'he climbs," as e. g. a ladder or tree. 



lis HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

lated of his awkward size. Being in Avon late one evening, he took 
the liberty to enter a vacant house, through a door accidentally left 
open, and lay down for the night. The owner happened to come 
along and saw the prostrate Indian, and, in much surjjrise, asked: 
"Who's here" "Oh, it's no Dutchman," said the six-footer native in 
his ludicrous way, "It's me, little baby. Tommy Infant." A mer- 
chant in York owed him for some peltry. Tommy called two or three 
times, but the trader was in no hurry to pay him. After sitting two 
or three hours one day, without making any demand or saying a 
word. Tommy, as he got up to go, turned around and said to the 
merhant, "I sue somebody, maybe, don't know." He sued the 
merchant. The Infant died December 9, 1S()5, and was buried at 
Bufifalo. 

John Montour, Do-noh-do-ga,^ was of mixed blood, a descendant of 
Queen Catharine, a half-blood of great beauty, whose father was said 
to have been a French governor of Canada, and whose mother was a 
squaw. Catharine became the wife of a noted chief, and allied herself 
with the Cayugas, establishing a village at the head of Seneca Lake.^ 
Here John was living at the opening tif the Revolution. He removed 
to the Genesee country, and after the peace of 1783, settled at Big 
Tree village. He appears in the Gilbert narrative as one of the lead- 
ers of a band of natives, who, in the spring of 1780, took several pris- 
oners in eastern Pennsylvania, among them the Gilbert family: and 
it would seem that his zeal kept him on the warpath during the 
whole struggle with the Colonies. He was acting with the force 
imder Butler, between the Genesee and Conesus Lake, when Sullivan 
lay at the inlet, and retreated to Fort Niagara when the American 
army advanced toward the river towns. While at Fort Niagara, it is 
said, the British gave the Indians some flour which contained a 
poisonous element. Many died. Montour lived, but the [loison re- 
sulted in an ulceration of his uppt-r lip, which was tpiite eaten away, 
leaving both teeth and jaw exposed. This gave him a fierce look 
though he was quiet and good natured. "At first thought," a pioneer 

1. Meaning "lietweeu burs." It niij^ht also lie translated "Hetween the combs.'' The 
English name is spelled also Mouture. 

2. At Catharine's Town, or Gus-he-a-gifah-g^h, named after Queen Catharine, as she is gener- 
ally called. This noted aboriginal village was burned by Sullivan. The towns of Catharine and 
Montour in Schuyler County, perpetuate the name of Queen Catharine. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY IV) 

said, "one would be led to expect him to take a scalp at a moment's 
notice." He was sometimes called "No-nose," and an impression 
prevails that a cancer ate away his lip. He knew something of med- 
icine, and, ^with remedies self applied, had stopped the progress of 
the ulcer. His imperfect lip made it difficult for him to drink. Once 
Colonel Lyman met him at the river in midsummer. Montour was 
thirsty and lay down on the bank to quench his thirst. He drank 
and drank, got up and lay down again, and drank as though he 
would never get his fill. As he rose, he said, "Lyman, the river is 
very low, very dry time." "Low," said the Colonel, "you have 
drunk all the water." The Indian laughed heartily. His probity 
was well know^n. Coming into Colonel Lyman's store one day, Mon- 
tour saw a pair of shag mittens hanging overhead. "Ah, Lyman, 
said he, "those are m'ine." "But stop" — the merch'ant was about to 
take them down — "let me describe mine first. I was at a certain 
place, a little drunk, staggered and fell, the hand covered by this 
mitten struck a burning log, which scorched it in such a part. Pull 
them down and see. " The Indian got the mittens. A quarrel had 
long existed between Ouaw'wa and Montour. The latter was quite 
athletic and very active, and always came out best, but in 1<S30 the 
pair got into a brawl at Squakie Hill. Jlontour had been drinking 
and Quawwa proved too much for him. He was knocked down and 
carried insensible to Big Tree. Here Doctor Bissell attended him, 
but he died in a week's time. He was buried in a blue broadcloth 
coat, white collar and silk cravat. His rifle, a noted piece, his toma- 
hawk, lielt and several other articles, lie beside him. His grave is a 
couple of rods east of the road, still marked by a grassy hillock. Four 
other natives, Stump Foot's wife, Westfall, and two others sleep be- 
side him. It is recollected that Montour's wife was an estimable 
woman, and that his two children, [udy and Bill, possessed more than 
ordinary comeliness of persfin. 

Ouawwa, whose Indian name was Deo-dyah-do-oh-hoh. and whose 
correct English name was James Brewer, disappeared as soon as he 
learned that Montour was fatally injured. Horatio Jones and Jellis 
Clute entered a crimplaint, and an officer was sent to the Buffalo 
reservation in search of him. The officer was advised to call on 
Thomas Jemison and Kennedy, who would assist him. They took 
hold jiromptly, and found the fugitive at his sister's, aiding her in 



120 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

making maple sugar. He was brought to Moscow and examined be- 
fore a justice of the peace, and committed to jail. As he was leaving 
for Genesee, his squaw, standing near Lyman's store, called out to 
him very piteously, "Ouawwal" "Ouawwa!" and kept it up long 
after he had disappeared from sight. He was indicted for murder 
and tried at the ]\[arch term of 1831, Judge Addison Gardiner 'presid- 
ing; he was convicted of manslaughter in the second degree and sen- 
tenced to four years in Auburn prison.^ He was troubled with the 
King's evil or scrofula. The disease developed'very rapidly after his 
incarceration. His death was regarded as imminent, and, on the 
representation of friends. Governor Throop pardoned him in Febru- 
ary, 1832. He was taken to Buffalo reservation, where he died in 
two or three days. Ouawwa had many friends among the whites, 
especially among the younger men, who regarded him as faithful to 
the last degree. Captain Jones and Jellis Clute, although they 
entered the fcirnial complaint, became bail for Ouawwa's appearance 
at the trial, the Captain stating "I have no fear but that Ouawwa 
will be on hand just as he promises, even though his own neck's in 
danger," and he was not disappointed. 

De-gi'-wa-nahs,2 or Mary Jemison, more commonly known as the 
White Woman, was born of honorable and well-to-do Scotch-Irish 
parents, about the year 1743, on the ocean voyage to this country in 
the ship "William and Mary." Her father, Thomas Jemison, a man 
of Christian character, settled upon an excellent tract of land lying on 
Marsh Creek in the frontier portion of Pennsylvania, soon after their 
arrival at Philadelphia. For a period of ten years or more, he led a 
busy and contented life in this home along the foot of South Moun- 
tain. In the autumn of 1754 lie moved a short distance from his 
former abode, into what is now known as Buchanan Valley. One 
day, in the spring of 1755, Mary was sent to a neighbor's for a horse. 
On her way thither she appears to have had a presentiment. A white 
sheet seemed to descend and catch her up and save her from a danger 
that impended over others. Returning early the next morning, she 
found her father shaving an a.Ne-helve near the dooi". Her two elder 

1. George Hosnier and Orlando Hastings appeared for the People: Judge Mason and A. A. 
Bennett for the prisoner. Horatio Jones was sworn as interpreter. Widow Rough-head, widow 
Johnny Johns and Tom Cayuga were among the Indian witnesses. 

2. Meaning "Two females let words fall." Her Indian name is often given tlins, Dt--ht--Xi'a-ini.'.. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 121 

brothers were at the barn, and her mother and three children and a 
soldier's wife, who was on a visit with her three children, were in the 
house preparinu' breakfast. On Mary's arrival, the soldier took the 
horse to bring a bag of grain, but in a short time the discharge of 
guns alarmed the household, and the man and horse were presently 
seen lying dead near the door. A band of si.\ Shawnee Indians and 
four Frenchmen soon entered the house, made captives of all,'^ and 
hastened the breakfastless group with blows, into the woods. The 
father lost heart at the outset, but the nmiht-r preserved a cheerful 
spirit and spoke words of hope to the forlorn family. Mary's shoes 
and those of the soldier's little son were soim removed and replaced 
with moccasins. From this the mother concluded that the others 
would be put to death, and addressed words of advice, never to be 
forgotten, to her poor child. In an hour's time Mary was torn from 
her mother and carried into the bushes with the boy, who begged her 
to attempt escape with him, but she refused, as she knew the effort 
would be fruitless. ]Mary never more saw aught of her parents, save 
their bloody scalps strung on a pole. The band went down the (Jhio, 
to a small Seneca Indian town at the mouth of a small river, called in 
Seneca She-nan-jee, about eighty miles by water from Pittsburg, 
where Mary was adopted by two sisters, Seneca squaws, who had lost 
a brother in the war. The ceremony of adoption that took place so 
frightened the little captive that, for a time, she was deprived of 
speech. Her clothing, torn to rags in the journey, was thrown into 
the river and replaced with Indian raiment. Light work was assigned 
her and she was treated with great kindness. Her adopted sisters 
would not allow her to speak English in their hearing ; but, remember- 
ing the injunction of her mother, whenever she chanced to be alone 
she made a business of repeating her prayer, catechism or something 
she had learned, in order that she might not forget her own language. 
By practicing in that way, she retained it until she came to Genesee 
flats, where she soon became acquainted with English people, with 
whom she was thereafter thrown in almost daily intercourse and so 
preserved her native tongue to the last. Two years passed away, 
-some measure of contentment with her surroundings having been 
acquired, when a young Delaware, of goodly person and approved 

I. The two hoys, who were :U the ham, escaped into Viifjiiiia. as Mary learned after the 
Revolutionary War. 



122 HIST(JRY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

courage, named She-nin-jee, came to the village and her foster sisters 
told her she must marry him. A child was born to her "at the time 
that the kernels of corn first appeared on the cob," but it lived only 
two days. Its loss occasioned the keenest grief to the youthful 
mother. Sickness, which proved well-nigh fatal followed, but "by the 
time the corn was ripe," she recovered. In the fourth year of her 
captivity, she became the mother of a son. whom, in honor of her father, 
she named Thomas Jemison. Her Indian mother lived on the Gene- 
see, and hither, with her fnstcr sisters, she now repaired. Her husband 
was to pass the winter down the river in fur hunting and join her in 
the spring. Various mishaps attended the journey hitherward, which 
involved a trip of si.x hundred miles through the wilderness, carrying 
her child every step of the way; but late in the fall they arrived at 
Beardstown, where a friendly welcome awaited the white girl from 
her Indian mother, whose friendship never relaxed. Hut her husband 
did not return, and at length the news was brought that vShe-nin-jee 
had sickened and died. About this period the British authorities 
oftered a bounty for the surrender of prisoners taken during the 
French war. A Dutchman, John Van Sice, who often visited the Indian 
villages, proposed to Mary to carry her to Niagara, but she had now 
become attached to the Indians, and ^he knew nothing of the where- 
abouts of her relatives, if, indeed, any survived. vSo she determined 
not to go. The Dutchman, with the bounty in view, sought to take 
her by force. While in her corn patch one day, she saw him running 
toward her. Dropping her hoe, she made for the village at full speed 
and escaped him. Some months later, the principal Chief of the 
village resolved to carry ^lary to Niagara. Her Indian bruther de- 
termined that she should not go against her will, and high words en- 
sued. He told the Chief that she should die by his hand sooner than 
be surrendered. Mary's sisters, in great consternation, hid her and 
her child in some high weeds that grew near by, agreeing that if the 
decision should be unfavorable, the fact should be indicated by placing 
a small cake on the door-step of her hut. A few hours after, ^lary 
crept to the place, and, to her great distress, found the cake. Creep- 
ing back, she placed her three year old boy on her back and ran for a 
certain s[)ring, as agreed, which she reached, greatly exhausted.' 

I. The spring "'a^ located on the f.-trin of Jolm I-. white, in Leicester, but is now covered np 
bv a railroad switch. 




Clump of Apple trees on The John Perkins firm in Leicester, neir site of Mary Jeraison Cabin. 
The tree from which these sprang was planted by the "White Woman." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 123. 

Here she remained, anxious and fearful, until the Chief started for 
Niagara, when her Indian brother sought her and brought her to the 
village, where she was received with joy. Soon after this she married 
Hio-ka-too, commonly called Gardeau, who was a warrior of note. By 
him she had four daughters and two sons, all of whom she named 
after her relatives. The girls were called Jane, Nancy, Betsy and 
Polly, and the boys John and Jesse. Jane died just before the Big 
Tree treaty, aged twenty-nine years. The other daughters married and 
had families. More than a dozen years of peace had come and gone, 
after her second marriage, when her quiet was rudely broken by the 
Indians taking up arms for the British in the war of the Revolution. 
Mary's hut became the stopping place of Butler and Brant whenever 
they chanced at Beardstown. She often pounded corn from sunset to 
sunrise for her warrior guests. When the Beardstown families re- 
treated before Sullivan, Mary, with her children, accompanied them 
to Fort Niagara, and was among the first to return to the Genesee. 
But destitution prevailed at Beardstown. She, therefore, took her 
children, carrying two on her back, the others f(jllowing, and, on foot, 
went to Gardeau, where she engaged to two negroes, who alone occu- 
pied the place, to husk their corn on shares. After the war was over 
she was again offered her liberty. Thomas was anxious for her to 
accept it, but she had Indian children; should she have the fortune 
to find her relatives, they might be received with coldness; hence she 
resolved to- spend her days among the Senecas. At the Big Tree 
treaty in 1797 the Gardeau lands, embracing 17,927 acres, were re- 
served in the grant from the Senecas to Robert Morris, atid by a 
treaty made at the same time and place the Gardeau reservation was 
granted to Mary.^ Red Jacket opposed the grant with great earnest- 
ness, and, even after it was made, he delayed moneys due her. 
Farmer's Brother was her friend and successful champion. 

Family troubles gathered around the AVhite Woman. Thomas 
and John had long disagreed. The former charged the latter with 
practicing witchcraft. He married two wives, and this greatly 
offended Thomas, who urged that bigamy was a violation of whole- 
some laws. Early in July, 1811, Thomas, who had been drinking, 
came to his mother's liouse in her absence, and there tonnd J<ihn, 

1. See appendix No. 6 for copy of graut of Garclciui Keservaliuii, and other mailer relating 
to the Gardean lands. 



124 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

whom he began to pound. The latter, in a moment of anger, seized 
Tliomas, dragged him to the door and killed him by a lilow of his 
tomahawk. (irief overwhelmed the mother. TIr- chiefs met, heard 
the case, and acc^uitted the murderer. In November of the same 
year, Hio-ka-too died of consumption at the age of more than a hun- 
dred years, during fifty of which he had lived with Mary. He was a 
leading warrior, taking part in the expedition to Wyoming, and was 
noted for strength, and, in his younger days, for fleetness. In May 
following, John's hands were again imbrued in a brother's blood. 
This time Jesse, the youngest and favorite son, was the victim. The 
two, with a brother-in-law, had spent the day in sliding a quantity of 
boards into the river for a raft. Some difficulty arose between John 
and a workman. Both had been drinking. Jesse had started home- 
ward. His brother's delay caused him to turn back, and he too be- 
came involved in the quarrel. John threw him, and, drawing his 
knife, plunged it several times into his heart. Either stab would 
have been fatal. The mother never recovered from the shock. A 
rude inquest was held, and John escaped punisiiment. He continued 
to reside at Gardeau, devoting himself to the practice of medicine, in 
which he had skill. Five years after Jesse's death, he was sent for 
to a distant vSeneca village. During his absence, the great land slide 
occurred, near his house.' On his return he became impressed with 
the belief that it was omintius of his end. He told his sisters he 
should live but a few days. A week or two later, in visiting Squakie 
Hill, he quarrelled with two Indians, who followed him a short dis- 
tance, dragged him from his horse into the bushes, and dashed his 
brains out with a stone. He was essentially a man of violence. 
Turner mentions seeing him on his way to the Buffalo reservation, at 
the head of a small band of Senecas, to kill the blacksmith, Reese, 
who had cut ofl" Young King's arm with a scythe in an altercation. 
Jemison was armed with a war club and tomahawk, his face covered 
with red paint, and long bunches of horse hair dyed red hung from 
his arms. 

I. In the month of May, 1817, a portion of the land on the west side of the river at the npper 
end of Gartlean Flats, thickly covered with heavy timber, suddenly gave away, and with a tre- 
mendous crash slid into the bed of the river which it so completely filled as to form a new chan- 
nel on the east side, where it has since continued to run. The slide as it now lies contains twenty- 
two acres and has a considerable share of the timber that formerly covered it still standing erect 
and growing, although it has suffered the shock pro<inced by a fall of some two hundred feet be- 
low its former elevation. This is called the "Great .Slide." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 12S 

Mary continued to reside on the portion of the (Jardeau reserva- 
tion in the Count)- of Genesee, now AVyoming, retained by her 
until her removal in 1831 to the Buffalo reservation. She was held 
in high esteem by the Indians, and during a large portion ot her life 
she formed the principal medium of communication between the 
whites and the Senecas. According to Indian ideas she always C(jn- 
ducted herself virtuously, and was discreet in the observance of native 
customs. She never spoke the Indian language with entire fluency. 
The use of the English tongue was so far retained by her, that she 
conversed with much freedom with Yankees, as she always styled the 
whites. 

The following interesting picture of Mary Jemison was furnished 
by Dr. William B. ^lunson, of Independence, Ohio, in response to an 
inquiry made by Mr. Letchworth, who at the time had under con- 
sideration the erection of a statue of her at Glen Iris: 

"According to the picture which I have in my mind of her, she 
had the shape, form, and figure of an active, lively little old woman 
seventy-five or eighty years of age, about four and a half feet in 
height, exhibiting the remains of a fair complexion and regular fea- 
tures that had been in youth extremely beautiful. The cheek bones 
were not prominent, nor was the chin, and the nose was not large; 
but, considering her age, all these features were quite symmetrical. 
The head was of medium size, covered with gray hair smoothed back- 
ward; the neck was not long, but in due proportion to the size of her 
head and body, the shoulders were rounded and stooping forward or 
bent, a position which might have been acquired, or have been 
brought about by the manner of bearing burdens customary with 
Indian women, and from age and the effects of hardships encountered 
throughout her eventful life. The eyesight had become dim, but the 
features had not become wrinkled as much as might have been ex- 
pected from the many troubles and sorrows endured by her. 

"The 'White Woman' was quite intelligent, sociable, and commun- 
icative, but grave and serious after the manner of the Indians with 
whom her life from early childhood had been spent. With familiar 
acquaintances she would join in lively conversation and brisk 
repartee. Mentioning to her upon one occasion that I had read the 
history of her life, and that it had interested me very much, 'Ah, 
yesl" she replied, 'but I did not tell them who wrote it down half of 
what it was. ' It was thought at that time that she withheld infor- 
mation which the Indians feared might stir up against them the prej- 
udices of the white people. 

"In makins; visits to the "White Woman' we were in the habit of 



126 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

taking along s(jme trifling presents for her. At one time we carried 
along a bottle of the best Madeira wine. She manifested her grateful 
acknt)wledgment of the gift, and, taking the bottle of wine, went and 
hid it carefully away from the Indians. 

"She was residing in her own blockhouse, superintending prepar- 
ations of provisions for a journey to Bufifalo, about the last time I 
saw her, shortly before the final departure of the Indians from the 
Genesee country. She was assisted in the work by her daughter 
Polly and a number of young papooses. They had a large brass 
kettle swung over an open fire of wood upon the hearth. The kettle 
was filled with boiling fluid. Sitting, standing, and squatting 
around a large wooden trough filled with hominy made into dough, 
the mother, daughter, and grandchildren were busily engaged in 
making up balls of dough from the kneading-trough and incorpo- 
rating therein plenty of dried apples and pumpkin which lay beside 
the trough. As the balls were made up they were tossed into the 
boiling kettle, and when deemed thoroughly cooked, were taken out 
and laid upon boards or pieces of bark. I remember the food had a 
savory odor and appeared to be very good ; but we could not- vouch 
for the palatableness of the delectable dumplings, as they offered none 
of them to us. In viewing the preparation of this food, however, we 
saw most beautifully and satisfactorily solved the problem which so 
long muddled and belabored the brains of King George the Third, 
namely, the mystery of how the apple got into the dumpling. 

"The last time I remember seeing her was late in the fall season. 
She was habited in woollen petticoat and short gown that came mid- 
leg below the knees, buckskin leggings and moccasins, and, over all, 
a white, common woolen Indian blanket. It was just at night, and 
she was going in search of a stray Indian pony, and was led by a 
young Indian, one of her grandchildren. She went spatting through 
the rivulet of ice-cold water just north of the house, and although her 
sight was so dim she could scarcely see, to all appearance, to discern 
in twilight twice the length of a horse, on she went, in spite of every 
obstacle, with the same energy and determined purpose that had 
•characterized her whole life." 

Mr. Bryant says that immediately after going to Buffalo, she pur- 
chased the cabin and the small piece of ground which belonged to an 
Indian known as "Litlle Johnson." situated a short distance south of 
the old Indian burial ground. Her household consisted of herself, 
her daughter Polly and son-in-law, George Shongo, and five little 
grandchildren, three of whom were boys and two were girls. She 
brought with her the proceeds of the sale of the Genesee River lands, 
a sum not more than sufficient, with prudent management, to render 



HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 127 

her last days comfortable, and tn make a reasunable provision for her 
grandchildren, of whom she was very fond. It must be added, with 
regret, although the circumstance harmonizes with the mf)urnful 
tenor of her whole life, that this little fortune was, soon after her 
removal to Buffalo, lost through an unfortunate speculation on the 
part of a white man to v.-hose custody she had confided it. Mary 
Jemisnn was a rich landed proprietress on the (Genesee, and it must 
have been a hard blow, the discovery that her few remaining days 
were to be spent in poverty and dependence. It is known, however, 
that her simple wants were supplied by her daughter and son-in- 
law, who were not wanting in filial love and attention to this 
aged and sorrow-stricken woman.' Amid these surroundings, 
this pathetic figure passed away on September 19th, 1833. 
She was burietl in the cemetery near the vSeneca Mission 
Church, on the Buffalo Creek Reservation, and a marble slab 
was erected to mark the spot. This stone, in course of time, was 
hackeil away by relic seekers, until only a small jxirtion of it was 
visible above the ground, and all traces of the last resting place of 
this remarkable character would probably soon have disappeared, had 
it not been for certain leading members of the Buffalo Historical 
Society, in co-operation with Hon. William P. Letchworth, of 
Portage. In 1872 Mr. Letchworth had removed to his grounds at 
Glen Iris, of which an account is given in another place, the veritable 
Indian council house- in which the White Woman rested on the first 
night after she came into the Oenesee country, at the end of her long 
journey from C)hio, and it was thought by these gentlemen, to which 
suggestion Mr, Letchworth at last yielded, that it would be most ap- 
propriate that her remains should find a last resting place near the 
council house and by the Genesee, on which she had spent so many 
years of her life. Accordingly, the remains were removed from 
Buffalo by James Shongo, a favorite grandson, the son of her 
daughter Polly, and taken to the grave at Glen Iris, located a few 
feet northerlv of the council house, and here they were reinterred on 
the 7th day of March, 1S74, with appropriate ceremonies. Soon after, 
a marble monument w-as erected at the grave by Mr. Letchwoi th. 
One of its sides bears the inscription of the original tombstone: 

1. Account of William C. Bryant, Esq. 

2. Referred to in a later chapter. 



128 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

In 

^lemory of 

The White Woman, 

.MARY JEMISON, 

Daughter of 
Thomas Jemison and Jane Irwin, 
Born on the ocean, between Ireland and Philadelphia, in 1742 or 3. 
Taken captive at Marsh Creek, Pa. in 1775. Carried down 
the Ohio. Adopted into an Indian family. In 1759 re- 
moved to Genesee River. Was naturalized in 1817. 
Removed to this place in 1831. 
And having surviveti two husbands and five children, leaving three 

still alive; 
She died September l'.)th, 1833, aged about ninety-one years. Hav- 
ing a few weeks before expressed a hope of jiardon through 
Jesus Christ. 
"The counsel of the Lord that shall stand." 

Another side is marked as follows: 

To The 
Memory Of 

MARY JE:MIS()N. 

Whose home during more than seventy years of a life of strange 

vicissitude was among the Senecas upon the banks of this 

river; and whose history, inseparably connected with 

that of this valley, has caused her to be known as 

"The White Woman of the Genesee." 

On another side is the inscription; 

The remains of 

"The White Woman" 

were removed from the Buffalo 

Creek Reservation and reinterred at this 

place with ajipropriale ceremonies on the 7th day 

of March, 1874 




o 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 12'J 

The following is a copy of the will of JIary Jemison which was for 
the first time published by the Rochester "Post-Express" in its issue 
of December 15, 1S")4: 

In the name of God, Amen. I, ^lary Jamison, of the town of 
Castile, in the county of Genesee, and state of New York, being of 
sound mind and perfect memory (blessed be Almighty God for the 
same), and considering the uncertainty of this mortal life, do make 
and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form fol- 
lowing (that is to say, viz.:) I wnll that all my debts and funeral 
charges be paid out of my goods and effects. I give and bequeath to 
mv beloved daughters, Nancy Jamison, Betsey Jamison and Polly 
Jamison, in ecpial proportions, and to their heirs forever, the three 
quarters of the principal and interest of a certain bond and mortgage 
executed by Jellis Clute and ]\Iicah Brooks for the sum of four 
thousand two hundred and eighty-six dollars, dated September 3d, 
1823. I also give and bequeath to George Jamison, Jacob Jamison, 
John Jamison, Thomas Jamison, Second, Jesse Jamison, Peggy White, 
Jane White, and Catharine Jamison, the children of my beloved son, 
Thomas Jamison, deceased, the other remaining one-fourth part of the 
principal and interest of the bond and mortgage of the said ('lute and 
Brooks, to them and their heirs forever. I also will and bequeath to 
my three daughters above named, in equal portions, the remainder of 
my goods and effects, and I hereby appoint Jellis Clute, of Moscow, 
my sole executor of this my last will and testament— hereby revoking 
all former wills by me made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set 
my hand and seal this third day of September, 1823, one thousand, 
eight hundred and twenty-three. 

her 
(Signed) Mary x Jamison. (L. S.) 
mark. 

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the above named Mary 
Jamison to be her last will and testament in the presence of us who 
have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the presence of 
the testator. The words "three-quarters" in the 13th line and the 
words "one-fourth" in the 22d line interlined before signing 

(Signed) ]Micah Brooks, 
William Clute, 
Thomas Clute, 

his 
I^)llard, -x 

mark, 
his 
James x Stevens, 
mark. 



13U HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The will was admitted to probate in Erie County, April 7, 1835. 

A sketch of Captain Pollard, one of the, witnesses to the will, else- 
where appears in this chapter. 

"James .Stevens (his name usually appears in historical records, and 
properly so, as Stevenson), who was also one of the witnesses to the 
will, was a half-breed like Corniilanier and Captain Pollard. His 
mother was a Seneca princess, his father a Colonial military officer. 
In one of his admirable contributions to the history of AVeslern New 
York, William C. I^ryantsaid: 'When the Senecas decided to cast 
their fortunes with the British, at the opening of the Revolutionary 
war, Stevenson's mother was constrained by her fierce and jealous 
relatives to abandon the hated offs[)ring in the woods, near Cayuga 
lake; and the agonized parent, with the rest of her family, was 
hurried to the British post. Fort Niagara. Her poor babe, but little 
more than three years old, wandered for two days in the woods sub- 
sisting on such wild berries as chance threw in his way. When almost 
famished a kind Providence directed the poor child's steps to a rude 
hut on the banks of the lake, which was the home of an Indian re- 
cluse — a Penobscot hunter who had wandered far from the home of his 
tribe in the wilds of Maine. This kind old man took the child into 
his cabin, fed and nourished him, taught him to fish and hunt, and 
treated him with fatherly kindness. When the long and dreary war 
was over, the babe, grown to be a handsome stripling, took an 
affectionate leave of his adopted father, and wandered back to Buffalo 
■creek, where he was soon clasped in the arms of his delighted and 
weeping mother. ' Chief .Stevenson died a sincere Christian, Decem- 
ber 28, 1845, aged about eighty-seven. 

"One of the witnesses examined when the will of !Mary Jemison was 
admitted to probate April 7, 1835, was Seneca White, who was one of 
the most distinguished of the later series of chiefs and leaders of the 
Iroquois. He was one of three brothers, all prominent Senecas, and 
known respectively as Seneca White, White Seneca, and John Seneca. 
Their father was a white captive called 'White Boy,' or 'Old White 
Boy,' of whom many pleasing anecdotes were related bv the early 
pioneers. Seneca White was frequently called 'The Handsome Sen- 
eca' to distinguish him from the other members of the family of 
Seneca. We quote (jnce more from ^Ir. Bryant: 'Mrs. Asher AVright 
and her husband frequently spoke with admiration and affection of 




Thomas Jemison. (So-Sun-do-waahi 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 131 

Old White Boy. His first great sorrow occurred when he was en- 
gaged in ]5lay with his little red companions and they acquainted him 
with the fact that he was of a different color, and belonged to the 
hated race of pale faces. He came home sobbing to his Indian mother 
who confessed to him that he was not her son except by adoption. At 
that time he formed a resolution, to which he adhered all his life, that 
he woidd by a blameless and beneficent life make the name White Boy 
loved and respected by the most inveterate enemies of his race.' 
Seneca White was called Nis-ha-nye-nant in Seneca, meaning 'fallen 
day.' He died May 19, 1873, aged about 91. "^ 

Thomas Jemison, So-sun-do-waah, or "Buffalo Tom," as he came 
to be known in later life on the reservation, was born, according 
to his own statement, on the Genesee flats at Gardeau, in Decem- 
ber 1794, between Christmas and New Years. His father 
was Thomas, the eldest child of the White Woman and She-nin-jee, 
her first husband; his father was killed at Gardeau, in a drunken 
quarrel, by his half-brother, John, in 1811, as previously narrated. 
His mother's father was an English fur trader, trapper and hunter; 
his maternal grandmother, after his mother's birth, married for a 
second husband, Ebenezer, or "Indian," Allen; she was the Seneca 
squaw Sally, mother of Mary, or Polly, and Chloe. Jemison was 
married to a full blood squaw in 1818 and continued to reside at 
Squakie Hill until 1828, when he removed to the Buffalo reservation. 
Upon his marriage be built a log house at Squakie Hill, which he 
occupied until his removal to Buffalo. This building is yet standing 
on the Squakie Hill farm of John F. White, in an excellent state of 
preservation, and is still used. He became a tavern keeper on the 
Buffalo reservation and acquired some property in the City of Buffalo. 
In 1844 he moved with his family to the Cattaraugus reservation, 
where he purchased the improvements on a fine farm in the valley of 
the Cattaraugus Creek, and cultivated it with exemplary industry and 
success. He died on the reservation on September 7th, 1878, aged 
eighty-four years, and was buried in the cemetery on the reservation. 
His wife, three sons and three daughters survived him. His eldest 
son graduated at the State Normal School at Albany; indeed, he 
gave all his children a good English education. Besides his daughter, 

I. The above account of James Stevens .ind SeiSca White is from Mr. Samson's article in the 
Post-Express accompanying the publication of the will. 



132 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Mrs. Sarah A. Kennedy, of Irving, N. Y., he has a number of living 
descendants. 

Jemison was a representative Indian in the Seneca Nation for nearly 
half a century. He was chosen a delegate with other natives and 
chiefs to go to Washington, during Jackson's administration, on busi- 
ness connected with the affairs of the Seneca Nation. He received 
from the President a massive silver medal, commemorative of the 
event, which he often wore and prized very highly. In 1835, he was 
chosen a delegate, with seven other chiefs and sachems, to visit Kansas 
and examine the country with a view to the removal of the Seneca 
Nation of Indians to that country. This commission, devised by the 
Ogden Land Company, made an unfavorable report. He was a high- 
minded man, who always commanded the respect of the whites. 
Lieut. Governor Patterson said that, "his word was as good as any 
white man's note in the valley. If he bought property on credit, it 
would be paid for on the day it fell due without grace." When a 
young man, he renounced paganism and accepted the Christian re- 
ligion, and in later years was a frequent attendant upon the mis- 
sionary chapel services on the reservation, and contributed 
generously his share in supporting them. He was over si.x feet 
in height, square shouldered, with a large head, heavy pro- 
jecting eyebrows, a broad face, and pleasing and strongly marked 
features, bearing a striking resemblance to Thurlow Weed. 
His English was as pure as any Yankee farmer's. He paid 
his last visit to the Genesee in 1872. Below are given copies of three 
interesting letters written by his daughter, Mrs. Kennedy, at his dic- 
tation, to Dr. Mills. 

Cattaraugus Rtservation, Sept. 12lh, 1875. 
Dear Ur. :\Iills, 

I am much gratified to think you think of me and hope you will so 
continue. I have received four papers from you since last January. 
I may come out and see you between this and January, but I am not 
positive for I am getting quite old. I learned a great deal in the last 
paper you sent me, there is a great deal in it that I did not know 
which is very interesting to me. In the papers you first sent I recog- 
nize most all the persons' names inentioned therein of the old settlers. 
I recollect of crossing and recrossing the old Cayuga Hridge not far 
from fifty-five years ago. In one of the papers you sent, I noticed the 
funeral oi Colonel Horsford which made me shed tears. He was the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 133 

first white teacher among us at Squakie Hill, The inhabitants of 
Mt. Morris built the school house and the Moscow folks did not helji 
at all. I was then about twenty years old at this time. I recollect of 
going to school some half a dozen times, but my three sisters attended 
all winter, this was not far from sixty years ago. I moved away from 
Squakie Hill in the year of 1828 and lived on the Buffalo Reservation 
about fifteen years and was quite successful, but now I am old and 
getting down about where I started from. [ will be eighty years old 
next December and cannot work any more. My father was killed in 
1811 at Gardeau. 

In the year of 1833 I was a delegate with five other Indians to ex- 
plore Kansas in view of our removal there. We saw the Osage Indians 
and a white missionary by the name of Dodge who had been there ten 
years, and then we went to the Indian Territory among the Cayuga 
Indians who had removed from Cayuga Lake in this State some ten 
or fifteen years previous; they had a saw mill and grist mill among 
them. From there we visited the Cherokees, Choctaws, Seminoles 
and Creeks. From there we started for home on horse back for 
Little Rock. After arriving at Little Rock we sold our horses and 
took steamer for the Mississippi to Cairo; from thence up the Ohio 
river to Pittsburg and then took stage for home, for there was no 
railroads in those days. 

I got acquainted with your father when I was a young boy, he 
always gave me good advice. He told me to go to work and raise 
cattle, and so I did and when they were old enough he purchased them 
from me. I always thought a great deal of him. Please give my re- 
spects to your family. Very truly yours, 

Thomas Jimeson. 

Cattaraugus Reservation, 
April Kith, 1S7(.. 

My dear friend Dr. Mills, 

Your letter of the 3rd inst. I have received. Your question in re- 
lation to Tallchief I am not able to tell you when he was born. I have 
enquired of his grandson Joel Sundown csaid Sundown is sixty-eight 
years of age) also my sister, widow of William Tallchief son of old 
Tallchief, and I could not gain any information from either. The old 
man died on the Tonawanda Reservation in the fall of 1831 ; his son 
William went from the Buffalo Reservation and brought his remains 
and were buried in the burying ground near where my grandmother 
was buried. As near as I can judge his age must have been abcnit 
eightv. He was a large fine looking man and had three sons and three 
daughters. 

The second son of Tallchief was called Straightback ; he was the 



1?;4 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

smartest Indian on the reservation to run. Captain Jones had a son 
we Used to call Colonel Jones and was the smartest white man in the 
town of Leicester. Captain Jones and his son and" Straii;htback were 
riding in a wagon and when they came to a nice smooth road the 
Captain said boys you both always say that you cannot be outrunned 
supposing you decide here, as there is no one present. I will drive nn 
forty rods and as a signal I will drop my hat for you in start. Tiie 
Captain has always said he could not decide who came out first, but it 
was reported that he favored his son as Straightback could not get the 
(Colonel to run again with him. 

I will mention two chiefs of my recollection residing at Squakie 
Hill over sixty-five years ago. The oldest was called Blackchief and 
the younger Sharpshins. The latter was a quite (?) and acquired 
considerable property, cattle and horses. 

Also three chiefs on the Caneadea Reservation called Colonel Shongo 
very nice looking man, Jimmie Hudson also the same, on the lower 
end of the reservation now called Nunda lived Killbuck. - 

The paper you sent me with the description of Indian Allen on Mt. 
Morris Tract I am very much pleased with. The oldest daughter of 
Indian Allen (Polly) married a white man by the name of Crow, he 
was a very bad man, a complete horse thief and was in company with 
a man by the name of Greig Allen one of Indian Allen's sons from a 
white woman. Indian Allen had three wives, two white women and 
one Indian. 

Polly Allen died about five years ago on the river Thames, Canada 
West leaving one daughter. Cloe married a white man by the name 
of Cooper of whom one son is now living on this Reservation by name 
of Sylvester Cooper. Cloe lost her husband about forty years ago or 
over. She married again a man by the name of Seely, they having a 
son now living on this Reservation by the name of AVilliam Seely. 
Cloe died nearly forty years ago on the Buffalo Reservation. 

(The above Polly Allen ougfit to be Mary Allen.) 

I promised when you were here, to visit you again, I am afraid I 
cannot fulfill. I am troubled with a bad cough which I have had for 
forty years, also with the asthma. 

I shall be very happy to hear from you as often as convenient. 

Your friend, 

Thomas jimeson. 

Cattaraugus Reservation, 
Aug. 2f>th, 1<S78. 
Dr. Mills, 

Dear Sir, I received the paper you sent me, and find it very inter- 
esting. My health is quite bad, not as good as last year. I am very 
feeble, it is almost impossible for me to ivalk forty or fifty rods, I am 




Kenjockety— Shen-dyuh-^wa-dih. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 135 

so weak. I think I have been very fortunate in the length of my life, 
I c-an think back and see some of the most influential men of the City 
of Buffalo have died within my knowledge. They were N. R. Hall, 
Ex. President Fillmore, Geo. P. Barker, H. K. .Smith, Babcock, Gen! 
Porter and Solomon G. Havens, all lawyers. Dr. Pratt, Dr. Cliapin 
Dr. Burwell, Dr. Bissel, all the above named persons I was acquainted 
with. 

One of our Indians from Genesee died here last year, by the name 
of Joel Sundown. 

I would like to hear from you again. 

Very Respectfully etc. 

Thomas Jimeson. 

Philip Kenjockety, or Conjockety, Ska-dyoh-gwa-dih,i was the last 
survivor of the Genesee river Indians, whose personal recollections 
extended back to the invasion of General Sullivan. His grandfather 
was a member of the almost mythological race, the Kah-kwas, and 
was adopted into the Senecas. His father acquired influence among 
the latter nation and became a chief, and it was through his repre- 
sentation that the Senecas were induced to settle upon the banks of 
the Niagara river when driven from the Genesee. Philip's parents 
were residing at the Nunda village when the war of the Revolution 
broke out. and, when the residents of that village removed to Beards- 
town, Philip's family went also. Colonel Doty met him at the 
Cattaraugus reservation in the fall of 1865. He then claimed to be 
one hundred and twenty years old. He had come- down to the mis- 
sion house at the request of his visitor, to give his recollections of the 
Genesee country. For a person of his age he possessed great vigor of 
body. His mind was clear and his memory proved to be marvelously 
correct. When the subject of Sullivan's expedition to this region, in 
1779, was mentioned, he seemed to forget his age and everything else 
in the interest revived by the associations of that period. "Yes," he 
said, "I recollect the Wah-ston-yans" that is, Bostonians, as the col- 
onial or Yankee troops were called by the Senecas; "I was large boy 
then, large enough to shoot small birds with a gun. The Yankees got 

I. The changes in Kenjockety's name afford an instance of the difficnities attending Indian 
biography. O. H. Marshall, says, that when a yonth, he was called Ji-ya-go-^utuih, meaning 
"large dog." After the war of iSij, another name was conferred npon him, as is customary 
among the Indians, to wit: Gat-go-wah-dali, that is "dressed deer skin," from the fact that Philip, 
being a good hunter, kept himself supplied with deer skin sometime after the rest of his tribe 
were unable to obtain it. Ska-dyoh-gua-di k means "beyond the multitude." 



13(. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

as far as Conesus lake, all was consternation at Beardstown; it rained; 
the warriors went out; the air grew heavy with rumors; even the birds 
brought tidings of the enemy's doings. "1 After the interview, as he 
was bidding good bye, he took the hand of Colonel Doty's son, and 
pointing to the clasped fingers, said, through the interpreter, "This 
bridges between three generations, between that long past and the 
generation under the new order." Kenjockety heard the Kah-kwa 
language spoken, and said a good many words were like Seneca. He 
described the face of the country in this region with great accuracy 
and added essential facts to its history. He died on the first of April, 
1866, aged fully a hundred and ten years. The home of the Buffalo 
Historical Society overlooks Park Lake, a small body of water taken 
from Conjockety Creek, so named from the circumstance that Ken- 
jockety had a cabin upon it. The Academy of Art in Buffalo has pre- 
served a fine portrait in oil (if this venerable Kah-kwa, the last of his 
generation. 

There were a number of Indians of lesser note, who. eighty years 
ago, were well known to the settlers. Among these were Blinkey, a 
red man of much shrewdness, who had lost an eye, and thus secured an 
expressive name; Canaday, the brother of Blinkey, a fine looking Sen- 
eca, whose hut stood near the highway leading to Highbanks, on the 
north side of the river, at Squakie Hill, and Big Peg, who usually 
lived at Big Tree village. The latter possessed much good sense, was 
a speaker, and had mi little force of character. Accident secured him 
his name, as it often secures the names of other personages of more 
consequence. Green Blanket lived at Little Beardstown, and acquired 
his title from always wearing a blanket of a particular cnlor, to which 
he was very partial. 

Of the leading warriors of the Senecas of this region, whose fame 
rests mainly on tradition, a sketch will scarcely be expected here, es- 
pecially as Colonel Hosmer has so felicitously preserved their deeds in 
verse. The renowned chieftain. Old Can-ne-hoot, led the Senecas 
against the Mar([uis De Nonville, and, for the purpose of fiction, the 
poet has allowed him to die on the field of battle after the conllict. 
Conesus, whose romantic career has been so well given in Hosmer's 
Legends of the Senecas, is another. His name was a terror to the 
Chippewas, and often, with his band of braves, he chased the Adirr.n- 

I. Ketij(»ckety's recollections are incorporateil in the chapter on Sullivan's Expedition. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 137 

dacks to their mountain lodges. ^ A small island near i\von, formed by 
the sweeping bend of the Genesee, was the home of this warrior chief, 
who, often in the dim and shadowy past, "belted for the fight" with 
western tribes.^ The list might easily be extended, but the limit as- 
signed to Indian history is already more than reached. 

I. "Old Can-ne-hoot arose at last, 

And back his shajjgy mantle cast 

While proud as became a king, 
Presiding in monarchal state, 
His glance surveyed the tawny ring 
Of counsellors that round him sate. 

His eloquence of look and word 
Dark depths of every heart had stirred; 
And 'twas uo time in dull debate 
For other tongues of war to prate." 

YONNONDIO. 

.2 The poet thus speaks of the chieftain's wood-embowered island home, near Avon; 
"You aged group of maples * * * 
Long, long ago Conesus made 
His dwelling in their graceful shade. 
His tribe could many a chieftain boast. 
Far-famed for deeds, but loved him most : 
Not by hereditary right 
Rank did he win above them all, 
But forced his way by skill in fight 
And wisdom in the couucil-hall.' 



13S HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE Western Expedition under General Sullivan was the leading 
military event of the Revolution in 177'». It constituted the 
principal exception to Washington's defensive policy of that 
year, and its influence upon the after settlement of this region gives 
the enterprise the importance of an epoch in our local history. While, 
therefore, we briefly present its general features, attention may prop- 
erly be claimed to full details of the operations and results of the ex- 
pedition in the Genesee country. 

The measure, too long delayed, was provoked by the insolence of 
the Senecas and other Indian tribes, and their sanguinary allies, the 
Tories. With the exception of a portion of the Oneidas and a few of 
the Mohawks, it will be recollected that the Six Nations were all in 
arms against the colonists, and, to the lasting disgrace of the cabinet 
of Lord North, they were urged on by British emissaries to the com- 
mission of atrocities which have no parallel in modern history. Theii' 
remarkable organization and great numbers enabled them to keep the 
borders in a continual state of alarm, as well as to inflict upon the in- 
hatiitants a long series of injuries. The cry for protection against 
these predatory wrongs had gone up to the Continental Congress from 
many a hardy frontiersman, who found himself threatened with dangers 
through hourly multii^lying savageries. The settlers besought their 
Government to interpose its power and secure them protection for 
their homes and families against the inroads of a barbarous foe em- 
boldened by the long impunity that had attended his successive deeds 
of rapine. But delay followed delay as the aspect of public affairs 
became less threatening, and Congress busied itself with other subjects 
than those of Indian atrocities which had grown, unhapjjily, too famil- 
iar. They indeed appeared content to resolve, to rescind, to postpone 
all decision. ^leanwhile the western forest poured forth its savage 
hordes, and their spreading ravages compelled the border population 
to invoke aid from a nearer power. Their appeal, unheard at Phila- 
delphia, found its way to Poughkeepsie, then temporarily the State 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY l.V> 

capital, where it awakened an interest beseeming its importance. The 
Legislature of New York at once initiated a remedy and made it prac- 
tical by enacting a law, which directed the Governor to draw from the 
militia of the State a certain quota, and send them against the Senecas. 
Thus it was that the first step was taken in the famous expedition of 
1779. Formal notice of this action was at once transmitted to Con- 
gress, and on the morning of the first of April the letter of the Legis- 
lature of New York, bearing date the thirteentii of March, was laid 
before that august body. This letter referred in forcible terms to the 
Indian ravages on the great frontier, and the distresses they had oc- 
casioned; to the extreme difficulty, as well as the large expense, of 
covering the extended border by military posts, and closed by declaring 
that an expedition against the Senecas would be the cheapest and most 
practicable mode of defending the households and settlements suffering 
from exposure, and that the Legislature had empowered the Governor 
to raise a thousand men by drafts from the State militia for that object. 

For months before, at intervals, the subject of Indian outrages had 
been considered in Congress. In truth, twice in the previous year 
that body had resolved to fit out an expedition against the Senecas 
and other western tribes. In October preceding, the subject had 
been referred to Governor George Clinton and Generals Schuyler and 
Hand, who conceived it too late in the season to prepare for an enter- 
prise of such magnitude. The massacre of Wyoming had, indeed, 
called forth special resolutions. But other matters were suffered to 
interfere, and no action resulted from such well-worded sympathy. 
Now, however. New York, a leading member of the Federation, had 
taken a decisive step toward protecting the outlying districts; and 
Congress feeling the justice of the demand, listened to the commtmica- 
tion with an attention wiiich presaged good result. Bold George 
Clinton was Governor of New York. He had held a ssat in the Con- 
tinental Congress, and its members were aware that he would yield to 
no tardy policy; indeed, he intended to conduct the expedition in 
person. And the Legislature, it was known, contained members 
equally earnest, who, when once enlisted in such a work, would be 
content with nothing savoring of procrastination. 

The Congress, therefore, without further delay, applauded the 
"spirited exertions of the New York Legislature to facilitate such en- 
terprise," and directed that the State's militia contingent raised for 



140 HISTORY f)F LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

this purpose be allowed rations and Ci^ntinental pay. Proper meas- 
ures were also taken to collect an army of ample strength to effect the 
object. Washiniiton, no doubt, was quite ready to approve this 
action. He had passed the previous winter in Philadelphia, where 
Congress was sitting, to deliberate with the Board of War about the 
campaign of 1779, and, especially to urge action in respect to Indian 
outrages along the frontier. Correspondence with General Hand, who 
appears to have devoted particular attention to the subject of a 
western expedition, shows that he had been carefully examining the 
routes best to be taken, and securing information having particular 
regard to the distance and face of the country, and kind of naviga- 
tion. But the result of these deliberations could not have been en- 
couraging to the chief at that session, for our Continental council did 
not partake of his anxiety in respect to the situation of public affairs. 
To him the period was a momentous one. The country, exhausted 
by years of war, needed rest. Bread was scarce, wages were high, 
and employment abundant, while the pay of the soldier was small and 
uncertain, and the terms of many were about expiring. The army, 
indeed, had begun to melt away. The alliance with France had pro- 
duced a baneful feeling of security, which, it appeared to him, was 
paralyzing the energies of the countrv. England, it was thought, 
would now be too much occupied in securing her position in Europe 
to increase her force or extend her operations in America. Many, 
therefore, considered the war as virtually at an end, and were unwill- 
ing to make the sacrifices or supply the means necessary for important 
military operations. "Dissensions and party feuds were breaking 
out in Congress, owing to the relaxation of that external pressure of 
a common and imminent danger, which had heretofore produced a 
unity of sentiment and action." Congress had. in fact, greatly deter- 
iorated "since the commencement of the war. Many of those whose 
names had been as watchwords at the Declaration of Independence, 
had withdrawn from the National councils, occupied either by their in- 
dividual affairs or by the affairs of their individual States. "^ Never 
too sanguine, Washington was now beguiled into no feeling of secur- 
itv; but the coLintry was languid and exhausted, and had need of rest, 
and, all things considered, he deemed it wise to allow America "a 
breathing lime." He ihvrefore assented to a defensive policy for the 

1. Irvine's Washington. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 141 

approaching campaign, with the single exception of this Western ex- 
pedition against the Indians. 

He held that Indian warfare, to be effective, should not be mereiy 
defensive, but that we must make "war upon them in their own style; 
penetrate their country, lay waste their villages and settlements, and, 
at the same lime, destroy the British post'at Niagara, that nestling 
place of Tories and refugees. " This policy prevailed, and the cam- 
paign, now finally decided upon, was set on foot at once. It consisted 
at the outset of an expedition from Fort Schuyler, under Colonel Van 
Schaick, with six hundred men, who, on the 19th of April, surprised 
and destroyed the Indian villages of Onondaga, and got back to camp 
without loss. The principal expedition of the campaign, however, 
was that to "Western New York, under General Sullivan. Washington 
had devoted much thought as to the best route by which to reach the 
Indian settlements, and his leading officers were consulted, as we 
have seen. General Schuyler, more familiar with the country than 
others, believed that the most eligible course would be to ascend the 
Mohawk river, and continue thence westward to the Seneca villages, 
and, if practicable, to Niagara. There were difficulties, however, in 
this plan, and, upon the whole, the line adopted was doubtless the 
best. It was Washington's original design that General Brodhead, 
who left Pittsburg in August of that year, with six hundred men, 
and destroyed several Indian towns on the Allegheny and other trib- 
utaries of the Ohio, should form a junction with Sullivan; but this 
part of the campaign was afterward abandoned. 

The command of the expedition had been tendered by Washington 
to General Gates; but that officer, ever jealous of the Commander-in- 
chief, declined the service in a cold and uncourteous letter. The 
leadership was then offered to General Sullivan, who accepted and 
entered with alacrity upon the honorable and responsible duty. 

The headquarters of the force was first established at Easton, Penn- 
sylvania, from which point a general order for the arrangement and 
marching of the army was issued on the 24th of May. In the latter 
part of June the troops moved to Wyoming, then recently the scene 
of that bloody massacre, which had _^so shocked the sensibilities of 
Christendom. By the last of July three thousand troops were as- 
sembled at Wyoming, and at one o'clock on the afternoon of the 31st 
of that month, the army commenced its march for Tioga, by way of 



142 HISTORY OF I.I VrX(;STf)N COUXTV 

the western branch of the Susquehanna river, the stores and artillery 
being conveyed up that stream in a hundred and fifty boats.-' 

This expedition, so fruitful in good results, was attended with more 
than its share of iKiiiifnl iiicitlent at each step of formation and 
earlier movements. At the outset, the otidcers of a Jersey regiineiu 
hesitated to obey marching orders. Washington received the intelli- 
gence of their wavering "with infinite concern, ■■ and declared that 
nothing had happened in the course of the war which gave him so 
much pain as their action. He was fully sensible of the justice of 
their demands. He was aware that they had appealed, without 
effect, to the Legislature of their State on the subject of the arrear- 
ages of their pay; that they had urged the starving condition of their 
families, and the burthen of accumulating debt; that their appeal had 
been slighted, and that they had obtained no satisfaction whatever. 
They next remonstrated. "Our pay," said they, "is only nominal, not 
real. Four months' [uiy of a private soldier will not procure his 
wretched wife ami children a single bushel of wheat I The situation 
of your officers is worse. The pay of a colonel of your regiment will 
not purchase oats for his horse, nor will his whole dav's pav procure 
him a singls dinner." The reuuinstrance closed by urging that un- 
less immediate relief was afl^orded they would be under the necessitv 
of quitting the service, and, unless provision for arrears was made in 
three days, they must be considered as having resigned. The emer- 
gency was serious. The cause of complaint was widespread and well 
founded; and had nut Washington now exerted his powerful influence, 
as well with the civil authorities as with the army, the expedition 
might have failed at this stage. But he succeeded in securing atten- 
tion to the appeal. The memorial was withdrawn and the pay sent 
to the regiments, who promptly took their places in the brigade, to 
vindicate anew throughout the campaign their reputation, won en 
many a battlefield, for unfliiieliing valor. 

It is said that Sullivan's requisitions embraced many articles 

I. The artuy, as it uow moved out, was composed as follows: 

(ien. Haud's Brigade — Hubley's and the German regiment, and .Schott's and Spaiilding's 
Independent Corps, composing Light Corps. 

(ieu. Ma.xwell's Brigade— Dayton's, Shreeve's. Olden's, Spence's regiments. 

Gen. Poor's Brigade — Cilley's, Reed's, Scammel's, Cortlaudt's regiments. 

"rotal fit for duty Jnly 22: Brig. Generals. 3: Colonels, 7; Lt. Colonels, 6; Majors, S; Captains. 
48; chaplains, 3; .Surgeons, lo; Drum Majors, 8; Fife Majors 3: Drummers and Fifers, 131, rank and 
file, 2,312. 



HISTORY OF LIVIXCiSTOX COUNTY 143 

deemed extravagant by the Board of War. Among other things, a 
large number of eggs were called fur, while the quantity of rifle pow- 
der was greater, the board thought, than could in any event be neces- 
sary. It is certain that Congress received the requisitions with disfa-^ 
vor, and tardily granted orders for such supplies as by them were 
regarded esseiitial. All tliis tended to delay the movement, and give 
publicity to what it had been designed to keep secret. Washington 
meantime, grew anxious, and urged tiiat success depended upon ce- 
lerity. The ci>mmissariat, even at last, was but illy supplied either in 
quantity or quality. On reachmg Wyoming not a pound of salted 
meat remaining was fit to eat , and in other departments contractors 
had equally wronged the public service. Sullivan says that more tlian 
a third of his men were without a shirt to their backs. Many of the 
cattle furnished him were too poor to walk and some were even unable 
to stand. ( )f the fourteen hundred horses provided, at least fifty were 
worn out and unable to travel further than a single day's march 
beyond the Chemung river, where they were abandoned and ordered 
shot. The Indians afterward gathered the heads of these slaughtered 
animals and arranged them beside the trail. From this circumstance 
the locality derived its present name of Horseheads. 

On the 11th of August the army arrived at Tioga. A mile above 
the junction of the Tioga and Susquehanna rivers they approached 
each other to within a few rods. "Here a fort was built called Fort 
Sullivan, while the army, somewhat fatigued, lay on what might 
almost be called an island below," awaiting the arrival of Clinton's 
division. The water of the Susquehanna, through wdiich the troops 
had to pass, was up to their arm-pits, and to preserve the ammunition 
dry they hung their cartouch bo.ves upon their bayonets, carried high 
above their heads. From this point Sullivan detailed General Poor 
with a detachment of seven hundred men to meet Clinton. The 
precaution proved a wise one, for, after traversing thirty miles or 
more of wilderness, the detail came upon a body of Indians lying in 
ambush beside a well beaten trail at Round Hill, near Choconut creek, 
awaiting the coming of Clinton. The Indians were surprised, and 
being driven down the bank and dispersed, the detachment moved on 
and soon after came up with Clinton's division. After a brief halt the 
latter's march southward was resumed. 

The advent of Clinton's army into the region of Otsego lake, with a 



144 HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUNTY 

well appointed force, was an event so unexpected to the Indians and so 
formidable in character, that a widespread terror seized their families, 
and they fled in large number;; across the country, first, to near New- 
town, and, after the battle of the latter place, to the homes of the Senecas 
on the (lenesee, where, remote from white settlements, they fancied 
themselves secure, little suspecting the blow, now preparing through 
the agency of this very force, to fall upon those distant towns.' 

At ten o'clock on Sunday morning, the 22d of August, General Clin- 
ton appeared w^ith his division, in two hundred and ten boats. Salvos 
of artillery announced their arrival. The light corps was drawn up, 
Colonel Proctor's music was advanced to the front, and, with drums 
beating and fifes playing, the division floated past the light corps to 
the camp of the main aimy. The force, with this addition, now num- 
bered about five thousand men. 

Clinton's division, consisting of sixteen hninlred men. had come 
from the valley of the Mohawk, by way of Otsego lake and 
the easterly bank of the Susquehanna. As he neared Sullivan he 
dispatched a small detachment under command of Lieutenant Boyd, 
whose untimely fate a few days later near Conesus lake gives a tragic 
coloring to the expedition's history, to announce his coming; he 
arrived at the general headquarters in a soaking rain. 

The baggage was now got ready for the march. Several tents were 
cut up and a considerable force was detailed for work through the day 
and night, to make up this material into flijur sacks convenient for 
transporting on horseback. 

Having attained a comparatively open country, the line of march 
was arranged in the following order: General Hand's brigade in 
front in eight columns; (Jen. P(ior's brigade on the right in eight 
columns, flanked by a strong body of light troops; Gen. Maxwell's 
brigade on the left in eight columns, flanked by light troops; Gen. 
Clinton's brigade, in eight columns, in the rear; Col. Proctor's artil- 

1. In 1.S60, Judge Avery, of Fliut, Michigau, saw, on the Grand river, iu Canada, a venerable 
squaw nearly a hundred years old, of the Nanticoke tribe, named ll^ay-7i'ay, who was bom at 
Choconut, and resided near that place at the time Clinton's army was on its way to form a junc- 
tion with Sullivan. She recollected perfectly the dismay occasioned by that event, and also the 
flight with her people to the Genesee to seek safety, and when driven from the Seneca villages 
along the latter river by Sullivan, the continued flight with others, to Niagara. On the return of 
]>eace. Il'av-uay and her mother (she lost lier father in the Newton battle t came back with others 
and settled near Owego, where they recovered their kettles and other valuables left buried when 
they fled westward. Judge .\very has used his interesting pen with marked success iu rescuing 
many a fugitive leaf of early history from destruction. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 145 

lerj' in the center, flanked on the riirht and left by d(nible files of pack 
horses, which separated his command from Poor's and ^laxwell's brig- 
ades; !Major Parr, with the riflemen, disposed considerably in front of 
the whole, with orders to reconnoitre all suspicious places previous to 
the arrival of the army. Colonel Cortland's regiment was added to 
Clinton's division. Olden's to Poor's brigade, and Butler's regiment 
and ^Slajor Parr's corps to Hand's brigade. 

On the 2(ith of Augvist the signal gun was fired, and the whole army 
took up its line of march. A great and unknown wilderness — formida- 
ble obstacles to the movement of an army — spread before them, 
Unbridged creeks and rivers were to be forded, mountain defiles to be 
threaded, and morasses to be crossed. The maps of the country were 
full of errors; while the guides, even the best that could be procured, 
were so little acquainted with the route that they "could not conduct 
a party out of the Indian path by day nor in it by night." General 
Hand had been informed that the region between the Chemung river 
and the Genesee was in great part particularly low, wet and swampy, 
and could be travelled only with difficulty, and so informed Washing- 
ton in March; yet nothing, as we know, could well be further from the 
truth. A wily foe, perfectly familiar with every pass, and at home on 
every trail, hovered always upon their flanks. Pioneers moved invar- 
ialily in advance, and riflemen were disposed in front to reconnoitre 
suspicious places, and thus prevent surprise. But w'hile these precau- 
tions were taken to guard against disaster, confidence and good nature 
prevailed throughout the ranks, and neither oi'ficers nor men were 
immindful of the demands of the palate. Besides the usual supplies, 
the Commander carried dried tongues and other articles of like char- 
acter; and a number of live cattle were driven along to supply then7 
with fresh meat. The general officers were entertained at Sullivan's 
table, where, with characteristic freedom, he criticised the Congress, 
and particularly the Board of War. This impolitic course, though 
evincing independence, was cause for much after controversy and 
personal embroilment. 

.Si.\- light brass field pieces and two howitzers were carried by the 
artillery. The morning and evening guns were always fired, even in 
the deepest recesses of the forest: and much as Sullivan was criticised, 
even on' the floor of Congress, for thus notifying the Indians of his 
progress and whereabouts, he never justified his course as he might 



14r, HISTORY OF LIVIxXGSTOX COUNTY 

have ilone, by quoting his orders from the Commander.-in-chief him- 
self. These orders in the handwriting of Hamilton, and bearing 
Washington's autograph signature, are still in existence. 

Sullivan was familiar with Indian warfare, and was well aware of 
the terror which the discharge of cannon occasioned in the Indian 
mind. The peace of New England had in a measure been preserved 
by providing a "big gun" for e.vposed settlements, to be now and then 
fired from the little garrison house. Indeed, the shaking of a linstock 
by a woman over an unloaded cannon, proved enough on a notable 
•occasion to hold at bay a band of savages. As the expedition was no 
longer a secret, he determined to make the most of this feeling of dread 
on the part of the red man. In his special orders of the 31st nf May, 
Washington said, "The immediate objects (of the expedition) are the 
total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture 
•of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible." Washington 
had hoped to keep .the route of the army a secret, but this was obvi- 
ously impracticable; and as the natives, encumbered by little or no 
baggage and familiar with the country, could easily keep out of the 
Avay of forces whose progress at best must be necessarily slow, it be- 
came apparent at once that an effective campaign must have for its 
•object the destruction of their settlements, since he could take no 
prisoners; and even if he had been able to do so, no suitable provision 
•could be made for their maintenance or transportation. The morning 
and evening guns afforded little information as to the army's where- 
abouts, for the Indian runners were constantly watching its progress 
and reporting its movements to the retreating chieftains. 

Washington was well aware of the effect of dash and clamor, and 
he particularly suggested that when going to attack the Indians, "it 
shoidd be done with as much impetuosity, shouting, and noise as pos- 
sible," and that it should be "impressed upon the minds of the men 
\whenever they have an opportunity, to rush on with the warwhoop and 
fixed bayonet. Nothing will disconcert and terrify the Indians more 
.than this." 

On Sunday, the 2'>th of August, the expedition arrived at Newtown, 
near the present city of Elmira. The Indians and Tories, one thousand 
strong, under the Butlers and Brant, were here found intrenched 
behind well constructed earthworks, a short distance below the modern 
icity, at a point wisely chosen tor defence. Sullivan at once began to 



HISTORY (JF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 147 

engage them by openiniJ: his field pieces upon their defences, mean- 
time detaching General Hand's light troops to the left and Poor to the 
right around the mountain, the latter to fall upon their left flank and 
thus cut off their retreat in that direction. Poor was obliged, how- 
ever, to march over a mile in full view of the enemy, who readily 
penetrated his design. They observed, too, that when he opened 
signal fire other movements were making to surround them; and seeing 
that opposition was useless, they delayed no longer, but sounding the 
wild retreating whoop at once quitted their works and betook them- 
selves to precipitate flight, the artillery's well directed cannonade serv- 
ing, meantime, to cjuicken their motions. The engagement lasted two 
liours. Sullivan had seven men killed and about thirty wounded. The 
enemy suffered more seriously, and were pushed so closely that in 
their retreat Walter Butler's commission and the warrant of another 
Tory officer, together with several orderly books, fell into our hands. 
The defeat proved decisive. The leaders could not, during the whole 
progress of the expedition, again bring the savages face to face with 
the army marching to invade their homes, and though ever on the 
watch to embarrass its movements and to strike a stealthy blow, they 
were obliged constantly to retreat, slowly and sullenly, before the 
steadily advancing expedition. 

After the war. Brant told General Peter B. Porter, that Red Jacket, 
whose great influence was first fidly exerted in connection with this 
expedition, sought to perplex the Indians by holding private councils 
with the young chiefs and more timid sachems, to induce them to sue 
for peace, even on humiliating terms. Colonel Stone says that at one 
tiine Red Jacket so far succeeded in his plan as to send secretly a run- 
ner into Sullivan's camp, to make known the divisions existing among 
the Indians, and to advise the General to dispatch a flag of truce with 
certain propositions calculated to increase these divisions and to 
secure a peace dishonorable to them. Brant was privately informed 
of these proceedings, but fearful to disclose them, detailed two confi- 
dential warriors to waylay and kill the Ijearer of the flag of truce be- 
fore he should reach the Indian camp. 

The little Indian village of Newtown was laid in ashes, and the 
surrounding crops of corn and beans were also destroyed. From this 
point, on the night succeeding the battle, General Sullivan sent back 
to Pennsvlvania his heavy artillery, retaining only four brass three- 



14S HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

pounders and a small howitzer. Having loaded the necessary ammu- 
nition on horseback, and beins>- otherwise ready, the army resumed 
the march early next morning for Catharine's Town, the home of the 
half-l)lood Queen Catharine Montour, which lay on a creek about tiiree 
miles from Seneca lake, encamping at nightfall within thirteen miles 
of that village. The ne.xt day a road was opened for the artillery, 
through a hemlock swamp, nine miles in extent. Over tiiis, as well as 
through several dangerous defiles, the army was now to pass. It had 
also to ford a swift running river which in many places was consider- 
ably liruad and waist deep, while its course was so serpentine that it 
had to be crossed seven or eight times in the day's march. Sullivan 
was cautioned by his scouts against entering the swamp until daylight, 
and Clinton, who brought u\> the rear and was much fatiguctl, on 
reaching its entrance at nightfall was so strongly assured that the 
lives of his horses and cattle, if not of his 'men, would be risked if he 
tried to go through before morning, that he diti not attempt the task 
till the next day. Sullivan, however, pressed on, determined to cross 
that night. Flanking parties were accordingly sent forward, and 
other precautions taken against surprise; but such was the boldness of 
the hills and so narrow were the defiles, that a score or two of Indians 
might easily have obstructed the progress of the troops and thrown 
thcarmv into confusion. The night was intensely dark, and as the 
men slowly groped their way, often sinking deep into' the treaciier- 
ous ground, they became weary and scattered, and not a few lay down 
heie and there on the pathway for tlie night, unable to go farther. 
The situation was one of no little peril; but fully alive to its demands 
the (jeneral encouraged his army forward, and by midnight had the 
satisfaction of reaching the already deserted town. The Indian scouts 
had keenlv watched the army until evening, but having no thought 
that they would continue the march in a night so dark, over a route 
presenting so many difficulties, they made their way at dusk to the 
town where, roasting their corn, they passed the evening busily in 
planning for the next day, the resolute commander of the invading 
forces meantime pushing forward his troops, amid difficulties whose 
daring character, singularly enough, secured him from the dangers 
incident to the movement. Such a stroke was characteristic of vSul- 
livan. Washington, well aware of his intrepidity and dauntless cour- 
age, had selected him as chief officer of the expedition, which involved 



HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 149 

risks like tiiis; risks for which he liad a relish. Th(iu_t;"h when the 
troops had safely accomplished that night's march. Sullivan, it is said, 
declared he would not repeat it for the honor of a command. Several 
of the cattle had been killed, and a number of pack horses lost in the 
mazes of the swamp. The men, however, all arrived safely, those who 
had dropped out coming in with Clinton in the morning. The army 
halted here until the second day to rest from the unusual fatigues. 
Catharine's Town, it was found, consisted of thirty houses, several of 
which were quite good. These were destroyed together with the 
orchards and growing crops of corn, beans and other vegetables. 

An incident here occurred which proves the absence of personal 
hatred on the part of the army, however ready they were to destroy 
the towns and crops of the Indians, as a military necessity. An old 
Cayuga squaw of great age had been left in Catharine's Town liv the 
Indians in their precipitate flight, and was found in the neighboring 
woods. The soldiers at once provided for her present wants, and 
treated her with kindness during their stay. Before leaving, the town 
having meanwhile been burnt, they erected a hut for the old woman, 
and gathered a quantity of wood for her use. They also left her a 
supply of provisions, which she was found using on the army's return. 
Such unexpected usage drew grateful tears from her venerable eyes, 
and made her quite communicative. She assured the ofificers that the 
squaws .generally were anxious for the Indians to remain in their vil- 
lages and make peace with the Yankees. 

On the 30th of August, Sullivan addressed an order to the army, in 
which, reflecting severely on the Colonial authorities forneglect in fur- 
nishing supplies of food and horses, he requested the officers to ascertain 
if the troops were willing to draw half rations of flour, meat and salt, 
until the leading purpose of the expedition should be aixomplished. 
The necessity of this measure, so essential to success, since the sup- 
plies, never sufficient in quantity, w-ere now much reduced by loss in 
various ways, was fully appreciated, and the suggestion was received 
with cheers by the wdiole army, resolved as they were to execute the 
orders of Congress for the devastation of the Indian country at any 
personal sacrifice. But they really suffered nothing from hunger, 
since vegetables, common to the country through w-hich they were 
passing, were found in profusion, and their wants were thus supplied 
from dav to day bv the several localities. Hominy or paunc, made 



150 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

from corn, the camp kettles serving as graters, was especially palata- 
ble, but caused bowel complaints to such an extent that its use was 
discontinued for a time. On the Sth of September, a captain and fifty 
men were detached with all the sick and lame, and ordered to return 
to the garrison at Tioga. 

The work of destruction to Indian property was pursued relentlessly, 
and desolation marked the army's route, drains and crops were 
destroyed. Orchards of apple, pear and peach trees, raised in most 
instances from the seeds and stones, under advice of the Jesuit mis- 
sionaries, met the fate common to other species of property. In one 
place fifteen hundred peach trees, bending under the ripened fruit, 
were cut down. This is much to be regretted. Indeed, the Indians 
themselves, in their incursions upon the white settlements, were in the 
habit of sparing fruit trees the growth of many years; and some of the 
officers desired Sullivan to mitigate his orders in this regard, but his 
instructions from Washington were specific, and he insisted that they 
should be literally carried out. This was effectually done. "The blow 
must be sure and fatal," said Sullivan, "otherwise the Indians will 
derive confidence from our ineffectual attempts and become more inso- 
lent than before." 

Washington's specific orders were thus stated: "The immediate 
objects of the expedition are the total destruction and devastation of 
their settlements. * * * jt will be essential to ruin their crops 
now in the ground and prevent their planting more. * * * j wnuld 
recommend that some post in the center of the Indian country should 
be occupied with all expedition with a sufficient quantity of provis- 
ions, whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settle- 
ments around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, 
that the country may not be merely overrun but destroyed. * * * 
After you have thoroughly completed the destruction of their settle- 
ments, if the Indians show a disposition for peace, I would have you 
encourage Jt * * * But you will not by any means listen to over- 
tures of peace before the total destruction of their settlements is 
effected." 

Between Cayuga and Seneca lakes the enemy fled so suddenly before 
the army that the advance guard occasionally found kettles of corn 
boiling over the fire. At the Indian village of Kanadaseaga, or (Ga- 
nun-da-sa-gaj just west of Geneva, a fine white child about three years 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 151 

old was discovered by the army. It was entirely alone, nearly famished 
and quite naked, the only article on its person being a string of glass 
beads about its neck. When first seen it was playing at the door of a 
hut with a number of small sticks. On being spoken to it replied 
"Sago" (How are you?) and used a few other Indian words. It evi- 
dently was of Dutch parentage, and probably had been captured the 
year before, on the Pennsylvania border.^ A number of deer and 
bear skins were also found at the place, showing that the enemv had 
quit in haste. The army reached Kanandaigua Lake on the lOth, and 
■fprding its outlet marched a mile farther to the town of Kanan- 
daigua, consisting of twenty-three fine houses, some xii them framed, 
others log, but large and new, pleasantly situated about a mile from 
the west shore of the lake partl_v on the site of the present Canan- 
daigua. At this place the rear guard of the enemy remained so long 
that their fires were found burning. The torch was soon applied to 
the buildings and the army advanced a mile farther, where the corn- 
fields were, and encamped, when fatigue parties were detailed for the 
destruction of the crops, which was pretty thoroughly accomplished 
before dark. 

On the morning of Saturday, the 11th of September, the army re- 
sumed its march at six o'clock, moving for a mile through a thicket 
and swamp before the main path was gained. The infantry, owing 
to this cause, was considerably dispersed, and the movement forward 
was thus delayed. After marching three miles, the foremost ranks 
reached a. spot of rising ground. The rich country through which 
they were about to pass could be seen stretching for miles to the 
westward, a broken forest, mainly of oak and hickory, with intervals 
of fields covered here and there with remarkably high wild grass. At 
one ocl.ick they descended to a beautiful valley, and after a march of 
thirteen houi's, in a nearly southwest direction, substantially on the 

1. General SiilUvau took uo small iuterest iu the little fellow's welfare durinji the return 
march. It wa ■ Dlaced in a rough pannier or basket across a horse, balanced by an equal weijfht 
of baggage on the opposite side. On one occasion iu crossing a stream, much swollen by a storm, 
the water was freely ^patteied over it. Observing this, .Sullivan rode up. and taking out his hand- 
kerchief carefully dried the child's face. Captain Macbin, of the Kngineer parly, became the 
child's godfather, and had it christened Thomas Machiu. An excellent milch cow, which accom- 
panied the expedition from fir.,, to last, and which, on the return of the army to Tioga point, was 
carefully returned with the ofl'icer's horses to Wyoming, afforded nourishment for the little 
stranger. After the return of the aony the child- was taken to .Major Logan's house at New 
Windsor, near New bi.rsh, where it soon caught the small-pox and died. Its birthplace and par- 
entage remain alike unknown. 



152 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

line of the present road tlirough Bristol to the foot of Honeoye Lake, 
a distance of sixteen miles from Kanandaisjfua, encamped at the 
Indian town of Man-ne-ya-ye, which contained about twenty houses, 
and was near the site of present Honeoye, at the foot of Honeoye 
Lake, about half a mile east of the outlet, and south of jNIill Creek. 
Around it were several large cornfields and orchards of apples and 
other fruit trees. There was left at this point a garrison of fifty 
men, under Captain Cummings, of the Second Jersey Regiment, to- 
gether with "the sick, the lame, and the lazy," amounting to three 
hundred men all told. The garrison was directed to remain at this 
temporary post, and guard until the army's return the extra stores 
of ammunition and fiour, which otherwise would encumber the move- 
ment forward, now to become more active. 

The Captain took possession of one of the houses as a fort. Lieu- 
tenant Beatty in his journal gi \es the following description of the 
work: "'They was encamped round the house where we had left our 
stores and the camp was abateed in, and round the house they had 
uiade a small fort of kegs, and barrels of flour and had three [ueres of 
artillery in ir, and the house they had made full of loop holes, so as 
to fight out of it in case of necessity, and upon the whole I think 
they was very safe." 

Here Sullivan was informed by two prisoners that the Indians, a 
few rangers and stime British soldiers, had labored diligently during 
the previous season about the (ienesee river, in jjlanting crops to 
serve for their support while they were marauding along the frontier. 
These men had acted under the immediate orders of Walter Butler, 
who had [jassed several months of the summer along the Cenesee, 
making his headquarters at the cabin of Mary Jemison, the White 
W'oman. He was supplied with port wine by the barrel, and found 
amusement m his leisure hours in fishing ami hunting. This infor- 
mation communicated to the army, gave additional stimulus and de- 
termined men and officers alike to make thorough work when they 
should reach the richer planting grounds near the ri\-er. 

On Sunday morning, the 12th of September, it rained heavily, and 
the troops did not move until nearly noon. They forded the outlet 
near Honeoye Lake, and took a west course nearly on the line 
of the present east and west road leading west from the village of 
Honeoye to the summit of the dividing ridge, and thence in a south- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1?:^ 

west course, crossing the omlet of Hemlock Lake-..at its foot., ;uul 
continuing over the hill on the same course to the present Foots 
Corners, in the Town of Conesus, where the army encamped for the 
night on level ground, two miles north of the Indian Town Adjutoa — 
called also Adjuton — or Kanaghsavvs. ^ Early on Monday morning, 
the 13th of September, the army marched from their evening's bivouac 
to Kanaghsaws, where they made camp and breakfasted. This 
Indian Town, consisting of eighteen houses, was located about a mile 
northwest of Conesus Center on the north and south road that passes 
through the McMillan farm. Between the town and the lake, on 
Henderson's Flats, were the cornfields. The village appears to have 
occupied grounds 'in the vicinity of the McMillan residence, and ex- 
tended north across the creek and southward to the plateau now 
covered by an orchard, wiiich was probably an ancient palisaded site of 
the town. A local tradition exists that General Hand with the light 
tr<iops followed the road through Union Corners, and encamped on 
the night of the 12th on the Charles C. Gray farm, formerly L. B. 
Richardson's, southwest of Conesus Center, at the False Faces, ^ hut 
nothing of the kind is found in any of the journals. On a manuscript 
map, however, in the Congressional Library, made to represent the 
route of the army, it appears that a portion of the army did take the 
route described. The journal of Sergeant-Major George Grant says 
a fine stream of water ran through the town, and that "Captain Sun- 
fish, a negro, a very bold, enterprising fellow, commanded the town." 
Several journals also mention the fact that Big Tree, the noted Indian 
warrior, also made this his home. Here Sullivan, finding that the 
enemy had on its retreat destroyed the bridge over the inlet, a few 
feet from the present one, detailed a portion of the army to aid 
the pioneers in its reconstruction, and to repair the roadway over the 
low grounds leading to it. The remains of this rude bridge, com- 
posed of trunks of elm and white wood, were plainly visible in ISOd 
when lames Scott came into this region; and the abutments, stringers 
and some few of the logs that constituted the track-way could still be 
seen as late as 1813, and were removed, for the most part in June of 

1. J)r Gah-n.vuh-sas. 

2. From the circumstance thai foi many years alter tlie country was settled, there stood on 
the Richardson farm about fifty rods east of the residence, on eitherside of the old Indian path, 
two oak trees upon which had been cut in the bark rude representations of the human face. 



154 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

that year, for the purpose of repairin;^ the more modern bridge and its- 
ap[)roaches, and because it had become an obstruction to the highway. 
John White, of (Srovciand, then lived in that road district and assisted 
in its removal. ^V tradition is e.xtant that the army, in crossing here 
on their way to the Indian village on the Genesee, threw a three 
]jounder brass cannon into the stream, because of their inability to 
transport it farther. Hut Sullivan makes no mention of the loss of a 
field piece here, although his official report is cpiite particular, 
especially in reference to ordnance and ammunition. It seems most 
unlikely that so formidal)le a weapon intended for use in this region, 
Would be abandoned at this stage of the expedition, after surmounting 
more serious obstacles, especially as the army, having little to fear 
from the enemy, moved leisurely across the bridge. Moreover, had 
the piece proved burdensome, it could easily have been sent during 
the morning, while the army lay inactive here, back to Han-ne-ya-ye, 
where Captain Cummings would have welcomed it as additional arma- 
ment to his little fort. So strong, however, was the popular belief in 
this story that, when in Ajiril, 1S()S the rebels evacuated Richmond, 
and the whole country was alive with excitement, a ruinor reached 
Scottsburgand traveled along the line of the inlet, that this abandoned 
cannon had been recovered and was being fired in honor of the great 
event of the day. Firing was certainly heard in the direction of the 
lake, and scores of people flocked thither to see the old gun and listen 
to Us brazen voice; but they reached the spot to learn that the sound 
proceeded from a blacksmith's anvil, improvised for the occasion. 

As late as 177i), the principal Genesee tovi^n, called Cheiiussio, was 
located near the confluence of the Canaseraga creek with the (ienesee 
river, and here it was marked on the most recent maps to vvhich 
General Sidlivan had access. He was not aware of the fact that its 
location had been changed to the west side of the river, and seems 
to have known nothing of another t<iwn two miles farther up the 
Canaseraga. 

When, therefore. General Sullivan reached his encampment on 
Sunday evening he supposed he was near the great (Senesee Castle, 
which was the objective point of his expedition. In order to secure 
more accurate information, he ordered Lieutenant Thomas Boyd of 
the rifle corps to take five or si.x men with him, make a rapid recon- 
noissance, and report at headquarters as early as sunrise the next 



HISTORY OF LIVIX(;ST()X COUNTY 155 

morning. ^Major Adam Hoops, third aide-de-camp on Sullivan's 
staff, was present in the General's tent, and heard the instructions 
to Boyd. These were verbal, of course, but quite specific. "The 
country before us," said Major Hoops, "was unknown. We had 
heard of an Indian castle on the Genesee, which, by our reckoning, 
might be a few miles ahead of us." Sullivan called this castle, or 
village, the capital of the Indian country; and toward it Boyd was to 
take his course. On leaving his commander's tent he proceeded at 
once carefully to select his scouting party. Instead, however, of the 
smaller number, he took twelve riflemen, si.\ musket men of the 
Fourth Pennsjdvania Regiment, and eight volunteers, making, 
with himself and Hanyerry, the Oneida Indian guide, and Captain 
Jehoiakim, a Stockbridge Indian, twenty-nine men in all, '^ a force by 
no means as likely to effect the purpose as that which he had been 
directed to take with him. "Too few," says Minor, "if battle were 
intended; too many, if secrecy and celerity were prime requisites of 
the enterprise." Hanyerry (or Han Yost) acted as guide. Timothy 
^lurphy, a private soldier, of marvelous coolness and boldness, famous 
alike as a border fighter and scout, whom Boyd found at a camp fire, 
filling the eager ears of his fellow soldiers with stories of his Indian 
hand-to-hand fights, was also a member of the party. They set out 
at eleven o'clock in the evening on the trail leading to the Great 
Town. 

From Kanaghsaws the trail led southwesterly across the low 
grounds, following the line of the present road near the inlet and 
crossing it at, or very near, the site of the present bridge, about three- 
fourths of a mile from the head of the lake. North of the bridge the 
banks of the inlet are low and marshy, in many places impassable for 
infantry, and at all points impassable for artillery and packhorses; 
while south of the bridge is a wet swamp almost impenetrable from 
the thick growth of underbrush. West of the lake and inlet is a steep 
hillside, the face of which, cut up by numerous ravines, is so steep that 
with considerable difficulty only could an army march directly up it. 
The trail after leaving the bridge, according to General Clark, con- 
tinued southwesterly up the hill, nearly on the line of the present high- 

I. There is a disagreenieut anioug the journals of the e.\pe<iitiou couceriiiiig the number 
comprising the scouting party that cannot be harmonized. The version of the Kev. David Craft. 
who has given careful study to the subject and has written a most comprehensive and accurate 
account of the Sullivan K.xpedition, has been adopted. 



15(. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

way to the summit of the bluff, and thence turning northwest, followed 
along the edi^e of the ravines for a mile and thence directly west to 
Gathtsegwarohare. West of the bridge, between two very deep 
ravines, is a space nearly half a mile in width which continues 
up the hill on very favorable grounds for the advance of the army. 
It appears to be the only point where it could advance in the order of 
march laid down, requiring a space of nearly half a mile in w'idth for 
the several columns. Other authorities, however, place the point of 
ascent farther to the north, and the well-established fact of a nindian 
trail up the hill north of the point indicated by General Clark will jus- 
tify the statement hereinafter made, as to the course of the scouting 
party and the army. 

Noon was advancing, and yet the scouting party had not returned 
from its hazardous mission, though four of the little band dis[)atched 
by Boyd, including Captain Jehoiakim, had at daybreak l)r(night a 
brief report to the (General. A council of officers was now summoned 
at SuUivan's tent, which occupied the future site of the house of the 
old negro fisherman Harkless Williams. 

This assembly was striking. The leading personage, Major-Cien- 
eral John Sullivan, commander of the expedition, was a man of daunt- 
less resolution and genuine Revolutionary fire. One of the very first to 
strike for the cause of liberty, he held throughout the great struggle 
a conspicuous place; and after the war, in all measures tending to 
secure the adoption of the Federal constitution and the pacification 
of the country, he took an earnest and often important part. Three 
times Its chief magistrate, he continued to enjoy other high civil 
dignities in his native State, down to the close of his life. Webster, 
at Bunker Hill monument, in addressing Lafayette, refers to him as 
an immediate companion in arms of the immortal Frenchman, and 
groups him with Washington, Gates and Lincoln.^ He was an 
attached friend ot John Adams, and enjoyed the intimate companion- 
ship of Lafayette. At the moment appointed for the meeting, he 
enters the tent from a tour of personal inspection of the camp. His 
bearing is dignified and the expression worn on his sunburnt face is 
grave and even anxious; for the expedition is now on the very 

I. "Moniiineiits and eulogy belong to the dead. We give lliein this day to Warren and his 
associates. On other occasions they have been given to yonr immediate companions iti arms, to 
Washington, to Greene, to .Snllivan. to Lincoln." — Webster's Hnnker Hill Oration. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 157 

threshold of its final work. His piercing eye moves from one to an- 
other; for he would gather the present feeling of each officer. Ami- 
able in personal intercourse, he salutes, as he takes his camp stool, 
the officers severally with warmth and native kindness. Forty years 
of age, erect in stature, five feet nine inches in height, his chest full, 
already inclining to corpulency, his eyes keen and dark, his hair 
black and curly, he presents a form and demeanor that challenge re- 
spect. The business of the council at once begins; for Sullivan is 
always impatient of delay. ' As the conference proceeds we may 
glance at his career. Born at Somersworth, then part of Dover, 
New Hampshire,' on the 17th of February, 174(1. he passed his early 
years on his father's farm. After reading law in the office of Judge 
Livermore, of the supreme court of his native State, he was admitted 
to practice, and for several years before the war was a leading- 
member of the New Hampshire bar. He early showed a military 
taste, and received in 1772 a provincial commission as major of 
militia. His father, the humble founder of one of the most distin- 
guished of New England families — a family that has furnished two 
governors, several high military and a long list of civilian officers — 
was a school master of Irish birth; he still retained the family name 
'f O'Sullivan,^ possessed a good education, a warm heart, and small 
earthly possessions. Deriving his mental activity and warmth of 
temperament from an Irish ancestry, Sullivan inherited, no doubt, 
from the same source, a jealousy of Great Britain. Not unfamiliar 
with political science, and alive to the bearings of public questions, 
the people turned to him at the first mutterings of that storm which 
culminated in the Revolution; and in 1774 he and Nathaniel Folsom 
were appointed delegates from New Hampshire to the first Continental 

1. The state of M.-iiue is uuiformly giveu as Geueral Sullivan's birthplace; but this is an 
error. When iu 17S7 he was a candidate for President of New Hampshire, as the office of gov- 
ernor was then called, for a second tertn, the opposition endeavored to prejudice his cause by 
urging that he was a foreigner — a native, not of New Hampshire but of Maine, and therefore not 
deserving of support: for, it was a.<ked. ".\re there not New Hampshire men competent to fill her 
Gubernatorial chair ?" But the stor>- availed his opponents nothing, for his father and mother, 
then both living, set the fiction at rest by asserting that Somersworth was in truth his birthplace 
—a fact which the people were thus made to believe — and they honored him with a reelection in 
17S- and again in 1789. The General's brother. James Sullivan, Governor of Massachusetts, was a 
native of Berwick, Maine, where he was bom after the parents removed from New Hampshire. 

2. The Irish prefix, O' was omitted by his children, however. The father lived to be more 
than a hundred years old, and was in the habit of visiting the General every year on horseback, 
from Maine. 



158 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Congress. In Uecember of that year he, John Liingdon and Captain 
Thomas Pickering, "led a force against Fort William and Mary, near 
Portsmouth, took possession of one hundred barrels of gunpowder 
(afterwards used at the battle of Bunker Hill), fifteen cannon, and all 
the small arms and other stores, and carried them up into the country, 
concealing a portion of them under the pul[)it of the Durham meeting 
house. This was the first act of armed hostility committed in the 
colonies. " ^ 

In June, 1775, he was a])p<iinted one of the eight brigadier-generals, 
and was assigned to a command on Winter Hill, at the siege ol 
Boston. Dispatched soon after with reinforcements to the niMthern 
army in Canada, he displayed great military skill and resolution in 
the retreat. Commissioned as major-general, "he served under Put- 
nam on Long Island, and by a combat of two hours in the woods, 
aided by Stirling's vigorous defence on the right, contributed to the 
preservation of the American army. He was taken prisoner, but 
being exchanged for General Prescott, was with Washington at 
Westchester during the autumn. After General Lee's capture, Sulli- 
van took command of his division, and led the right at Trenton on 
Christmas night, 177f)." He cotnmanded the right Aving at Brandy- 
wine, and defeated the British left at Germantown, driving them two 
miles. In 177S he personally directed the siege of Newport, but not 
receiving the e.xjiected aid from the French fleet, the siege was aban- 
doned. In 177"i he was assigned, as we have seen, to conduct this 
expedition. 

Seeing that "matters were drawing to a hajjpy conclusion," he 
resigned his commission on the 9th of November, 177'). much against 
the wishes of Washington. The expedition, though conducted with 
eminent success, was keenly criticised in Congress, where political 
animosity must thus early be gratified, and he felt that certain mem- 
bers, especially of the Board of War, who appear to have blamed him 
for disasters which w-ere inevitable, had deeply wronged him. His 
health, too, was impaired by rough service and a bilious disorder that 
had seized him at the commencement and continued during the whole 
of the march, and his private affairs needed attention. Like other 

1. This bold act was "coiisuinniated by the seizure of the Kiug's propert>' and the disariniug 
and iniprisonineiit of his soldiers; and this, too, at a time when the universal langiiajie held in 
public was that of peace and anticipated reconciliation. It was not until four months afterwards 
that the first blood was shed at I.exinstou." 



HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 15«^ 

■officers of the Revoluti(jn, his support had been drawn mainly from 
private means; but his personal concerns, less favorably situated than 
many, had become greatly embarrassed. On quitting the army, he 
resumed his profession; but the task of righting finances, shattered 
by long neglect, proved too great, and he died, as for years he had 
lived, surrounded by importunate creditors. Even death did not 
•close the rugged chapter of a life of rugged fortunes. Under an old 
provincial statute, a debtor's corpse might be attached and held from 
burial until redeemed. Availing of this on the day of the funeral, 
Sullivan's creditors sent an officer to execute the infamous law on his 
remains. Closing the house, the relatives dispatched a messenger for 
General Cilley, a former comrade in arms, who resided a short dis- 
tance away. On arriving, the old soldier directed the doors to be 
■opened and the services to proceed. Said he, "The funeral of this 
dear General must not be interrupted." He then drew from his coat 
two horseman's pistols carried by him through the Revolution and, as 
he cocked them, added "(io on with the ceremonies." Prayer was 
offered, and the remains were placed on a bier; the bearers took it up 
and proceeded to the grave. General Cilley, pistol in hand, following 
■close after. Tiie rites were completed without interference from 
creditor or civil officer; Cilley then turned soir(]wfidly awav, mounted 
his horse, and rode slowly homeward. 

Brigadier-general James Clinton, the officer ne.xt in rank on this 
■occasion, was of that honorable family which gave two generals to the 
Revolution, two governors to New York, and we had almost *aid. 
two vice presidents to the Republic. I Born in Ulster county. New 
York, three years earlier than Sullivan, his father was likewise an 
Irishman, and, on the mother's paternal side, was related to an officer 
in Cromwell's army. After receiving a liberal education, he served 
as a captain in the French war under Bradstreet, and at twenty took 
a gallant part in the capture of Fort F'rontenac. Seven years later, 
he held command of the regiments raised to protect the frontiers of 

I. George Cliuton, brother of the General, was Vice President of the I'liited States during: the 
second term of Jefferson. In 1813 DeWitt Clinton, his nephew, was favored with the nomination 
of the Republican members of the New York Legislature, for the Presidency. The Federalists 
made no nomination, and indirectly gave him their support. He received S9 electoral votes, 
while Mr. Madison received 128 and was thus reelected. Before the amendment to the Constitu- 
tion in 1803, the person, after the choice of the President, receiving the greatest unniher of elec- 
toral votes was Vice President. Had this provision been continued nine years longer DeWitt 
Cliuton would have been Vice President, as he stood uext highest to Madison in that canvass. 



\(,n HISTDRY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Ulster and Orange counties against Indian incursions. In 1775, with 
the rank of colonel, he went with the chivalric Montgomery to Canada. 
In 1777, promoted to brigadier-general,. he, with his brother C/overnor 
CJeorge Clinton, was in command of Fort Clinton and Fort Mont- 
gomery, just below West Point. On the fith of October, the Fort was 
stormed by the British with three thousand men, as a diversion in 
favor of Burgoyne, who was moving down from the upper Hudson, 
and who. a few days later, lost the field of Saratoga, that decisive 
battle of the Revolution. After a gallant resistance the garrison of 
only five hundred men were overpowered, but succeeded in making 
their escape. Clinton, the last to leave the works, w;is pursued, fired 
at, and his attending servant killed. Still flying, he was severely 
wounded by a bayonet, but escaped on h(jrseback ; yet pursued, he 
dismounted, and slid down a percipice a hundred feet to the creek; 
whence, covered with blood, he made his way home, a few miles 
distant. He was stationed at West Point during the greater part of 
1778, engaged in throwing the great chain across the Hudson, to 
prevent the ascent of the enemy's ships. He was in charge of the 
Northern department during most of the war, and was present at the 
capture of Cornwallis. In 177'', he was directed to cooperate with 
Sullivan in this expedition. In order to effect the junction, his force 
of sixteen hundred men was conveyed up the Mohawk in batteaux, 
about fifty miles above Schenectady, thence across to Otsegt) lake, a 
source of the vSusquehanna river. Cooper, our great novelist 
has seen in Clinton's expedient- of damming the outlet of that 
beautiful sheet to collect its waters, then tearing away the 
obstruction in order to create an artificial current for floating his 
boats to the place of meeting with Sullivan, an episode of romantic 
interest. Clinton's appearance at this council is deferential, yet 
soldierlike. He has well endured the fatigues of the great march, for 
his constitution is like iron. His nature is affectionate and mild, but 
at the mention of danger ahead he is roused to interest. His counsel is 
wise, and is received with the attention due to so experienced an 
officer. ^ 

Brigadier-general Edward Hand, the leader of the vanguard, was a 

I. Oeiieral Clinton was the father of Governor UeWitt Clinton. He made his last appearance 
in arms on the evacnation of the city of New York by the British. He held civil positions after 
the war, and died at Little Britain, in Orange connty, greatly loved and honored, in December, 

iSlJ, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 161 

native of Clyduff, Ireland, where he was born on the hist day of 
December, 1744. At twenty-eight he entered the Britisii army as 
ensign in the Royal Irish Foot, then on duty in this country. After 
serving two years, he settled in Pennsylvania. But his retirement 
was brief; tor, at the beginning of the Revolution, he entered the 
Continental service as a lieutenant-colonel. Made colonel of a rifle 
regiment in the spring of 1776, he was engaged in the battle of Long 
Island in the same year, and shared in the retreat from Brooklyn. 
He was also in the battle of Trenton in the following December. He 
commanded at Pittsburg during the succeeding summer and fall. In 
October, 1778, he was on duty at Albany, in command of the Northern 
department, and in April following was appointed brigadier-general, 
and assigned to command of the light corps in this expedition. In the 
previous autumn, Washington had called his particular attention to 
the subject of such an undertaking, and asked him to consult (General 
Schuyler as to its practicability. The correspondence reveals the de- 
gree of confidence reposed in his judgment. Afterwards, in Sep- 
tember, 17SU, Washington, recognizing his standing, placed him on 
the board of general officers convened in the old Dutch church at 
Tappan, for the trial of ilajor Andre, the famous British spy. Lord 
Stirling, Lafayette, Baron Steuben, Knox, Stark and other distin- 
guished officers to the number of fourteen, composed that tribunal. 
In the same year he succeeded Scammel as Adjutant-general of the 
army, and held that important post until the war closed.' In char- 
acter he was bold and chivalric. His love for horses, especially for 
his fine roan charger, an animal remarkable for lofty carriage and 
spirit, which he had brought on this expedition, though he generally 
rode an active gray, gained him no little notoriety, as also diil his 
excellent horsemanship. His military knowledge was valuable and 
extensive, and his general reading considerable. In this expedition 
he had exhibited ability and zeal, and, doubtless, at the council, his 
opinions were heard with attention. 

Brigadier-general William ilaxwell, in command of the New Jersey 
brigade, was also present at the consultation. He was commissioned 

I. General Haud died at Rockfoid, Lancaster coiitity, I'enu., ou the .vl of September. iSoj, 
aged 58 years. Judge James I,. Campbell, of Cherry Valley, had a lively recollection of General 
Hands heiiiK entertained with Washington at his father's, Col. Samuel Campbells hunse, iu 
Cherry Valley, in 17S3. On this occasion Governor George Clinton. General Hnmphrey, Colonel 
Marinus Willet and other officers were also present. 



162 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

a general officer in October, 1770, having entered the Continental 
service as colonel of a New Jersey regiment, and served under Mont- 
gomery in the Canada campaign of that year. He commanded the 
Jersey brigade at the battle of Branilywine, and also at Germantown. 
His caustic letter to the governor and legislature of New Jersey in re- 
spect to arrearages of pay due his officers and men, on the eve of leav- 
ing for the rendezvous of Wyoming, exhibits the positive side of his 
character, and shows his regard for the soldiers' welfare and his selec- 
tion by Lord Stirling, as the army lay at White Plains, to accompany 
his lady and daughter to the British lines, and the "great politeness" 
with which, in the words of the Countess of Stirling, he received them 
on their return, proves him to have been a gentleman of refinement 
and courtesy. ' 

Brigadier-general Enoch Poor was also at this council board. His 
brigade was ordered from Connecticut, where it lay unemployed at 
the time. He entered the continental service in couiniand of the 
New Hampsliire regiment. John Poore, the ancestor of the family, 
came from Wiltshire, England, in 1635, and settled in Massachusetts. 
The General was descended from Lieutenant Daniel of the Colonial 
militia, who died at Andover in 1713. General Poor served under 
Lafayette, and gained that distinguished officer's respect and affec- 
tion. During Lafayette's last visit to this country, he gave as a 
toast on one occasion, "Light Lifantry Poor and Yorktcnvn Scammel;" 
and when shown the grave of Poor, he was much affected, and turn- 
ing away, said, "^\h! that was one of my Generals." He survived 
^;his expedition only a year, dying on the eighth of September. 17S(), 
.aged forty-four years. He died from the effect of a wound received 
in a duel with a French officer, the tiifficulty growing out of a con- 
troversy on the subject of state policy. So beloved was he by the 
soldiery, that it was deemed unwise to allow the real cause of his 
■death to transpire, for fear of seri'Uis results ; hence the army was 
■permitted to believe that he died of bilious fever, and this error long 
remained uncorrected. He sleeps far away from his native hills, in 
the graveyard of the Protestant Dutch church at Hackensack, New 
Jersey. There, underneath a willow, rests a horizontal stone which 
marks the grave of this gallant (officer. Tiie army lay at Kiner- 

I. Geueral Maxwell resijtued his comniissiou on the 23d of June, 17.S0, aud retired from the 
service. 



HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUXTY 163 

hamach, near the boundary between this State and New Jersey, at 
his death. His coffin, draped with the national banner, was borne to 
the grave by officers of rank; and a long line of soldiers, both foot 
and horse, swelled the funeral procession, which extended from the 
upper end of the town to the church. Washington and Lafayette 
took part in the rites. Two field pieces, drawn by artiller)- horses, 
followed the hearse, but were not discharged on account of the 
■enemy's vicinity.' 

Other officers were present at this inuncil. Colonel William Butler, 
whose regiment, stationed at Schoharie when ordered on this expe- 
dition, and which numbered on its rolls the names of Lieutenant 
Boyd, Timothy Murphy and others of the scouting party, was doubt- 
less there. The Connecticut missionary, Samuel Kirkland, who, a 
■dozen years before, had been successfully employed among the 
Senecas in this region, and now serving as brigade chaplain, as well as 
guide and interpreter, was probably present. This good man was of 
Scotch descent, and had come to this region under the auspices of 
the Society for the Propagatinn of the Gospel among the Six Nations, 

No account of the proceedings on this occasion has come down to 
us.' We only know that Sullivan expressed anxiety at the prolonged 
delay of the scouting party ; and most likely he produced and read 
the instructions of Washington, which were drawn up by Hamilton 
and bore the signatures of those two immortal men. They direct 
the total destruction of the property of the Indians. Certainly before 
many hours had elapsed these orders in their fullest extent were 
•carried into literal execution 

When the concil broke up tiie army still lay encamped in full view 
before its commanders. The surroundings were picturesque. Five 
thousand soldiers had improvised their camp upon the plain and its 
immediate hillsides, their white tents contrasting vividly with the 
autumnal tint of woodland foliage. Anon the drum beat and sentry 
call emphasized at intervals the undertone of warlike preparation. 
The resounding echoes as the forest trees gave way for the bridge and 
the fruit trees loaded with apples and peaches fell before ringing 
axe strokes; the rustling of crisp corn trampled under heedless feet ; 

1. The iuscripliou ou the tomhstoue reads as follows: "In mcmorj- of the Hon. Brigadier- 
geueral Enoch Poor, of the State of New Hampshire, who departed thislife ou the Sth of Septem- 
ber, 1780, aged 44."— Barber & Howe's Hist. Coll. of New Jersey. 



164 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



all k'lit their busy music to the scene which had hcrctnfore been the 
domain of solitude and silence. The situation of the arm)- was in 
itself novel. Its arms now carried far into the heart of this remote 
and barbarous country were unsupported frnni behind throusi'h 
hundreds of miles of forest wilderness stretching- eastward back to 
the main force under AVashington, Before these martial pioneers all 
was unknown. Nothini;' indeed was felt to be certain save the reso- 
lute purpose of every soldier to waste the hostile soil and to e.\tin- 
guish the last vestige of Indian occujjancy. 

"While the American army lay encamped almost undisturbed, the 
devoted Indian villages of Heardstown, Canaseraga, Big Tree. Canawau- 




SUI.I.IV.\NS ROUTE .\S TR.-iCHI) ON .4 SOLDIERS POWDER HORN. 



gus and other towns on the river, were scenes of consternation. As 
stated in a previous page. Colonel Doty in October, ISOS, visited the 
Cattaraugus Indian reservation, near Buffalo, tor the purpose of con- 
sulting Philip Kenjockety, a representative of the almost extinct tribe 
of the Kah-kwas. His parents resided with the Senecas on the Gene- 
see dLU"ing the early years of the Revolution. In 177'» they were 
living at Beardstown, and Philip recollected with marvelous distinct- 
ness some episodes of Sullivan's invasion. To the Indians residing on 
the Genesee river, and [lerhaps to the Six Nations generally, the 
American troops were known as Yankees, or, more familiarly, as 
"Bostonians" (Wah-stoh-nah-yans), and were looked upon, especially 
by the women and children, with great dread. The whole population of 
the Seneca villages became speedily aware that the army was forcing 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lf,5 

its way through the wilderness to destroy their homes and possessions. 
The corn that year was remembered to have been a great crop, and 
they were just engaged in gathering it when tiie army reached 
Conesus lake. Every day or two during the progress of our forces 
the arrival of messengers and wounded braves announced tliat the 
Yankees were drawing near. One of these runners had been taken 
prisoner by the invaders but managed to escape. His relation was 
full of detail and gave great alarm. The air seemed to grow heavy 
with omens, and the very birds gave signs of approaching evil. A 
small party of young warriors from Beardstown met the advance force 
of our army on a hillside, not many miles from the Genesee, and one 
of them, a favorite of the village, was wounded, but his companions 
conveyed him to his home. Skirmishes of this kind were frequent, 
and the wounded Indians managed to get back to their lodges only to 
add to the general gloom. After vSullivan reached Conesus lake a 
young Indian named Sah-nah-dah-yah, who could neither run nor 
walk well, because of a previous wound received in one of these skir- 
mishes, said he must again go out to fight the Yankees. His or-phan 
sisters begged him to remain with them. One of them clung about 
his person to keep him back, but he ])ushed her aside and left the hut. 
Arriving just at daybreak in the little Indian village near where 
Boyd's scouting party had passed the night, he was discovered by 
Murphy and sank under his death-dealing rifle. His moccasins, 
worked with a sister's care, were transferred to Murphy's feet and his 
scalp soon hung from Murphy's belt. 

Though the commotion in the Indian villages increased with the 
march of our men, none fled until, on the evening that witnessed the 
enemy's arrival near the lake, a "noise like thunder" was heard in that 
direction. An old warrior said to the wondering village that this was 
the echo of the Yankee's big guns — those terrible engines which cm- 
bodied to Indian superstition all the dread mysteries of hostile 
"medicine men." On hearing this portentous word, the women 
set up a wail, the children bawled out a wild accompaniment and the 
excitement grew every moment greater. By laying the ear to the 
ground the Indians could hear the tread ol the troops in Sullivan's 
camp. The day was misty and rainy by turns, but preparations for 
quitting their villages went actively forward, and in a brief space the 
few horses that could be collected were ready to begin the long journey 



If.f. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

to Fort Niagara, whither the families were told to direct their i)il_u;rim- 
age. Soon after their departure the shrill notes of a bugle, belonging, 
perhaps, to Boyd's party were borne to them upon the night air, creat- 
ing intense alarm among the fugitives. Kenjockety recollected that 
the Indians were followed next day for some distance by a small body 
of Yankees, but that they were protected by a detachment of British 
troops dressed in green uniform. This ended Kenjockely's relation. 

After the battle of Newtown, Butler and Brant with their demoraliz- 
ed forces sullenly retired, powerless to prevent the advance of the 
devastating army. Butler had reached the last Indian village of Can- 
awaugus, located on the west side of the Genesee, twelve miles north 
of the great Genesee Castle. Here he received reinforcements of reg- 
ulars from Niagara and determined tn make one more effort against 
the invaders. Gathering all his availalile forces of regulars, Tories and 
Indians, he left Canawaugus on the morning of the 12th of September, 
and probably reached the position on the hill west of Kanaghsaws on 
the evening of the same day. Here they posted themselves north of 
the trail at the heads of the ravines, about three-fourths of a mile west 
of the bridge and a mile and a half from Kanaghsaws, from which 
point all the movements of the expeditionary forces were under the eye 
of Butler who, according to a British account, "lay undiscovered, 
though only a musket shot from the rebels, and even within sight." 
This was a most admirable position for an ambuscade, and the plan 
appears to have been to attack a portion of the army after it had crossed 
the bridge, or to ambuscade the head cf the column while ascending 
the hill; but whatever may have been the original design, it was com- 
pletely frustrated by the fortunate movements of the unfortunate 
Boyd. It will be remembered thai the aiiiiy went into camp 
on the fiats near Foot's Corners, two miles north of the vil- 
lage of Kanaghsaws. Boyd and his party passed through the 
abandoned Kanaghsaws and, pressing forward for nearly half a 
mile along the base of the hill, turned to the left and marched actively 
up the acclivity. The trail they were following divided ; one path led 
to the abandoned Chenussio, the otiu-i' and [)rini'i|)ally travelled one 
took a direction quite unexpected to them to an important town twO' 
miles farther up the Canaseraga, the only one between the army and 
the Genesee. This was Gathtsegwarohare. The town was seven miles 
directly west of Kanaghsaws. on the east side of Canaseraga Creek 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY U>7 

about two iniles above its confluence with the Genesee River. Here is 
a beautiful plateau of about six acres admirably adapted for an Indian 
town, at present occupied by the house and surrounding grounds of 
the widely known ''Hermitage," the ancestral home of the Carrolls',, 
and now the property of JIajor William A. Wadsworth. The town 
contained twentv-tive houses, mostly new, and appears to have been lo- 
cated on both sides of tiie stream north of the residence. The tribe resid- 
ing here, called Squa-tche-gas by Sullivan, was the same that settled at 
Squakie Hill and to whom was reserved the two square miles in the 
Big Tree treaty of 1797. They were probably a remnant of one of the 
tribes of the historic Eries, occupying the territory to the south 
and east of Lake Erie, whose blood, language and league did not differ 
materially from the Iroquois Five Nations. As stated in a previous 
chapter, the Eries were finally overthrown about the year 1655 and a 
remnant was incorporated with the League. They were permitted to 
live by themselves, to have a separate council fire and keep up a show 
of tribal rites. 

Boyd had passed Butler's right flank in the darkness, without 
either party having discovered the other, and early in the morning 
reached the town which the inhabitants had abandoned. Halting his 
party at the outskirts, he with one of his men made a reconnoissance 
of the town, after which they all concealed themselves in the adjoin- 
ing woods. From here he sent four' men back to camp to report his 
discoveries and waited for day-break. Soon four Indians were 
seen entering the town, one of whom was the wounded young 
warrior Sah-nah-dah-yah mentioned above. A ball from Mur- 
phy's rifle quickly sealed his fate, another was wounded but 
with the two others escaped. Murphy, as was his custom, took 
of? the slain Indian's scalp, his thirty-third trophy. Boyd with 
his entire party immediately set out for camp. Having gone 
about five miles and thinking the army must be on its march towards 
him, he halted and dispatched two of his men to inform the General 
where he was and that he would there await the coming of the army. 
These men shortly returned with the information that they had discov- 
ered five Indians on the path, lloyd then resumed the march, and had 
gone but a short distance when he discovered the same party and fired 
on them. They ran, and Hoyd. against the advice of Hanyerry. pur- 

I. (ieiieral Clark savs twt>. 



U„S HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

sued them. The chase was kept up for some distanci?, fhe Indians 
alluring the scouting party to the enemy's lines, by allowing 
them to approach sufficiently close to draw their fire, but keeping 
out of danger. Butler, hearing the fiyht on hi.s right, his force 
facing Conesus, and fearing that he had been discovered and 
that an attempt was l)eing made to surpri'^e his camp, hastened to the 
spot where he found FJoyd's party still following the Indians. With- 
out being aware of their presence, Boyd was already in the fatal em- 
brace of the enemy and Butler had given such orders as to completely 
surround him. Twice he attempted to Isreak the enemy's line, but with- 
out success. The odds were fearful — eight hundred of the Indians and 
Tories to twenty-five Americans — but the scouts determined to sell 
their lives as dearly as possible, and relief from our army, which was 
only about a mile distant, was expected every moment. Covered by a 
clump of trees, our men poured a murderous fire upun the enemy as 
they were closing around them, numbers of whom were seen to fall. 
"At the third onset of the Americans, the enemy's line was broken 
through, and Murphv, tumbling a huge warrior in the dust who 
obstructed his passage — even to the merriment of his dusky companions 
— led forward the little band. Boyd, justly supposing if any one 
escaped with his life it would be Murphy, determined to follow him; but 
not being so fast a runner, he was soon overtaken and with him his 
Sergeant, Michael Parker."' vSuUivan says that Boyd was shot through 
the body daring the melee; if so, his inability to escape is thus account- 
ed for. In all fifteen of Boyd's party, including Hanyerry, were 
slain'- and eight escaped." 

Murphy, as he found the path unobstructed, exclaimed in hearing 

of the enemy, "Clear again, Tim., by , " shaking his fist at the 

same time at his pursuers.* He now pressed forward in the direction 
of the armv, and soon observed thai he was jnirsued by only two 

1. Cajitain John .Salmons account. 

2. AnioiiK theslaiu were Nicholas prungerman, .Sergeant in Captain Meals' Company, and the 
following privates of this regiment, viz: John Courej', William Faughey. William Harney, James 
McElroy and John Miller; also John Putnam, mentioned later in the text, and Benjamin Cnrtin 
(or Cnstin) of Schoharie. 

.'^. Here again there is disagreement among the journalists of the expedition as to numbei-s, 
■which it is impossible to reconcile. 

4. Mr. Treat's Oration, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUXTV 16'> 

Indians, a tall and a short one. As they neared him from time to 
time, he pointed toward them with his well known but now unloaded 
rifle, and they, at every menace, slackened their pace. His mocca- 
sins, taken in the morning from the dead Indian, were growing too 
tight for comfort, and while under full headway he opened his knife 
and cut away the thongs which hound them al)out his feet and ankles, 
the blade accidentally entering and severely wounding his flesh. 
Shortly after this he reached a swale, where, his feet becoming en- 
tangled in the long grass and rank weeds, he fell. The spot proved fa- 
vorable for concealment and he did not immediately rise. His pursuers 
soon broke over a knoll so as to gain a view of the grass plot, and not 
discovering him, although he did them, they altered their course. 
Murphy now loaded his rifle and cautiously proceeded on his way to 
the camp. He well knew his fate if taken prisoner with the Indian's 
scalp in his pocket and the moccasins on his feet. Again setting 
forward, he soon found himself headed by an Indian. The discovery 
was instant and mutual and each took to a tree. After dodging each 
other for some time ^Nlurfihy drew his ramrod, placed his hat upon 
it and quietly pushed it a few inches beyond the tree. The Indian, 
supposing it contained a head, fired a ball through it. The hat drop- 
ped, and running up to scalp his man the savage received the bullet 
■of Murphy's rifle through his breast, and as he fell dead exclaimed, 
"O-wah.'-i 

I. Murphy's life desenes a book to give his exploits at full length. The Schoharie valley 
is full of traditious of his braverj- aud daring. It would be difficult to maguify his a.-touishing 
skill with the rifle, or his courage and address as a border fighter. He is buried on the fann 
he had owned near Middleburgh. The Onistegrawa mountain, whose sides often echoed back 
the sharp ring of his death-tiealiug rifle, looks down upon his hmnble resting place. His simple 
tombstone bears this iuscriptiou : 

"Here, too, this warrior sire with honor rests. 
Who braved in freedom's cause his valiant breast, 
•Sprang from his half-drawn fun-ow as the cry 
of threatened libert\- came thrilling by. 

I,o, here he rests, who every danger braved, 
Marked and honored, mid the.soil he saved." 
He died June 27, iSiS, aged 67 years. 

".•ifter the battle of Monmouth, in 177.S, Morgans riflemen were sent to protect the settlements 
near Schoharie. .Among those whose term of service had expired before the autumn of '79 was the 
bold Virginian, Timothy Murphy. Instead of returuins; home, he enlisted in the militia, and con- 
tinued to wage a desultory w ar against the savages then hovering over the Mohawk settlements. 
By his fearless intrepidity, his swiftness of foot, his promptness for every hazardous enteri>rise. 
he was, though a mere private, entrusted with the management of every scouting party sent out. 



170 H1ST<JRV OF LIVINGSTON COL'XTV 

Murphy, David Ellerson. Edward McDonald. J"hn Vouse, Garret 
Putnam of Fort Hunter, afterwards in command of a spirited com- 
[)any of rangers in tin- ^lohawk valley, a French Canadian and two 
others regained the American camp. Putnam and the Canadian 
secreted themselves early in the Hight under a fallen tree around 
which was throwing a quantity of thrifty nettles, and thus escaped 
observation, althougli the two Indians in pursuit of Mm"])h\' passed 
over the log. 

John Putnam, a cmisin of (larret above named, also fnun the 
vicinity of Fort Hunter, lost his life in this affair. At his burial it 
was found that he had been shot while in the act of firing, iis a ball 
and several btickshot had entered the right armpit without injuring 
the arm. A soldier named Benjamin Curtin (or Custin), who belonged 
to the troops from Schoharie, attempted to follow Murjihy, but was 
overtaken and slain after he had killed his first antagonist in a hand- 
to-hand encounter. Poor Hanyerry, who had performed marvels of 
valor in the conflict of Oriskany, and who had rendered the American 
cause much real service, fell in this ambuscade, and was found literally 
hacked to pieces. 

While this tragedy was transpiring almost within ritle shot, the 
army, ignorant of the cause of delay, was uneasily watching for the 
return of the scouting party. As hour followed hour and still they 

He always carried a favorite double rifle, au object of the greatest terror to the Indians, who for 
a long while were awe-striick at its two successive discharges. In the hands of so skillful a marks- 
man, the greatest execution always followed its unerring aim. He had been several times siir- 
jirised by small Indian parties; but with remarkable good fortune had as often escaped. When 
the savages had learned the m>-stery of his double rifle knowing that he must reload after the 
second discharge, they were careful not to expo'^e themselves until he had twice fired. Once when 
separated from his troops he was surrounded by a large jiarty of savages. Instantly be struck 
down the nearest foe and fled at his utmost sj>ee(l. Being hard pushed by one runner, whom 
alone he had not outstripped in the flight, he suddenly turned and shot him on the spot. Stopping 
to strip his fallen pursuer, he saw another close upon him. He seized the rifle of the dead Indian, 
and brought down his victim. The savages, supposing all danger now passed, rushed heedlessly 
on with yells of frantic rage. When nearly exhausted, he again turned, and with the undischarg- 
ed barrel, fired, and the third pni*sner fell. With savage wonder the other Indians were riveted to 
the spot; and exclaiming that *he could fire all day without reloading,' gave over the pursuit. 
From that hovir, Murphy was regarded by the savages as possessing a charmed life. When 
Clinton passed along the Mohawk, on his way to 'rioga Point, he again joined his rifle corps, to 
share the dangers of the march into the wiUlerness."— Treat's Oration. 

Murphy was a member of Captain Michael Simpson's rifle company, in Col. Hutlers regiment. 
Lieut. Boyd was also an officer of this company, John Salmon, late of Groveland, likewise 
served in the same company. In the antnnin of 177S, after the battle of Monmouth, Morgan's 
riflemen, to which Simpson's company belonged, marched to Schoharie to go into winter 
cpiarters. It was here that the orders to proceed to the Indian country found them the following 
spring. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 171 

came not vague fears of evil began to be entertained. Sullivan had 
carefully estimated the time necessary for their return march, and 
again called up and questioned the four messengers who had arrived 
in the morning from Boyd, anxiously looking meanwhile for his brave 
Lieutenant or further tidings from him. The first hint of the danger 
reached Sullivan through the party still engaged at the bridge, and 
was doubtless brought by Murphy, who preceded the others. From 
this source the General was informed that Boyd and most of his de- 
tachment had been surrounded a short distance beyond the hill by 
the enemy in overwhelming numbers. 

General Sullivan had established a line of sentries along the base of 
the hill next the morass to guard the pioneers against surprise while 
repairing the bridge. Benjamin Lodge, who was the surveyor for the 
expedition, and with chain and compass had measured the entire 
route from Easton, had, about half an hour after the fight on the 
hill, gone a short distance beyond the picket line, when he was set 
upon by a party of Indians, who were pursuing the fugitives of tiie 
scouting party. Thomas Grant, one of the surveying party, 
thus tells the story : "Myself and four chain carriers who were about 
one and a half miles advanced of the troops, were fired on by several 
Indians who lay in ambush; a corporal by the name of Calhawn. who 
came voluntarily with me, was mortally wounded and died the next 
day. The Indians pursued us a fourth of a mile, but without success. 
We being unarmed were obliged to run. " Lieut. Lodge was com- 
pelled to leave his compass and run toward the nearest sentinel, who 
shot the Indian chasing him with upturned tomahawk and Lieut. 
Lodge escaped. General Sullivan ordered Hand's Brigade to cross the 
morass, push up the hill and dislodge the enemy. 

Butler on returning to his forces on the crest of the hill fnund them 
in confusion, and, discovering the preparations made to attack 
them, he beat a hasty retreat, leaving hats, packs, etc.. behind. 
Being thus thwarted in his plans to surprise the army, he 
withdrew his forces to Gathtsegwarohare and thence to Can- 
awaugus. General Hand remained on the hill in line of battle 
until the army had crossed and formed for the advance up the hill. 

Having destroyed Kanaghsaws and completed the bridge across the 
creek. General Sullivan pushed forward on the trail taken by Boyd the 
night before to Gathtsegwarohare. 



172 HISTORY OF LTVIXr;STOX COUNTY 

Boyd and Sergeant Parker were hurried forward, immediately after 
the affair, with the retiring enemy to the vicinity of Beardstown. On 
finding himself a prisoner, the Lieutenant, it is said, though the truth 
of the account may be accepted with much reservation, "obtained an 
interview with Brant, who, as well as Boyd, was a freemason. After 
the magic signs of brotherhood were exchanged. Brant assured him 
that he should not be injured. But Brant not long after being called 
off on some enterprise, the prisoners were left in charge of Walter 
Butler, who, placing them on their knees before him. a warrior 
on each side firmly grasping their arms, a third at their backs with 
tomahawk upraised, began to interrogate them about the purposes of 
General Sullivan, threatening them with savage tortures if true and 
ready answers were not given. Boyd, believing the assurances of 
Brant ample for his safety, and too high minded in any situation to 
betray his country, refused, as did Parker, to reply"' to questions 
touching the more immediate purposes of the army. The more than 
savage Butler was true to his threat, and when the prisoners peremp- 
torily refused to answer he handed them over to Little Beard and his 
warriors, who were already full of vindictiveness. The prisoners were 
seized, stripped and bound to trees; then commenced a series of 
horrid cruelties, directed especially against Boyd. When all was ready 
Little Beard lifted his hatchet, stained with recent blood, and with 
steady aim sent it whistling through the air. In an instant it (juivered 
within a hair's breadth of the Lieutenant's devoted head. The 
younger Indians were now permitted to follow the Chief's example, 
and from right, front and left their bright tomahawks cleave the air 
and tremble about the unriinching persons of the victims. Wearied 
at length of this work, a single blow severed Parker's head from his 
body and mircifully ended his misery. Poor Boyd, however was 
reserved for a worse fate. An incision was made in his abdomen and 
a severed intestine was fastened to a tree. He was then scourged with 
prickly ash boughs, and compelled to move around until the pain 
became so exquisite that he could go no further.- Again pinioned, 

1. Treat's Oiatioii. 

.2 "If I mistake uot," says Treat's oration, "it was Jiiciije Joiie-s who informed me 
that when his fatlier, the late -Captain Horatio Jones, visited the spot a few years aiterwards he 
found the intestines still wonnd aronnd the tree." This snpposed tree, called Boyd's Oak, is still 
standing. 




Tradition has made this Oak, near the Boyd and Parker Mound, one of the 
InstruraenU of Boyd's Torture. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ^7:^ 

his mouth was enlarged with a knife, his nails dug out, his tongue cut 
away, liis ears severed from head, his nose hewn off and thrust into 
his mouth, his eyes dug out and the flesh cut from his shoulders, and, 
when sinking in death after these enormities, he was decapitated and 
his disfigured head raised by the frenzied savages upon a sharpened 
pole. Thus fell a brave young soldier, whose life possesses more than 
ordinary materia! for a romance.'- 

As the advance of the army approached the town of Gathtsegwaro- 
hare about dusk of September 13th, they found themselves confronted 
by a strong force of Indians and rangers, drawn up in battle array to 
dispute their further progress. The infantry and artillery were at once 
pushed to the front. ^laxwell's brigade with the left flanking division 
were directed to gain the enemy's right, and Poor's brigade to move 
round to their left, while the right flanking division and two regiments 
from Clinton's brigade moved to Poor's right flank. The infantry 
were prepared to rush on in front supported by the remainder of 
Clinton's brigade. Thus disposed, the army moved forward and took 
possession of the town without opposition, the enemy retreating across 
Canaseraga creek, through a thicket where it was impossible for the 
army to follow. AVord was now passed to encamp for the night. 

On the morning of Tuesday, the 14th, parties were ordered out to 
destroy the corn, found in great plenty about Canaseraga, which they 
did by plucking the ears and throwing them into the river. About 
eleven o'clock, after having fired all the huts in the village, the army 
resumed march for the great (lenesee town. After crossing Canaser- 
aga creek at the fording place, they moved through a small grove and 
then over a "considerable swamp, and formed on a plain on the other 
side, the most e.xtensive I ever saw," says Colonel Hubley, "contain- 
ing not less than six thousand acres of the richest soil that can be con- 
ceived, not having a bush standing, but filled with grass considerably 

I. I.ieiit. Boyd was a uative of Northumherlaiid County, Pa. He was of ordinary height, 
strongly built, fine looking and vei-y sociable and agreeable in his manners, qualities which 
gained him many friends in Schoharie. 

He was born in 1757. His father and only sister died before the Revolution. His mother sent 
her three sons into the field, with the parting injunction, says Major VanCanipen, "never to dis- 
grace their swords by an act of cowardice, or by a moment's fear or reluctance when called to 
the defense of home and freedom." Lieut. Wm. Boyd, the second son. fell at Itrandywine, in 
1777. Thomas, who was the youngest, was at the surrender of Burgoyne and at the battle of Mon- 
mouth, before joining Sullivan. He went to Schoharie in the autumn of 177.S, nnd<;r Major Posey, 
whose commaiul consisted, it is believed, of three companies of .Morgan's celebrated rifle corps, 
under Captains Long, Pear and Simpson. Boyd belonged to the latter company. 



174 IITSTORV OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

higher tlian a man. We nun'ed up this plain for about three miles, in 
our regular line of march, a beautiful sight. intL>ed, as a view of the 
whole could be had at one look, and then came to the Genesee river, at 
the fording place, whicli we crossed, being about forty yards over and 
near middle deep, and then ascended a rising ground, which afforded 
a prospect so beautiful that to attempt a comparison would be doing 
injury, as we had a view as far as the eyes could carry us of another 
plain besides the one we crossed, through which the river formed a 
most graceful winding, and, at intervals, cataracts which rolled from 
the rocks and emptied into the river." 'i'he army itself presented a 
novel appearance as it moved in regular ortler througli the rank grass, 
which grew so thick that motion was slow. Often nothing could be seen 
but the guns of the soldiers above the grass. Passing next over a rougher 
section the advance troops arrived about sunset at the "Capital town," 
or Little Beard's village, which was much the largest Indian town met 
with in tile whole route. Here they encamped. The fires in some of the 
Indian huts were yet fresh. Sullivan says of it: "We reached the 
Castle, which consisted of one hundred and twenty-eight houses, 
mostly very large and elegant. The i>lace was beautifully situated, 
almost encircled with a cleared flat which e.xtended for a number of 
miles, where the most extensive fields of corn were and every kind of 
vegetable that can be conceived." The location of this great Genesee 
Castle, the "Western Door of the Long House," was on the west side 
of the (renesee river, on the flat immediatelv in front of Cuylerville. 
It appears on Evans's map as Chenandoanes; in 1778 it was called Chen- 
(jndanah ; by Morgan it is called De-onun-da-ga-a, a Seneca name sig- 
nifying " where the hill is near," but more often it is called Little 
Beard's Town, from the name of the noted chief who resided there in 
1779. 

Just before quartering here, Paul Sanborn, afterwards for many vears 
a resident of Conesus, then a private soldier on the extreme right of 
Clinton's brigade, was moving with his detachment and, as it wheeled 
quickly around in the direction of the village, he discovered the headless 
corpse of Boyd. Leaping over this, Sanborn alighted beside that of 
Parker's, as it lay in the long grass. At once making known his dis- 
covery, the remain.s were placed under guard of Captain Michael 
Simpson's rifle company, to which both Boyd and Parker belonged, 
and that evening the inniilated bodies and disfigured heads of these 




Burial Mound of Boyd and Parker, Showing wliere the Creeli has cut it Away 



HISTORY OF LIVIX(;STOX COUNTY 175 

heroic men were buried with niilitar}- honors under a wild plum tree 
which t>rew near the junction of two sm^ll streams, formally named at 
the meetini;- in Cuyler\ ille in 1S41, hereioafter described, Boyd's creek 
.and Parker's creek, respectively. The Reads of these two men were 
at once recognized by their companions, to whom Bovd's features 
were so familiar, and Parker's was identified beyond doubt fmni a 
scar on his face and his broken front teeth. Major Parr, who com- 
manded the rifle battalion to which Bovd's companv belonged, was 
present at the hurial; and John Salmon, late of (iroveland, then a 
private in Captain Simpson's company, assisted on the occasion.' 

On Wednesday morning, September 15th, at si.x o'clock the whole 
army were set to the work of destroying the orchards (one of which, it 
is asserted, contained l.dDO trees), the crops of corn, beans, potatoes 
and otlier vegetables. The corn was collected and burned in kilns. It is 
said that ears were fouiid here measuring 22 inches in length. Colonel 
Hubley says ihe crops "were in quantity immense, and in goodness 
unequalled by an}' I ever saw. Agreeable to a moderate calculation, 
there was not less than 2011 acres, the whole of which was pulled up 
and piled in large heaps, mixed with dry wood taken from the houses 
and consumed to ashes. '"- 

"By three o'clock in the afternoon, " says Col. Hubley, "the work 
was finished, the total ruin of the Indian settlements and the destruc- 
tion of their crops was completed."* General Sullivan here issued an 
order during the day. announcing to the "brave and resolute army,'' 
that the immediate object of the expedition was secured, ackn^-wledg- 
ing his obligtition alike to officers and soldiers, whose virtues and for- 
titude had enabled him to effect so much, and assuring them that "iie 

1. .-V rude nioimd partly worn away uow marks the spot of^ the burial, which is close by the 
present bridge across Beard's creek, ou the road from Geneseo to Cuyler\-ille. Beard's creek is 
formed by the two streams, Boyd's creek and Parker's creek, referred to above. The old Cuyler- 
ville grist mill yet stands a few rods west of the mound. 

2. See appendix No. 7 for Major VanCampeu's letters to Judge 'rreat. 

3. Several writers claim that Canawaugus, ou the west side, and Big Tree on the 
east side of the river were destroyed in this campaign. No reliable authority has been furnished 
in support of the theory. Sullivan says distinctly that he went no farther than the Oreat Town, 
beyond which, as he was informed, there was no settlement, and no villages are mentioned in any 
account as existing on the east side of the river, nor is mention made of any portion t>f the army 
being ou that side; on the contrarj-, several mention the fact that oW //;.«' wi.v were engaged in 
the destruction of the town and cornfields, and when completed at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of 
the isth, Ihf luhiile aimy came to an about face, and returned on the same route and in the same 
order in which they advanced. Butler left Canawaugus on the morning of the 15th for Niagara. 



u 



176 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

would not fail to inform America at lartje how much they stand in- 
debted to them." The order closed by directing; that "the army will 
this day commence its march for Tioga." Eighteen days had now 
elapsed since it left Newtown on its way thither, during which time 
forty Indian towns, large and small, had been destroyed, together with 
160.000 bushels of corn and a "vast quantity of vegetables of every 
kind." 

"While the army remained at this town, Mrs. Lester with a child in 
her arms came to our troops. On November 7th previous her hus- 
band with others was captured near Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, by the 
Indians; he was slain and his wife was carried into captivity. In 
their haste to escape from nur army, her captors left her behind and 
she escaped to our lines. Her child died a few days later. She sub- 
sequently became the wife of Captain Roswell F'ranklin, who was in 
the first party that settled Aurora, on Cayuga lake. 

A few of the leading Indians lingered near their beautiful homes 
while the work of destruction was in progress. President Dwight 
relates an incident in this connection. The Seneca chief, Big Tree, 
whom he describes as a man of lofty character and dignified deport- 
ment, had strenuously urged his countrymen to observe a strict neu- 
trality, but without success. This chieftain stood with others, on an 
elevated spot and saw his own possessions destroyed. "You see how 
the Americans treat tiieir friends." said some of those around him, 
favorable to,Great Britain. "Wiiat 1 see," calmly replied the chief, 
"is only the common fortune of war. It cannot be supposed that the 
Americans can distinguish my [)roperty frotn yours, who are their 
enemies. "' 

The Indian warriors and their allies, together with 150 British reg- 
ulars from Niagara, by whom they had been reinforced on the eve of 
quitting the Genesee, fled to Fort Niagara, which they reached on the 
18th of September. Meantime, the Indian women, children and old 
men were flocking thither from their burning towns, and, as the plain 
far and near became covered with knots of fugitives, it strikingly 
resembled, says an eye witness, the diversified landscape fornunl by 
groups returning from an English fair.- 

1. This iiicideut is also located at Kaiiaglisaws. 

2. Ketchmii's liiiffalo. Vol. II. ai)pendix, p. 339. 




Burial Mound of Boyd and Parker al Cuylerville. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 177 

Temporary homes in a tew days were prDvided elsewhere for these 
refugees, but, as they still expected that British arms would triumph 
and their homes would be restored, they refused to quit the ijrotection 
offered by the fort. Indeed, the Senecas were now urged to make 
their future dwelling place in Canada, but they continued to remain 
here until the following spring, when the larger remnant of the tribe 
settled near Buffalo creek. 

Scanty supplies awaited the fugitive Indians at Niagara, and the 
winter was remarkably cold, the snow very deep and multitudes of 
deer and other animals perished from starvation. The refugees, fed 
on salted provisions, a diet so new to them, suffered from scurvy, of 
which they died in great numbers. 

The army set out on its return on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 
15th, on the same route by wiiich it had advanced. The bodies of 
the slain of Boyd's scouting party were found on the 16th by Captain 
William Henderson, of the 4th Pennsylvania regiment, who with 
sixty men had been detailed to search for them, and buried with mili- 
tary honors, that of Hanyerry with the others. The return march was 
continued without special incident to Easton, Pennsylvania, where 
the troops went into temporary quarters. 

The intelligence of the success of the expedition preceded the army, 
and everywhere it was received with tokens of gratitude. Congratu- 
latory addresses were voted by corporations to officers and men; mili- 
tary bodies complimented them, and the Continental Congress, on 
motion of Elbridge Gerry, resolved that its thanks "be given to his 
excellency General Washington for directing, and to Major-General 
Sullivan and the brave officers and soldiers under his command for 
eft"ectually executing, an important expedition against such of the 
Indian nations as, encouraged by the councils and conducted by the 
officers of his Britannic Majesty, have perfidiously waged an unpro- 
voked and cruel war against the United States, laid waste many of 
their defenceless towns, and with savage barbarity slaughtered the 
inhabitants thereof." It was further resolved, "that it will be proper 
to set apart the second Thursday in December next, as a day of Gen- 
eral Thanksgiving in these United States, and that a committee of 
four be appointed to prepare a recommendation to the said United 
States for this purpose." The proclamation in fitting language owns 
the hand of Providence, in "that He had gone out with those who went 



178 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

into the wilderness against the savage tribes;" and we may well 
believe that the hearts of the colonists fully responded, and that they 
cordially united in the ceremonies of the day thus set apart. 

Our whole army was greatly impressed with the beauty of this 
•country and the fertility of its soil; and the attention of settlers was 
directed hitherward by the glowing descriptions brought home by the 
soldiers. That restlessness which follows all great wars was particu- 
larly notable after the Revolution, making the period a favorable one 
for emigration; and a decade had not passed away before a number of 
privates and officers who had formed a part of Sullivan's armv and 
others, attracted by their accounts, removed hither or were preparing 
to make this region their future home. Thus did the Indian cam- 
paign of 1779 directly tend to the settlement of the Genesee country; 
while the bloody wrongs inflicted by its aboriginal lords resulted in 
their expulsion therefrom, and their speedy dowMifall as a separate 
nation. 

In the spring of 1780 several Seneca families came back, and tem- 
porarily settled in the neighborhood of their former villages on the 
Genesee; but the greater portion of them never returned. The pre- 
caution had been taken by the natives, prior to Sullivan's arrival, to 
fcury a quantity of corn, beans and other seeds, first placing them in 
mats of black ash bark then concealing them in a "cache," or trench 
■dug in the earth, covering the whole with sand and litter. The 
.army did not find this buried grain, and it was withdrawn by the 
■Indians from its hiding places on ihtir return and used by them for 
the spring's planting.' 

1. See appendix for au account of thecele!)ratiou of the Centennial Anniversary* of Sullivan's 
Expedition into the Genesee country, held at Geneseo, September l6, 1879. .\lso Chapter 17, for au 
account of the various interments of the remains of Boyd and Parker and the other members of 
ihe scouting partj' who were killed in the Groveland ambuscade. 




Map showing Phelps and Corhara Purchase. 



HISTORY OK LIVINGSTON COUNTY 17') 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SOLDIERS of the Revolution were quite ready at the 
close of the great struggle to return to the pursuits of peaceful 
industry. The fertile region which stretches beyond Seneca 
lake and as far westward as the Genesee river, had especially 
attracted the attention alike of officers and men of Sullivan's army, 
and the valleys and hillsides so precipitately abandoned by the 
lugitive red men, were by another decade to count among their per- 
manent occupants some of those who had first seen them under con- 
ditions far less pacific. 

Years, however, before the Continental army had penetrated to 
these remote homes of the Indians, the country along, the Genesee 
had been made familiar to the eyes of many a score of white 
prisoners, brought hither by that horde of dusky prowlers who, for 
nearly a quarter of a century, embracing that period of disquiet along 
the border which ended only with the Colonial war, lost no opportun- 
ity of harassing the frontier settlements, and whose predatory enter- 
]jrises lay so little under the restraints of regular warfare. 

During the French war, as well as during that of the Revolution, 
prisoners taken by the Senecas and other tribes allied with them 
were brought to these Western fastnesses, whose remote situation 
afforded them immunity, to be detained in the capacity of artisans or 
laborers, or surrendered to their friends on the payment of fixed 
bounties. When permanent peace at length released aU, those who 
were then remaining in captivity were prepared to impart useful in- 
formation respecting the country to the vanguard of the pioneers. 

In 17')5 there were twenty-four white prisoners "among the 
Chenesseo (Geneseo) Indians. "^ A year later Sarah Carter, a young 
white girl taken captive in Pennsylvania, reported that there were 
"forty Yankee prisoners among the Geneseo Indians, one of whom 
was a large, lusty negro" blacksmith tiien working at his trade for 

I See Mss. papers of Sir William Johusou iu the state Library. The Senecas are generally 
mentioned in those valuable paper* as the Cheiie-.scu or Genesee Indians. 



180 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the natives. He had already bouj^ht the time of a young Connecticut 
girl for five pounds currency and had otherwise befriended those avIio 
had fallen into the hands of the natives. Squash Cutter and Long 
Coat, two chiefs of the Delaware tribe who lived much among the 
Senecas at that period, employed themselves in bringing in captives to 
the towns on the (jenesee and selling their time to the Indians, all 
of whom were exchanged or released before Mary Jemison, Captain 
Horatio Jones, Joseph Smith and other whites found enforced homes 
in this region. 

New England and Pennsylvania did most toward peopling the 
Genesee country. The capitalists of Connecticut and Massachusetts 
were first to risk their means in the inviting lands whJLh peace had 
thrown open to enterprise. But before any title could be given, an 
important question of jurisdiction involving a history of England's 
grants had to be settled. 

From about 1()80 to 1759 Western New York w-as claimed by 
France as a part of the province of New France or Canada. By virtue 
of the discovery of the Hudson River by Hendrick Hudson, Holland, 
under whose auspices he sailed, claimed the territory 'immediately 
watered by the North River and an indefinite breadth to the east, 
west, and south, to which she gave the designation of New Nether- 
laml. This vague claim embraced Western New York. 

At the close of the Revolution, this part of the State was claimed 
by two Commonwealths. Before the Colonial struggle both Massa 
chusetts and New York, under color of their respective royal English 
grants, had contended for its ownership, and peace was no sooner re- 
stored than the contest between them for this tempting domain was 
revived. 

In the Congressional Library at Washington are two venerable 
folios in manuscript, containing the transactions from day to day, as 
well as the chief speeches and debates, of the \'irginia Company of 
London, from April, 1619, to June, 1624. These books have come 
down from Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, president and 
treasurer of the Company, whose name is conspicuous in English 
annals, through many a famous owner, and their origin, relating as it 
does to the first title of this region derived from the English crown, 
and connected as it is with the controversy between the two States, be- 
comes a matter of interest to us. The patent of that notable Com- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 181 

pany was sealed by James I cm the fith of April, 160f), on petition of 
Richard Hackluyt and other ""firm and hearty lovers of colonization," 
who had humbly asked the |irivilege of establishing- "a colony of 
sundry persons of our people in that part of America commonly called 
Virginia, between the 34th and 45th degrees of north latitude," and 
stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The associates under the 
charter secured. Sir Thomas Gates and other "adventurers of the city 
of London," called the First Colony, were authorized to plant be- 
tween latitude 34 and 41; while Raleigh Gilbert and his associates 
cf the English town of Plymouth, constituting the Second or 
Plymouth Colony, might plant between the 38th and 45th degrees, 
their grant covering the whole vast belt of territory extending 
"throughout the main land from sea to sea," and including, of course, 
all of Western New York,^ The Virginia Company did not prosper. 
In the hope of improving its condition, the directors secured a more 
specific charter with enlarged privileges. But the change proved 
a snare. James was at the time ambitious of a Spanish match for his 
son Charles, while Gondonar, the astute minister of Spain, feared that 
the great \'irginia Company intended to take possession of the colonies 
and mines established by Spaniards in the New World. The latter, 
therefore, lent his powerful influence to those members of the court 
who sought the overthrow of the Company, and to conciliate the 
Spanish minister, as well as to gratify the Lord Treasurer, the Earl of 
Essex and his party, the King lent a willing ear to the movement to 
destroy the Company. A pretext was soon found, and in 1624 the 
Lord Chief Justice declared the charter null and void. This strange 
act of the most unkingly of kings was but one in that category of 
monstrous assumptions of the crown at 'this "period of vast contest 
and disjnite," which hastened the decisive struggle of the S3venteenth 
century between the sovereign and parliament. The rapacious oppon- 
ents of the Company had, with the sanction of James, no doubt, for 
some time been eagerly seeking to obtain its records. To [)revent 
interpolation, should they in a contest so unequal fall into the un- 
friendly hands of Warwick and his partisans, as they did. the original 

I. Set maniiscript charter iu Virginia Records, 1621-25, Library of Congress: also History of 
the Virginia Company of Luudou, by Edward I). Neill. The associates named of the First Colony 
were Sir Thomas C.ates, Sir George Soniers, Richard Hackluyt, and Edward-Maria Wingfield: and 
of the Second (or IMymouth) Colony, Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert. William Packer and 
George Pophani- 



1S2 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

records were secretly copied and carefully authenticated. The two 
manuscript volumes before referred to. written in the peculiar hand 
of the times "on a kind of elephant paper," which, after two hundred 
and fifty years, found a repository in our National arciiives and on soil 
so directly affected by the charter, constitute the duplicates produced 
under conditions so befitting' ths period in which they had their 
origin. They aftord conclusive evidence of the upright conduct of the 
Company, and dispel all charges of false faith made by the Spanish 
party, as it was called, at the English court. As the originals were 
taken possession of by that arbitrary body, the celebratetl "Star 
Chamber," and never restored, these are perhaps the only records now 
extant of the Company. 

That little band of (jod-fearing men, the Puritans or Pilgrims, were 
settled at Leyden in 1()17. After much thought they decided to emi- 
grate to America and live as a distinct body under the government of 
Virginia, if permitted here to exercise the freedom of their religious 
opinions. A jiatent, whose privileges were as ample as the \'irginia 
Company had authority to confer, was secured, and the Pilgrims set sail 
from Delft Haven on the ftth of September, 1620, in the Mayflower, 
intending to locate near the Hudson river. Accident, however, car- 
ried their little vessel to the barren headlands since well known as 
Plymouth Rock, far to the northward of the bounds of their charter, 
which thus became "void and useless." In the following Spring a 
grant was secured frcim the Plymouth Company of the territory on 
which they had unintentionally settled. The colony grew, and in 
1(>28 Charles I issued a charter for its government under the title of 
the province of Massachusetts Bay.i A half century later this patent 
was vacated, but renewed in 1()'>1 by William and Mary, who express- 
ly recognized the western boundary, as had each of the other patents, 
as extending from ocean to ocean. 

In 1663 Charles II conferred upon his brother, then Duke of York 
and Albany, afterward King James II, all land lying between the 
Delaware river and the Hudson and northwards to the bounds of 
Canada. This royal donation embraced the present State of New Jer- 
sey, which subsequently became the property of Berkley and Castaret, 

1. Ill 162S, the Council of Plymouth (or Plymouth Company) transferred to Sir Henry Roswell 
and his associates, constituting the Massachusetts Bay Company, a part of their immense grant, 
extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 183 

and also New York, which uniformly claimed, under the somewhat 
vague designation in the charter, the whole area of our present State 
and as far eastward as the Connecticut river. Massachusetts, on the 
other hand, claimed to the Hudson and likewise the western half of 
the territory of New York and westward to the Pacific, under the old 
charter of James I to the Council of Plymouth. The charters of 
these two leading provinces, coverint^ in large [lart the same terri- 
tory, led to controversies as settlements expanded, both as to the 
right of property and the right of jurisdiction. And as each assumed 
to make grants to settlers in the debatable region, especially in that 
portiiin which lay between the Hudson and the Connecticut, and to 
some extent in that lying westward beyond the country of the ilo- 
hawks, angry dissensions and bloodshed followed upon the disorders 
occasioned by intrusions upon lanils held under color of one or the 
other of the opposing interests. As early as 1767, Commissioners were 
appointed by the two provinces, who met at New Haven, and, after 
several days spent in discussion, "with grief found themselves obliged 
to return to their principals, leaving the controversy unsettled."' 
The Revolution, whose common danger hushed all minor disputes, 
soon came, but on the return of peace the questions were reopened. 
The Legislature of this State regarded the claim on the part of Massa- 
chusetts an ungracious one. The two States had fought and acted 
side by side during the Revolutionary struggle; "and after all the 
severe calamities by which these States hath been distressed in the 
progress of vindictive war," said they, "we flattered ourselves that 
the period was at length arrived when we should have an opportunity 
to rejjair our misfortunes without envy or interruption." Agents, 
however, were appointed by the two States to settle their respective 
rights. They met, consulted and separated, after uniting in a request 
for the friendly interposition of Congress, under the terms of the old 
Articles of Confederation. Governor George Clinton called an extra 
session of the Legislature, which convened in October, 1784. Referring 
to the controversy he says: "Since the close of your last session the 
Legislature of ^[assachusetts have thought fit to set up a claim to land 
lying somewhere within the ancient jurisdiction of this State, the 

I. See case of the Provinces of .Massachusetts Bay and New York, respecting the bonndary 
lines. I.ieut. Gov. Hutchinson and two others appeared for Massachusetts, and Robert R, Living- 
ston and two others fur New York. At subsequent conventions between the two States. John Han- 
cock and other eminent men took part. 



KS4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUXTY 

precise location being left in obscurity. They have requested Con- 
gress to appoint a Federal court to inquire and determine such 
claims." It was not, however, until the jnini commission ot the two 
States had concluded its labf)rs at Hartford, on the Idth of December, 
178f), that a compact was formed for the permanent settlement of the 
questions so long in issue. By this Massachusetts ceded to New Ynvk 
all claim and title to the government, sovereignty and jurisdiction of 
the lands and territory in controversy, and New York released to the 
former State and to her grantees, the right of pre-emjjtion of the soil 
from the native Indians, and all title and property, in that portion of 
this State lying west of the "pre-emption line," which commences 
at the southeast corner of Steuben county and extending northward 
through Seneca lake, terminates at Sodus Hay, embracing an area of 
about six millions of acres of the fairest portion of the State.' 

On the first of April, 1788 Massachusetts accepted the proposals of 
an association of gentlemen of capital, represented by Oliver Phelps 
and Nathaniel Gorham, for the purchase of its pre-emptive right to 
the whole section, for three hundred thousand pounds in the consoli- 
dated securities of that State, worth then about four shillings in the 
pound. These funds later advanced in value, and Phelps and (5or- 
ham were unaiile to meet their engagements. In February, 17')i), 
they offered to surrender all liut that one-third of their great purchase 
lying between Seneca lake and the Genesee river, and a small portion 
west of the river, to which, on [uly 8th, 17S8, they had secured by 
treaty at Buffalo Creek a release of the Indian claims, for the consid- 
eration of two thousand one hundred pounds. New York currency, and 
an annuity of $500.'! This offer was formally acceded to by Massa- 
chusetts in June of the same year, -and the consideration therefor was 
reduced to thirty-one thousand pounds. "The portion retained by 
them constituted what is now known as Phelps and Gorham's Pur- 
chase,'' and embraced all lands lying between the [ire-emption line and 
a line drawn from a point on the Pennsylvania boundary due south of 

1. Tlie release to Massachusetts also embraced 2,^0,400 acres between the rivers Owego and 
Chenango, known as the Massachnsetls Ten 'fownships. in Chenango county. 

2. There was snbseqnentlj- ninch complaint as to the terms of this treaty. .See appendix Xo. S 
for speeches of Red Jacket, Cornplanter and other chiefs and President Wasliiiigton respecting the 
subject. 

;. .\ls() known as the Genesee tract. 




rrom Augustus Porter's survey of the Phelps md Corham Purchase -1792. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1S5 

the confluence of Canaseraga creek with the waters of the Genesee 
river thence north to such confluence; thence northwardly along tlie 
river to a point two miles north of the Canawaugus Indian village; 
thence due west twelve miles; thence northwardly, twelve miles dis- 
tant from the hounds of the river, to Lake Ontario. i The east line 
measured about eighty-five miles, the south line about forty-five miles, ■ 
and within the boundaries are the counties of Ontario, Steuben and 
Yates, and portions of the counties of Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, 
Allegany and Schuyler. On the 21st of Novemlier, 17''ii this 
tract was confirmed to Phelps and (lorham by an act of the Legislattu'e 
of Massachusetts. A survey of the tract- afterwards made showed that 
it exceeded both in ([uantity and value, one-third of the whole territory. 
For this diflerence the purchasers duly accounted. 

In 178') Mr. Phelps opened at Canandaigua the first regular land 
office for the sale of unoccupied lands to settlers ever established in 
America. The system he adopted for the survey of his lands by town- 
ships and ranges, was, with slight modifications, adopted by the (Gov- 
ernment for the survey of all the new lands in the L'nited States.^ 
These ranges were six miles in width, running north and south 
through the whole purchase, and numbered from east to west. The 

1. The ludiau deed signed at this treaty contains the following description of the tract : 
"Beginning in the northern bonndary line of the State of Pennsylvania, in the parallel of the 42d 
degree north, at a point distant S2 miles from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania or Delaware 
River, thence rnnuing west npon said line to a meridian passing throngh the point of land made 
the conflnence of the Shanahasgreaikonreche (Canaseragat creek with the w-aters of the Genesee 
by river, thence north along said meridian to the point last mentioned, thence northwardly along 
the waters of the Genesee river to a point two miles north of Shanawageras (Canawangns) village, 
thence due w-est 12 miles, then in a direction northwardly so as to be 12 miles distant from the 
most westward bend of the Genesee river to Lake Ontario, thence eastwardly along the said lake 
to a meridian which will pass throngh the place of beginning and thence south along the said 
meridian to the place of beginning." The deed was witnessed by the Rev. Sanuiel Kirklaud 
and others, and was approved by him under authority of a resolution of the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts appointing him to superintend and approve the purchase. 

2. The portions of the purchase within the limits of the present county of Livingston are 
townships 6, 7. s, 9 and to in range 7, corresponding with the towns of Ossiau, West Sparta, Grove- 
laud, Geueseo and Avon respectively; townships 7. S, 9, 10 and the northwest quarter of 6 in range 
6, corresponding with Sparta, in part. Couesus. Livonia, Lima and North Dansville respectively, 
and township 7 and the western part of 10 in range 5, corresponding with the eastern parts of 
Spriiigwater and Lima respectively. The western part of Lima is in township 7 of range 7; the west- 
ern part ol Springwater, incliuling somewhat more than a third of that town, is in township 7 of 
range 6, and that portion of Lima lying between Itoncoyc outlet and the east line of Livonia con- 
tinued northerly is in township 10 of range 5. The survey was originally made by Colonel Hugh 
Ma.xwell in 17SS. A re-snrvey was made in 1791 and 1792. under the direction of Major Hoops, as 
appears in the api>endix. 



ISO HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ranges, in turn, were subdivided by parallel lines, six miles ;tpart, 
running east and west, denominated t'jwnshi[;s, which were num- 
bered from South to norih. The ranges were seven in number, each 
embracing fourteen townships. The latter were mostly sululivided 
into lots of 160 acres each for the accommodation of actual settlers. 

Settlements did not immediately follow the purchase by Phelps and 
Gorham. Indeed, it was not until 17'J2, when, by the opening of 
roads eastw-ard and southward, access was facilitatetl to the new land of 
promise, that the tide of emigration thitherward iiegan. 

In the disposition of their lands Phelfis and Gorham accommodated 
their terms to the circumstances of purchasers. Several of their con- 
tracts drawn in January, ]7.S'>, contained the provision, "We engage 
to receive the one-half ot each obligation in good merchantable ox or 
cow beef at the market cash price, or in West India goods at cash 
rates, provided, however, that so far as we receive in those articles tei; 
per centum is to be added to the debt due to us." 

^Vith the exception of the parts that had already been soUl and two 
townships reserved by them. Phelps and (iorham sold the whole of this 
one third part of the original purchase to Robert Morris, the eminent 
financier of the Revolution, the friend of Washington and a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence, and conveyed the same to him by 
deed bearing date the 18th of November, 1790.1 The quantity of 
land conveyed was supposed to be about one million one hundred thou- 
sand acres, but it transpired later that the actual quantity was one 
hundred and si.Nty-seven thousand acres more; the price paid by ^Ir. 
Morris was thirty thousand pounds. New York currency. He also sub- 
secpieiitly [laid the sum of nine thousand four bundled and seventy-six 
pounds for the cpiantity ot land conveyed in excess of one million acres, 
in conformity with an agreement made at the time of the conveyance. ^ 

The lands acijiiired l)v this purchase soon passed out of the hands of 
Mr. Morris. Agencies had been established by him at the principal 
capitals f)f Europe for the sale of these lands, the value of wdiich the 
owner himself, though holding them in higii estimation, had essentially 

1, The wliole traiisactiou in relation to the Phelps and Gorham pnrchase was finally settled 
by an indentnre entered into between them and Massachusetts, bearing date March lo, 179], in 
pursuance of which the l)alance due from Phelps and Gorham, in respect to their retained portion 
of the entire territory, was paid on the 6th of .\pril, 1S13. 

2. This was at the rate of ei.iijh I pence half penny Massachusetts njoney. See appendix No. 
9 for account of survey made b\' Major Hoops of the ^torris purchase. 




Robert Morris. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 187 

underrated. Just as he became fully aware of their great importance 
and before he could communicate with his foreign correspondents on 
the subject, William Temple Franklin, a grandson (jf Dr. Franklin, 
had sold them in England for thirty-five thousand pounds sterling to 
an association composed of Sir William Pultency,'- an eminent British 
statesman who, it would appear, was able to devote little personal at- 
tention to the affairs of the company; John Hornby, once Governor of 
Bombay, India, a retired capitalist of London, and Patrick Colquhoun, 
a philanthropic Scotchman of large means, and at the time High Sher- 
iff of Westminster, England, upon whom the details of settling the 
purcluise and disposing of the land principally devolved, a duty he 
performed with so much acceptance to his associates and with such 
enlightened liberality as to gain the respect of the settlers. 

The associates now required an agent who should proceed at once to 
the new purchase and personally superintend their interests. At this 
time Charles Williamson, a Scotch gentleman who had spent several 
years in America, had come to London, where he was honored with 
the friendship of William Pitt and other leading men of the English 
capital. He had held a captain's commission in the British service, 
and being ordered to this country with his regiment during the Revo- 
lution, the vessel which bore him was captured by a French privateer. 
Williamson was brought to Boston and there held a prisoner of war 
until the close of the struggle. Opportunity had been afforded him to 
become acquainted with the quality of our new lands of which he read- 
ily availed himself, and as he was quite willing to accept the offer of 
the associates to manage their estates, he was engaged for the term of 
seven years. He possessed qualities which, in many directions, pecu- 
liarly fitted him for the position, and the appointment proved a fortu- 
nate one for the settlers if not for his employers. He enjoyed the con- 
fidence of his principals, their material resources were ample, and if 
his discretion was not at all times judiciously e.xercised, his zeal 
could not be questioned. On reaching Philadelphia he made the 
acquaintance of Robert Morris. After secui'ing all the informa- 
tion about the Genesee counliy within reach, he made up his mind 
that a road must be opened to the purcluise. He was told that this 

I. Sir William's family uanie was Johnstone. He was one of a family of fourteen cliiUlren. 
His father was Sir James Johnstone. Sir William married Miss Pnlteney, niece of the Karl of 
nath, and took his wife's family name in 1767. The village of l)ath, in this State, was so named 
out of compliment, by Charles Williamson. 



1S8 IIISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

could not be done, but with his usual indomitable energy he 
marked out and opened a road from Ross Farm (now Williams- 
port), to the confluence of the Canaseraga creek and the Genesee 
river, where, in 1792, he established his first settlement, Williamsburg. 
The associates being aliens coiild not take the title, and as a first step 
Williamson was naturalized in Philadelphia on the 9th of January, 
1792, and on the 11th of April of the same year the title of the estate 
was made over to him. On the 31st of March, 1801 Williamson con- 
veyed the lands to Sir ^\'i!liam Pulteney.' 

Captain Williamson's energy and hopefulness animated all who came 
within the range of his personal influence, while his enterprise antici- 
pated and supplied whatever became necessary to prumote the [)ros- 
perity of the rising towns. He is represented as a jolly Scotchman, a 
gentleman of liberal education, of fine social qualities, fond of his flag- 
on of wine and a good story, of fine horses and herds of sleek cattle. 
He had seen service in Europe and was a man of the world. He pos- 
sessed great activity, was upright and liberal in his dealings with the 
pioneers, and was always ready to impart information to any who 
sought homes in the (lenesee country. "He freejuently concludes a 
contract and removes every difficulty in the course of a few minutes' 
conversation," it was said of him. By his wisely directed enterprise 
he gave a great impulse not only to the settlements which he lost no 
time in establishing at Bath, Williamsburg, Geneva and Sodus, on 
the great tract belonging to his principals, but to the Genesee country 
at large. He was a Member of Assembly from Ontario and Steuben 
from 179f> to 1800, and was also first Judge of Steuben Common Pleas 
from IT'iii tn 1803 continuously. He returned to Scotlantl : and died 
at the close of the year 1807 while journeying from Havana to England. 

Almost simultaneously with the sale to the English associates, and 
on the 12th day of March. 17'M, Mr. Morris contracted to purchase of 
Massachusetts, through his representative Samuel Ogden, the two- 
thirds of the original territory, so relinquished by Phelps and (iorham; 
he had made a considerable profit on his sale to the Englishmen and 

I. The title of tliePiilteiiey estate has been the subject of fretiuent litigatiuii thiriug tlie last 
half century, in which attempts have been made to overthrow the title derived through William- 
son on the ground of his alleged alienage, and on the ground that the Indian title had uever been 
extinguished to the lands in question, though each time with marked want of success. 

The whole question was carefully e.xamined and the validity of the title distinctly affirmed iu 
the case of the Duke of Cumberland vs. Graves, by the Court of Apjieals of the Stale of New York. 
(3 Selden, ,",05, Thomas A. Johnson, J.) 



fi 




I ■ f 



^. o 



AiQAngiioj •'11 «""J " 






\i 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 189 

eagerly availed himself of the opportunity to secure these reverted 
lands. In January, 1791, he had written to Ogden, who was then in 
I'.iiston, "to make the purchase at any terms." A few days later he 
wr(jte him again: "I consider the purchase of such magnitude that I 
shall never forgive myself if I let it pass by me at anything less than 
the limits which I have fi.xed, and you may depend that if I get it I 
will make a greater fortune out of it in a short time than any other 
person can now believe." An expectation, it may be added, that was 
far from being realized. 

On the 11th of May, 17Vl, ( )gden having formally assigned his inter- 
est to Morris, a committee on behalf of the Legislature confirmed the 
latter's title by giving him five several deeds of conveyance for as 
many separate parcels of land, the first including about five hundred 
thousand acres, being the eastern portion and afterwards known as 
the "Morris Reserve," from the circumstance of its exception in the 
conveyance to the Holland Land Company, and the four others em- 
bracing the lands subsequently sold by Morris to that company 
and known as the "Holland Purchase. "^ The quantity of land 
conveyed was about three million eight hundred thousand acres; the 
consideration, one hundred thousand pounds, equal to $333,333.33 in 
^Massachusetts currency, and the area, all the territory within the 
State of New York lying west of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, 
excepting only the reserved strip of land one mile in width along the 
Niagara river, ^ and, with this exception Robert Morris became seized 
of the pre-emptive title to the whole of this territory relinquished to 
Massachusetts. 

In 1792 and 1793 the sale was made by Morris of the lands con- 
veyed to hitn by the four deeds last mentioned, comprehending about 
three million three hundred thousand acres, to the Holland Land 
Company an association consisting of five capitalists of Amsterdam, 

1. The deeds were deposited with Nathaniel .ippleton and two others, and were delivered to 
Morris on payment of the purchase money. 

A sixth deed was granted under authority of a joint resolution of the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, adopted June 20th, 1792, covering the undivided sixtieth part of the lauds embraced iu 
the above deeds and reser\ed by each of them owing to a contract made by Phelps and Gorham for 
Ihesaleof i-6oth of the entire ten-itory to John Butler, who subsequently assigned to Robert 
Morris, and the latter was thus enabled to acquire title to the whole directly from the State of 
.Massachusetts. 

2. This strip was surrendered by a treaty of the Senecas with the .State of New York, made 
August 20, 1802, for $500. 



190 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Holland.^ The consideration was fifty-five thonsand pounds sterlin;j^, 
of which sum 37,401) pounds was to be withheld until the extinguish- 
ment <>t the Intli;i;i title could be effected. As the jjurchasers were 
aliens they could not take the title in their own names, and the deeds 
were, therefore, made to parties in trust for them.- 

The attitude of the Indians, the Senecas included, at the peri(Hl of 
the purchase and down to tlie success of Wayne's ex[)edition against 
the Western tribes, was so unfriendly that considerations of jnibiic 
policy rendered any negotiation f<»r securing their interest in these 
lands inopportune. Mr Morris forbore to press fur a treaty to ac- 
complish this until 17*K), a postponement which exhibited great unself- 
ishness and patriotism on his part. .-. On August 25th of that year, he 
addressed trom Philadelphia the following letter to President Wash- 
ington , 

Sir — In the year 17**1 I purchased from the state of Massachusetts 
a tract of country lying within the -boundaries of the state of New 
York, which had been ceded by the latter to the former state under 
the sanction and with the concurrence of the congress of the United 

1. The names of the actual original proprietors were Wilhelni Williiik, Jan Williuk, Nich- 
olas Van Stophoi-st, Jacob Van Stophorst. Nicholas; Hubbard, Pieter VanEeghen. Christian Van 
Eeghen, Isaac TenCate. Hendrick Volleiihoveii, Christina Coster (widow), Jad Stadnitskie and 
Rntger J. Schininielpinnick. 

2. Deeds from Robert Morris and Mary his wife to the trustees of the pro]jrietors were as 
follo%vs: 

I. Bears date Dec. 24, 1792, Smd conveys two tracts of one million and half a million respect- 
ively, amounting to i'<^ million acres, to HermRS> ,eRoy and John Lincklaen, in trust. 

II. Bears date Feb. 27, 1793, and conveys dn© million acres to LeRoy, I^incklacn and Cerrit 
Boon, in trust. 

III. Bears date July 20, 1793, and conveys 8co,ooo acres to LeRoy, Lincklaen and Boon, in trust. 

IV. Bears date Jnly 20, 1793, and conveys 300,000 acres to LeRoy, William Bayard and Matthew 
Clarksou, in trust. 

After the Big Tree treaty of 'Sept. 15, I74|> by which the claims of the Indians to the above 
lands were released to Robert Morris, he made a confirmation to his grantees. 

Concurrently with the execution of this conveyance by Morris, articles of agreement were 
entered into by which, among other things, a right was reserved to the grantees to elect, within a 
certain period, to convert the jjurchase into a loan, in which case the conveyance was to innre 
by way of mortgage to secure the repayment of the purchase moi^y. The grantees choosing to 
hold the lands as a purchase, declared no election to hold them otherwise; but it was neverthe- 
less contended by Morris and those claiming under him that the whole transaction was to he 
considered as a loan, and that a right still existed in Morris or his assigns which a court of chan- 
cery would enforce. This question was put at rest by the e.xecntion of releases in February, iSoi, 
by Thomas L. Ogden, representing the claimants. 

For more than half his life the late Gov. Seward was the principal agent and attorney, and re- 
moved from Auburn to Westfield to superintend the dispospl of the Company's lands. On his 
voluntary retirement from the agency, he was succeeded by the Hon. CVeo. W. Patterson, late 
I,ieTiteuant Governor of the State of New York, elsewhere mentioned iu this volume. 



HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX L'oUXTV IVl 

States. This tract of land is bounded to the east by the Genesee 
river, to the north by Lake Ontario, to the west partly by Lake Erie 
and partly by the boundary line of the Pennsylvania triangle, and to 
the south by the north boundar)- line of the state of Pennsylvania. A 
printed brief of title I take the liberty to transmit herewith. To per- 
fect this title it is necessary to purchase of the Seneca nation of In- 
dians their native right, which I should have done soon after the pur- 
chase was made of the state- of Massachusetts, but that I felt myself 
restrained from doing so by motives of public consideration. The 
war between the Western Indian nations and the United States did 
not e.xlend to the Six Nations, of which the Sfneca nation is one; and 
as I ai)[)rehended that, if this nation should sell its' right during the 
existence of that war, they might the more readily be induced to join 
the enemies of our countr\', I was determined not to make the ])iir- 
chase whilst that war lasted. 

When peace was made with the Indian nations I turned my thoughts 
towards the purchase, which is to me an object very interesting; but 
upon it being represented that a little longer patience, until the wes- 
tern posts should be delivered up by the British government, might 
be public utility, I concluded to wait for that event also, which is now 
happily accomplished, and there seems no obstacle to restrain me from 
making the purchase, especially as I have reason to believe the 
Indians are desirous to make the sale. 

The delays which have already taken place and that arose solely 
frotn the considerations above mentioned have been extremely detri- 
mental to my private affairs, but, still being desirous to comply with 
formalities prescribed by certain laws of the United States, although 
those laws probably do not reach my case, I now make application to 
the President oi the United Stat'i'^nd request that he will nominate 
and apfioint a commissioner U> be present and preside at a treaty, 
which he will lie pleased to authorize to b'_- held with the Seneca Na- 
tion, for the purpose of enabling me to make a purchase in conform- 
ity with the formalities required by law, of the tract of country for 
which I have already paid a very laige sum of money. My right to 
pre-emption is unequivocal, and the land is become so necessary to 
the growing population and surrounding settlements that it is with 
difficulty that the white people can be restrained from squattering or 
settling down upon tiiese lands, which if they should do, it may prob- 
ably bring on contentions with the Six Nations. This will be pre- 
vented by a timely, fair and honorable purchase. 

This proposed treaty ought to be held immediately before the hunt- 
ing season or another year will be lost, as the Indians cannot be col- 
lected during that season. The loss of another year, under the pay- 
ments thus made for these lands, would be ruinous to my aftairs; and 
as I have paid so great deference to public considerations whilst they 
did exist, I expect and hope that my request will be readily granted 



V>2 I-IISTORY (JF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

now, when there can be n(3 cause for delay, es|)ecially if tlie Indians 
are willintj to sell, which will be tested by the offer to buy. 

With the most perfect esteem and respect, I am, sir, vnur most 
obedient and most humble sei'vaat, 

Robert -Morris. 

George Washinijton, Esq.. President of the United States. 

President Washington was ready to further the business by naming 
a Commissioner to superintend the treaty on behalf of the United 
States in conformity with law. Captain Bruff, who held comtnand of 
the garrison at Fort Niagara, had held a conference with the Senecas_ 
and had presented them with a flag. In their answer to Captain 
Bruff's speech on this occasion they called Robert Morris the "big 
eater w'ith the big belly," and asked that he might not come to devour 
their lands. Washington told Mr. Morris that he should feel it his 
tluty to send Cajjtain Hruff's letter, together with the accompanying 
speeches of the Indians, to the Senate with the nomination, and that, 
so great was then the desire to coiiciliate the .Sj.x Nations, he did n ' 
believe the Senate would confirm any nomination contrary t 
wishes; the Senate, however, confirmed the nomination. 

The President appointed Isaac Smith, a member of Congress from 
New jersey, as the Commissioner ; but duties ot a judicial nature in his 
State subsequently imposed upon him prevented his acceptance, and 
Colonel Jeremiah Wadswortli, who had been a distinguished member 
of Congress from Connecticut, was ajipointed in his place. 

Unable himself to take part in the treaty, Mr. Morris appointed his 
son Thomas and Charles Williamson as his representatives; Captain 
Williamson, however, busy with his affairs at Bath, declined to act 
and so the responsibility for conducting the difficult and delicate 
negotiation fell entirely upon the younger ilorris. 

Soon after making the purchase from Massachusetts, Mr. Morris 
resolved to settle his son Thomas in the Genesee country "as an evi- 
dence of his faith in its value and prospects. " Thomas Morris was 
twenty years of age. He had been educated at (Jeneva and Leipsic 
and was then reading law. In obedience to the wishes of his father, 
he left Philadelphia in the early summer of 17')1 and coming by way 
of Wilkesbarre and what was called "Sullivan's path," reached New- 
town where he attended Pickering's council and received from the 
Indians the name of 0-te-ti-ana, which Red Jacket had borne in his 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY l')3 

younger (lays. Proceeding on his journey Mr. Morris visited Niagara 
Falls. On his return he passed through Canandaigua. The aspect of 
the little frontier village pleased him. and he resolved to make the 
place his hoine. Arranging his affairs in the East, he left New York 
in ilarch, 17'»2, and went to Canandaigua. In 1793 he built a framed 
hduse, filled in with brick — one of the two framed houses in the State 
west of Whitesboro. Mr. Morris was admitted to the bar and in 17"H 
attended the first court held at Canandaigua. He devoted much of 
his time to the care of -his father's propertv and the settlement and 
development nf Western New York, and was honored and esteemed liy 
the pioneers. In 1794, 1795 and 179('> he was a Member of Assemblv 
from Ontario county. For five years beginning with 1796 he was a 
Senator of the State of New York, and from December, 1801. till 
March. ISOo, he was a member of Congress — the first representative 
in Congress from that portion of the State of New York lying west of 
Seneca lake. He shared in the financial reverses of his father, and in 
1S1I4 appointed John Greig his attorney and removed to New York 
city, where he practiced law until his death in 184S. 

To his son and Captain Williamson, Robert Morris communicated 
the following instructions for their management of tiie negotiations 
on his behalf: 

Philadelphia, August 1, 1797. 
Thoinas Morris and Charles Williamson, Esqrs. : 

Gentlemen — [ send herewith my power of attorney constituting' 
you my attorneys, at)d as such authorizing you to hold a treaty with 
the Seneca nation of Indians and such other nations, tribes, or chiefs- 
as may be necessary and to purchase of them for my account all that 
tract of ccjuntry the pre-emptive right of which I bought of the state 
of Massaciuisetts, being liounded on the east by the Genesee river and 
certain boundar\ lines of Gorham and Phelps' Purchase, on the south 
by the north boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania, on the west 
by Lake Erie and certain boundary lines of the Pennsylvania Triangle 
and of a small tract or carrying place reserved to the state of New 
York near the river Niagara, and on the north by Lake Ontario. 

This tract of land you are too well acquainted with to render any 
otiier description necessary, and its importance to me you can properly 
estimate, although I have not that interest in it at present which I 
ought to have retained ; nevertheless there is a duty due from me to 
those to whom I have sold which I am as solicitous to perform as if 
the whole benefit was for myself; but, although I am not to reap all 



194 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the benefit, I am to sustain all the expense. This circumstance does 
not induce a desire to starve the cause or to be niggardly, at the same 
time it is natural to desire a consistent economy to be observed both 
as to the expense ot the treaty and the price to be paid for the lands. 
In order to be as clear and distinct as possible" I put each article of 
these instructions numerically as they occur to me. 

First — -I send herewith a written speech with which I propose that 
my son shall open the treaty by dL-liverinti tht- same to the Indians in 
my name and in my behalf. 

Second — In addition to this S[)eech, you can each make such addi- 
tional introductory speeches as you may think proper and necessary. 

Third — The business of the treaty may be greatly propelled probably 
by withholding liquor from the Indians until the business is finished, 
showing and promising it to them when the treaty is over. 

Fourth — I propose that an annuity of four thousand or four thou- 
sand five hundred dollars forever shall be the price of purchase for 
the whoUr tract of ciuntiy to the pre-emption of which I have the 
right. 

Fifth — If they should want some money down, say .^,ii(K) to Id.uiio 
dollars, the annuity to decrease proportionately. 

Sixth — Annuities of twenty to sixty dollars per annum may be giv- 
en to influential chiefs to the extent of 250 or 3()U dollars per annum. 

Seventh — Some dollars may be promised before the treaty and paid 
when finished to the amount of .^n(l or OO'O dollars, or if necessarv, 
1,000 dollars, to the chiefs. 

Eighth — Captain Brant, although not belonging to the Seneca nation, 
yet being an influential character, he must be satisfied for his services 
on as reasonable terms as possible, after the purchase is made. 

Ninth — Jones and Smith as interpreters are to do their duty fully 
and faithfully or I will not convey the lands contracted for wiih them, 
but if they do their duty the deed of those lands shall be delivered up- 
on receipt of the money they are in that case to pay. 

Tenth — Mr. Johnston of Niagara is to be employed as an interpreter 
iind compensated with a reasonable liberality. 

Eleventh — Mr. Dean and Mr. I'aiiish may also be employed on 
similar terms. 

Twelfth--Mr. Chapin will render any services that consist with the 
duties of his station, and must have a proper complement or compen- 
sation. 

Thirteenth — If there be others whom I omit or do not know whom 
it may be proper to employ, you will exercise your discretion :n regard 
to them 

Fourteenth— The whole cost and charges ot this treaty being at my 
•expense, you will direct everything upon the princi{)les of a liberal 
economy. The Indians must have jjlenty of food, and also of liquor 
when you see proper to order it to them. The commissioners, their 



HISTORY UF LIVINGSTON COUNTY V)5 

secretaries, interpreters, and all who are officially employed at or 
about this treaty, must be provided at my cost. You will of course 
keep :i table for yourselves and such of them as ought to be admitted 
to it. Such gentlemen strangers as visit there with friendlv inten- 
tions, or from curiosity, you will of course entertain as often as yuu 
think proper. 

Fifteenth — The liquors and stores I sent up will be used and if not 
sufficient more must be got. 

Sixteenth — The articles sent up for presents to the Indian chiefs, 
their wives and children, you will distribute as you see proper, and 
you may tell them I did not send any goods for presents to the nation 
because I thought they could with the niDiiev thev will receive half- 
yearly buy what may suit them best. 

Seventeenth — If you think twenty to thirty cows given to the wom- 
en would have a good effect, this might be done in such way as to 
please them best. 

Eighteenth — The price or annuity offered for the whole tract of 
country if they do not incline to giv€ up the whole may be put upon 
this footing, that the whole sum shall now be placed in the bank, and 
if they deliver me possession of only one-half the lands they shall draw 
only one half the annuity and I will draw the other half, and so in pro- 
portion to what they give up, and at any time thereafter when they 
agree to give up more land they shall then draw more of the annuity 
in proportion, and when they surrender the whole of the land, they 
shall draw the whole of the annuity. 

Nineteenth — They may signify at any time their intention of mak- 
ing a further surrender of lands (beyond what now may be agreed for) 
to the superintendent of Indian affairs, and I or my successors will 
immediately ap])oint proper persons to receive and survey the lands 
and assign to them or their agents the securities for the proportion of 
the annuity equivalent to the lands so surrendered. 

Twentieth — It will be most agreeable if they will deliver the whole 
lands now, and receive the whole of the annuity, but if they should 
only consent to deliver a part, let that part be as large a proportion 
as you can possibly obtain: and in this case it may be best perhaps 
to ask for it in the following manner: — miles on the Pennsylvania line 
beginning at the point on that line which bounds Gorham and Phelps' 
Purchase, and running west — miles, and from the terminating point 
on the Pennsylvania line to run due north to Lake Ontario, then east 
along the borders of said lake to the point of division on the north 
boundary of Gorham and Phelps' Purchase, and thence south along 
the west boundary lines of said Gorham and Phelps' Purchase and the 
Genesee river to the place of beginning; and in ad<lition to this an- 
other quantity either on the northern or southern side of the tract as 
may be most palatable to the Indians. If on the southern side it will 
commence at the western point on the Pennsylvania line where the 



I'M) HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

above tract stopped and run as far on the Pennsylvania line as they 
will agree, and also to go as far north on the west side of the above tract 
as they will agree ; thence due west until a south line will strike the point 
where they stop on the Pennsylvania line unless they agree to go all 
the length of it to the corner of the Pennsylvania Triangle, and in that 
case the other line will rvin west to Lake Erie, or the boundary of that 
Triangle, which boundary would in that case also be the west bound- 
ary of the tract I contemplate. Should they prefer to cede a tract 
bounded by Lake Ontario, the east, south, and west boundaries will be 
fixed in a similar manner to what I have proposed for the others. 

Twenty-first — If the Indians will not sell and deliver the whole tract 
you must stipulate and obtain liberty for the surveyor to traverse the 
borders of Lakes Erie and Ontario and measure all the boundarv lines 
of the whole tract. 

Twenty-second — William Hayard will attend the treaty on behalf of 
the Holland company to whom I have sold a great part of these lands 
and perhaps Mr. Linklaen and (lerrit Boon may also be there. I 
would wish you to communicate freely and confidentially with these 
gentlemen or such of them as do attend, and particularly as to what 
part of the tract shall be taken into the purchase (in case the whole is 
not bought) after Tract No. 1 is secured. 

This Tract No. 1 is bounded on the east by the Genesee river and 
the boundary lines of Gorham and Phelps' Purchase, on the south by 
the Pennsylvania north boundary line running twelve miles west on 
that line, thence on the west by a line to be run from the point of 
twelve miles due north to Lake Ontario, and thence bounded on the 
north by Lake Ontario to the nortli point of said Gorham and Phelps' 
Purchase. This tract must be included in the purchase at all events 
and the rest may be made agreeable to the Holland com])any and the 
Indians, but I hope and expect that the whole will be purchased. 

Twenty-third — In case the whole of the tract is agreed for, but the 
Indians chi^ose to retain some part for their occupation, they will 
choose, I presume, Buffalo Creek, Tanevvanta, and lands bordering on 
Lake Erie. In fixing this you will consult as much as can be the 
interests and inclinations of the Holland c(Mnpany, conjointly witii the 
pleasure of the Indians. 

Twenty-fourth — Although I have proposed an annuity to the 
Indians as the price of their lands, yet if they prefer to be paid in 
money, I do not object. In that case I suppose seventy-five thousand 
dollars may be set down as the price of the whole, and in proportion 
for any part less than the whole, the money to be paid to them or 
their agent or agents within sixty to ninety days either at Philadel- 
phia, New York, or Canantiaigua, as may be agreed on between you 
and them, consulting Mr. Bayard as to the time and place of payment. 

Should any other matter occur that I shall think necessary to be 
intimated to you. I shall, if there be time, write to you again as often 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1<J7 

as may appear useful. You are, however, to consitier what I have 
already written rather as outlines for your conduct on this business than 
as positive orders not to be departed from. I have perfect confidence 
in your friendship and also in your integrity and discretion and there- 
fore I confide to your manauement the whole of this business without 
limitation or restriction except that if you make a purchase the tract 
No. 1 must be a part of it. If you can make the purchase on 
belter terms than I have proposed I am sure you will do it, and on 
the contrary should you be obliged to give more I shall acquiesce. 
You know it is high time this purchase should be made and it is of 
vast importance to all concerned to have it accomplished ; therefore 
you must effect it at all events, and I can only repeat that although I 
wish to buy as reasonably as may be, yet I do not mean to starve the 
cause, for I must have it. 

With sincere regard and affection, I am, gentlemen, your friend 
and servant. Robert Morris. 

It was resolved to hold the treaty at Big Tree, near the settlement 
which afterwards became Geneseo. In meadow lands within the 
corporate limits of the village of Geneseo, southwest from the park, 
about a quarter of a mile above the Erie railroad and about the same 
distance west of the Mount Morris road, there stood until 1000 a cob- 
blestone house; on the site of this building there was at the time 
of the treaty a small dwelling erected by William and James Wads- 
worth in 1701.1 This was rented by Thomas Morris for the 
accommodation of the principal persons at the treaty. He also caused 
a large council house to be erected which had for its covering boughs 
and branches of trees. An elevated bench was provided for the Com- 
missioners and other benches for the spectators. The probability 
is that the council house w-as located about five lumdred feet north- 
west of the Wads\i'orth dwelling. The Indian village of Big Tree 
was at this time west of the Genesee and so remained imtil ISoS, when 
it was moved to the east side of the river. 

The treaty had been appointed for the 20th of August, 17''7, and 
the Indians had ccillected in large numbers when Thomas Morris 
arrived on August 22d, "not the Senecas exclusively, but groups from 
other tribes, had come in to be fed from the stores of the Commis- 
sioners, and so greatly hungered were the natives that they were 
ravenous for food. Several of the oxen first killed for them were de- 
voured raw, reeking in the blood." 

I. James Wadsworth was in Europe at the time of the treaty. 



19S HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

On the morning following the arrival of Thomas Morris he called 
them together and, after a speech of welcome, apologized for the non- 
arrival of the Commissioners who had been delayed by bad weather. 

It was obvious from the nutset that a number of white nn-n. who 
spoke a little of the native tongue and whose offers of employment 
had been declined by Morris, would attempt to persuade the Indians 
to reject all offers made them, with a view to securing their own 
terms. The natives were in a mood to be influenced in this direc- 
tion, for with few exceptions they were, said IJeneral Knox, greatly 
tenacious of their lands. To these venal whites Thomas Morris 
alluded in his address. Cornplanter, who was disposed to treat the 
whole subject fairly, immediately arose and expressed his satisfaction 
at being informed that the mischief-makers were known and would be 
properly dealt with. 

Late in the afternoon of the 2')th of August, the Commissioners 
arrived, Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth to represent the United Slates 
and General William Shepard to represent the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. Captain Israel Chapin, who had succeeded his father. 
General Israel Chapin, as Superintendent of Indian affairs, attended; 
James Rees, subsequently of Geneva, was there and acted as Secretary, 
and among other prominent white men who were present and were 
greatly interested in the negotiation were William Rayard of New 
York, the agent of the Holland Land Company; two young gentlemen 
from Holland named Van Staphorst, near relatives of the Van 
Staphorst who was one of the principal members of the Holland 
Company, Nathaniel W. Howell, Jasper Parrish and Captain Horatio 
Jones. 

The Commissioners found the Indians receiving their annual pres- 
ents from the United States under the direction of Captain Chapin. 
The day following their arrival was Sunday, and intelligence having 
reached the Senecas of the death of the daughter of Captain Chapin, 
whom they greatly respected, they ajipointed a council for condolence 
with him, to which all the gentlemen from a distance were invited. 

At one o'clock on the afternoim of Monday the 28th, the council 
formally opened. It fell to Cornplanter to speak first. Turning to 
Thomas Morris he briefly addressed him, acknowledging the speech 
of invitation conveyed through Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish, re- 
gretted that the Commissioners had been delayed, and closed by re- 







The' Pole Marks the Probable Site of Council House at Big Tree Treaty. 



HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTON COUNTY 199 

turning the string of wampum which had reached him with the in- 
vitation. The Commissioners then presented their credentials and 
Colonel Wadsworth delivered his speech, assuring the Indians of his 
purpose watchfully to observe the proceedings in their interest. Me 
was followed by General Shepard. ]Mr. Morris then rose and said that 
his father was unalile to be present, but that Captain Williamson and 
he had been duly appointed to represent him, and, as instructed, he 
uould now suljmit Robert Morris's speech and a belt of wam[nim, 
which were laid upon the table. The speech was as follows: 

Brothers of the Seneca Nation — It was my wish and my intention 
to have come into your country and to have met you at this treaty, but 
the Great Spirit has ordained otherwise and I cannot go. I grow 
old and corpulent, and not very well, and am fearful of traveling so 
far during the hot weather in the month of August. 

Brothers, as I cannot be with you at the treaty, I have deputed and 
appointed my son Thomas Morris, Esq.. and my friend Charles Wil- 
liamson, Esq., to appear for me and on my behalf to speak and treat 
with you in the same manner and to the same effect as I might or 
could do were I present at this treaty with you, and it is my re- 
quest that you will listen to them with the same attention that you 
would to me. 

Brothers, I have the greatest love and esteem for my son and my 
friend. They possess my entire confidence and whatever they en- 
gage for on my behalf you may depend that I will perform the same 
as exactly as if I was there and made the engagements with you my- 
self; therefore I pray you to listen to them and believe in what they 
say. 

Brothers, it is now six years since I have been invested with the 
exclusive right to acquire your lands. During the whole of this time 
you have quietly possessed them without being importuned by me to 
sell them, but I now think that it is time for them to be productive 
to you. It is with a view to render them so that I have acquiesced 
in your desire to meet you at the Genesee river. I shall take care 
immediately to deposit in the Bank of the United States whatever 
my son and my friend may agree to pay you in my behalf. 

Brothers, from the personal acquaintance which I have with your 
chiefs and head men, I am assured that their wisdom and integrity 
will direct the object of the treaty to the happiness of yourselves and 
your posterity. It is a pleasing circumstance to me that my business 
is to be transacted with such men, because while on the one hand 
they will take care of your interests, on the other whatever is done 
between them and me will be strong and binding. I hope that wise 
men will always be at the head of your councils, but for fear that 
thiise that succeed vour [iresent leadin« men should not deserve and 



2011 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

possess your confidence as fully as these do, you had better have your 
business so fixed now as not to leave it in the power of wrony-headed 
men in future to waste the property given to you l)y the Great Spirit 
for the use of yourselves and your posterity. 

Brothers, I have now opened my mind to you, and as I depend on 
my son and my friend to carry on and conclude the business with you 
I shall only add that the President of the United States, approving 
of this treaty and being your father and friend, has appointed an 
honorable and worthy gentleman, formerly a member of congress, the 
Hon. Jeremiah Wadsworth, Esq., to be a commissioner on behalf of 
the United States to attend and superintend this treaty, and the 
governor of the state of Massachusetts also appointed an honorable 
and worthy gentleman, formerly a general in the American army and 
now a member of congress, the Hon. AVilliam Shepard, Esq., to be a 
commissioner to attend this treaty on liehalf of the state of Massa- 
chusetts. These gentlemen will attend to what is said and done on 
both sides in order to see that mutual fair dealings and justice shall 
take place. Their office and duty will be rendered agreeable so far 
as depends on me because I desire n(ithin;j; but fair, open and honest 
transactions. 

Brothers, I bid you farewell. Ma\- the (ireat Spirit ever befriend 
and protect you. 

This closed the business for that sitting, and the council fire was 
covered (i<v the day. 

The council did not assemble until late in the afternoon of the fol- 
lowing day. Meantime the Indians were consulting among them- 
selves on the speeches already delivered, agreeing, as was their habit, 
in private on the measures to be adopted, the arguments to be used 
in support and fixing upon the speakers to present them, before 
meeting the white people in the more public council. On reas- 
sembling. Red Jacket thanked the Great Spirit for his care of the 
dignitaries and after a few general observations turned to Thomas 
Morris and said, "It ajipears to us as though something is kept back. 
From the candor and ve'racity promised by you we hope that all will 
be laid before the Indians fairly." On being assured of this, the 
chief observed that as the sun was nearly down it would be well to 
wait until the ne.xt day. 

On the morning of the 3<!tli Mr. ^loiris delivered a long and i-are- 
fully prepared speech, setting forth the reasons wliv. in his opinion, 
the Indians should sell their lands. Among other things he said; 
"You will receive a larger sum of monev than has ever vet been 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 201 

paid to you for your lands; this money can be so disposed of that not 
only vou but your children and your children's children can derive 
from it a lasting benefit. It can be placed in the bank of the United 
States from whence a sufficient income can annually be drawn by the 
President, your father, to make you and your posterity happy 
forever. Then the wants of your nld and poor can be sr.pplied, and 
in times of scarcity the women and children of your nation can be 
fed and you will no longer experience the miseries resulting from 
nakedness and want. Your white brethren are willing to pruvide 
you with the things which they enjoy provided you furnish them 
with the room which they want and of which you have tfio much. 
Brothers, yt)n may perhaps suppose that by selling your lands 
you will do an injury to your posterity. This, brothers, is not 
the case. By disposing of the money which you will receive for them 
in the manner which 1 have mentioned, your children will always 
hereafter be as rich as yiui are now." Concluding, Mr. Morris said 
that if the Indians declined his offer "neither my father nor any per- 
son in his behalf will ever come forward and treat with you mi the 
generous terms now proposed." 

It will be observed that Mr. Morris did not say that his father had 
already sold the lands to the Hollanders and was required to ex- 
tinguish the Indian title, and that he would be compelled to negotiate 
again if the Indians refused now. He also refrained from naming the 
price he was willing to pay. 

A few iiiinutes of silence followed the conclusion of the speech; then 
one of the chiefs said that if Mr. Morris had nothing to add it was 
their wish to be left to their <iwn jirivate deliberations. No public 
council was held on August 31st and September 1st. that interval be- 
ing employed by the Indians in considering the speech of Mr. Morris. 
Whiskey had now found its way to the Indians, and was interfering 
Avith the business that had called the council together. Farmer's 
Brother reported that several, among them Red Jacket, had been 
drinking and were quarrelsome. The chief, under advice, seized the 
■offending barrel of spirits and knocked in the head, but not in time 
to prevent a general fight, the pulling of hair and biting each other 
like dogs. 

On the 2d of September the sachems asked that the couni-il hre be 
uncovered. Farmer's Brother arose and stated that it was their in- 



202 HISTORY OF LTVIXCSTOX COrXTV 

tention t« answer Mr. Mmris's speech. Red Jacket followed in a 
short address whose drift was unfavorable to the object of the treaty. 
He referred in tjlowing terms V> the importance which the possession 
of iheir fine lands' had j^iven the Senecas among <jther nations of 
Indians. Said he: "It raises us in our own estimation. It creates 
in our bosoms a ])ioud feeling which elevates us as a nation. Observe 
the difference between the estimation in which a Seneca and an 
Oneida are held. We are courted, while the Oneidas are considered 
a degraded people, fit only to make brooms and baskets. Why this 
difference? It is because the Senecas are known as the proprietors of 
a broad domain, while the (Jneidas are cooped up in a narrow space." 
Mr. Morris parried this thrust with much address, and endeavored 
to convince Red Jacket that he was mistaken in this, recalling the 
contemptuous treatment recei\-ed by some of the Seneca chiefs when 
on a mission of peace with Colonel Pickering and others to the country 
(if the hostile Indians at the \\'est in 17').^. Red Jacket promptly 
answered, admitting the fact, but imputing the discourtesy to their 
going thither in bad company. "Had we gone alone," said he, "and 
on our own business, our reception would have been such as Senecas 
have a right to e.vpect; but when we interfered in the disputes of the 
United States, and accompanied its representatives, we forfeited all 
claims to such a reception," adding that the experience to which al- 
lusion had been made would warn them thereafter to confine them- 
selves to their own affairs. 

In the evening a private conference was held with tlie princi])al 
sachems, at which Mr. Morris offered the Indians $lO(l,n()() for their 
lands, a sum, he said, which placed in the Bank of the United States 
would yield them $6,000 a year interest. This offer they requested 
him to state in the [jublic council. The following day Red Jacket 
comnninicated through a private medium that his speech did not ex- 
press his own sentiments, but was made to please some of his people, 
and added that on the next occasion he should be less harsh. The 
assurance was not made good, however, for at the open council in the 
afternoon, referring to the former greatness of the Six Nations, the 
crafty chief covertly warned those who favored the sale, by alluding 
to the fact that their forefathers, who had parted with lands, had 
eaten up the proceeds and all was gone. He then referred to the 
plan pii)|)osed of invc'Sting the money, and asked that the proposition 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 20.^ 

might be put in writing, Mr. Murris assented, explaining at the 
same time the operation of an investment. The idea was altogether 
new til the natives, who were unable as yet to count beyond a hun- 
dred and it became difficult to make them comprehend hi>w money could 
increase without being planted in the ground, or how great a sum 
$100, ()()() was. To aid their comprehension, he told them it would fill 
a certain number of kegs of a given size, and would require thirty 
horses to draw the silver hither from Philadelphia. The speech was 
well received and with it closed the business ot the day. On the 4th 
Cornplanter complained that the sachems were conducting the whole 
business themselves, and threatened to go home. It was evident that 
there were serious divisions among the Indians, and a quarrel at 
this session was narrowly averted. There was no meeting on 
the 5th. 

On the dth; in council. Little Beard, the chief warrior ot the Senecas, 
spoke, addressing himself more especially to his ciwn people. It woidd 
appear that this notable was the leader of those who were opposed to 
the sale. He therefore favored placing the negotiations in the hands 
of the alilest and shrewdest of the sachems, presuming that they 
would be more likely than those of less experience to defeat the pur- 
pose of the treaty. He began by observing that it was the custom 
among their forefathers to refer aU business relating to the nation's 
welfare, except war, to the sachems, "and therefore," he continued, 
"the belt of wampum delivered me by Cornplanter, I shall return to 
him and let the whole business be transacted by the sachems. What- 
ever they determine upon all the warriors will agree to." He sat 
down and Red Jacket arose slowly. Surveying the assemblage for a 
moment, he said the Indian> did not want to sell their lands though 
they had assented reluctantly to holding the treaty. There were 
expenses attending the convention, he continued, and his people 
were ready to offer Mr. Morris a single township on the Pennsylvania 
border at one dollar per acre. This land placed in market would 
sell, he said, for an advance sufficient to cover the expenses.. 

The negotiations had progressed slowly, and both Colonel Wads- 
worth and Mr. Bayard had grown impatient of further delay. The 
former was an old man, afflicted with gout and far from home; the 
latter wanted to see the lands of his principals freed from Indian 
occupancy, but as a large portion of the purchase money had been 



204 HISTORY OP LIX'IXOSTOX COUNTY 

withheld by them, it mattered less to him if the demand of the natives 
should prove unreasonable. Mr. Morris, however, had cogent reasons 
for securing an Indian deed at a fair equivalent. The splendid 
fortune of his father, placed wholly at the disposal of the Continental 
authorities in the darkest hours of the infant Republic, had suffered 
greatly by the depreciation of the public credit. His e.'cpectation of 
retrieving a share of these losses through the purchase of this vast 
body of land had not been realized, and the fear now was that its 
inopportune sale, should the Indians prove exacting, might involve 
him in actual loss. He had hoped the Senecas would be content 
with $75,0UU, but $100,00U did not satisfy them. Mr. Morris, who 
better understood the Indian character than the Commissioners, 
knew that anything like the appearance of haste would defeat their 
purpose, and especially he felt that further delay was indispensable 
to counteract the impression that had been made on the Indians by 
the more recent speeches of their warriors. But so fixed were the 
two Commissioners in their purpose of bringing the proceedings to a 
close, that they insisted that when Red Jacket should make the 
above proposition — of which they had been previously advised — 
Morris ought boldly to reject it, and thus bring the natives to con- 
sider his offer, otherwise they would go home. To this Morris could 
only consent. No sooner, therefore, had the famous Seneca sat down 
than Mr. Morris told him the proposal did not merit a moment's 
consideration; that if they had no more reasonable offer to make the 
sooner the conference ended the better. Red Jacket sprang to his 
feet, and in great passion said, "We have now reached 
the point to which I wanted to bring you. You told us vvhen 
we first met that we were free either to sell or retain our 
lands. I repeat, we will not part with them. Here is my hand 
on it," Ihrnsling his arm across the table. "Let us shake hands 
aiid part friends. I now cover up this council fire." All was now 
tumult. "The whooping and yelling of the Indians," says Mr. 
Morris,' "was such that persons less accustomed to them would ha\-e 
imagined that they intended to tomahawk all the whites. One of 
their drunken warriors, in a. most violent and abusive speech, asked 
me how I dared to come among them to cheat them out of their 
lands. " 

1. See Anpeiulix No. ir'for Thomas Morris's tiarintive relatiiis to the Treaty of Bisj Tree. 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(jSTON COUNTY 205 

The result was a bitter disappointment to Bayard, and Mr. Morris 
was vexed at the miscarriage of their phms. He had hopes, liowever, 
of bringing on the business anew, if both Bayard and Colonel AVads- 
worth would engage not to interfere either by advice or otherwise. 
To this both readily agreed. The following day when Farmer's 
Brother called to express the hope that previous friendships would 
not be lessened by the failure of the treaty, Morris reminded him 
that Indian usage gave to him who lighted a council fire the right 
to cover it up. Hence as he had himself kindled this one, Red 
Jacket had no warrant for declaring it extinguished, and he urged 
that it was yet burning. To this, after a few minutes' reflection, 
the chief assented. Negotiations with the sachems having failed, 
custom justified an attempt to secure the approval of the warriors 
who defended the lands and the women who cultivated them and who 
had the right to take the business in their own hands when dissatisfied 
with the management of the sachems. Accordingly, after a few days 
spent in examining the accounts for supplies, paying for provisions 
consumed and collecting the cattle not slaughtered, Morris invited 
the chief women and some of the wari'iors to meet him, renewing to 
them his ofTer. He assured them of his readiness to concede such 
reservations as were required for their actual occupancy, and showed 
them how much good the money would do toward relieving the women 
of drudgery. He also stated that he had brought some presents from 
Philadelphia for them, to be distributed, however, only in the event of 
effecting a purchase of their lands, but as he had no cause of com- 
plaint against the women their portion of the gifts would now be 
divided among them, and in a few hours silver brooches glittered and 
glass beads sparkled uiion hundreds of the dusky daughters of the 
forest, while all were more or less fantastically arrayed in shawls and 
printed India goods. 

Some days were spent in rude festivities, alternated by serious 
consultations. A thrifty pig, well S(japed. was lei loose upon the 
green, and a dollar atid the porker were offered to the nni- who 
should catch and hold him by the tail. A thousand failures and 
many a break-neck fall resulted, but all tended to restore good 
humor and bring all sides together. The women and warriors 
collected together in little knots and were obviously discussing the 
sale. At length Mr. ^lorris received a request to call the council 



2n(, HISTORY OF LIVI .\( ;ST()X COUNTY 

together for negotiation. Cornplanler, ijeinii the [irincipal war chief, 
opened the proceedings. He said the women and warriors had seen 
with regret the miscondurt of their sachems, and did not iiesitate to 
declare the conduct of Mr. Morris as iiaving been too hasty. Farmer's 
Brother, on the part of the sachems, stated that these proceedings of 
the Women and warriors were, in view of what liad occurred, in perfect 
accordance with their usages. From tlie moment tiiis new stage was 
reached, Ct)rn|)hinter became the principal speaker, and Red Jacket 
withdrew, no ioniser attending the meetings, but procuring some 
li(juor remained drunk until the terms were agreed upon. Mary 
Jemison took a part in the deliberations, both in and out of the 
council house, urging her claims for an allotment of lands in a manner 
that was more ])ertinacious than dignified. Red Jacket was opp<;)sed 
to recognizing her, but he was not present. The others were desirous 
of giving her a small reservation. 

The new negotiators went directly to business, and an agreement 
was reached whereby the Indian lands west of the Genesee, excepting 
ten reservations embracing .i.'^? square miles, were sold to Robert 
Morris for $100, ()()(), to be invested in the stock of the Bank ot the 
United States and held in the name of the President for the benefit 
<if the Indians. But just as this point was reached an incident 
cn'curred which threatened the success of the treaty. Young King, a 
descendant of Old Smoke, the most powerful and wisest sachem of his 
time, appeared upon the scene for the first time, and, so great was 
the influence which his birth had given him, the Indians declined 
to proceed further until all that had been done should be submitted to 
him. The Secretary was directed to read the journal and speeches and to 
explain the ofter and its effect. This being done, he, after much de- 
liberation, announced his disapproval, and it was only after long 
reasoning with'him that his consent to the sale of the lands was 
gained. 

Four or five days were now spent in fixing the limits of the reserva- 
tions. Mr. Morris says the difficulty was not a small one. The Indians 
wanted them fixed by natural boundaries, such as the course of 
streams, but this mode was unsuitable from the fact that so little was 
known of the cpiantity of land it would give them, and for the sake 
of certainty it was finally settled that they should be marked by 
-square miles. This method, however, did not apply to the Gardeau 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(;STO.\ COUNTY 2U7 

reservation set apart to ]\lary Jemison ;i witli much shrewdness she 
objected to having it laid down in square miles, stating that she had 
various improved places, one of which was a patch of corn, another of 
potatoes and another of beans. She named certain boundaries to 
which ^Ir. Morris, in consequence of the impatience of the Commis- 
sioners, hastily assented, under the imiiressioii that the grant would 
embrace an inconsiderable quantity of land. When afterwards the 
survey was made Mary's farm was found in cuntain nearly 18,000 
acres. This reseivation was in turn by a treatv made in 1823 con- 
tracted to John Greig and Henry B. Giijson.^ At the first meeting held 
to allot to each village its proportionate part, "the utmost jealousy was 
found to exist among several of the chiefs. " The importance of the chief 
is measured in large degree by the number of his toUowers, and 
that number is limited by the extent of the land annexed to the chief's 
residence. Hence the struggle on the part of each sachem and chief 
warrior both to increase his own bounds and to lessen those of a 
rival. The contest was more violent between Red Jacket and Corn- 
planter than any others, the former wanting the principal reservation 
at Buffalo Creek, and the latter at his residence on Allegheny river. 
They were only brought to terms by being assured that where reser- 
vations were of an unnecessary size a deduction from the amount of 
the purchase money oflfered would be made. 

Joseph Ellicott was i)resent and laid down the extent of each reser- 
vation,^ showing the map and affcuding answers to ever)- inquiry of 
the eager chieftains. 

1. See appeudix. 

2. See appendix. 

3. The following were the reservatious agreed upou. The list appears iu one of the manu- 
script vohimes of the O'Reilly Collection iu the N. Y. Historical Society iu the handwritiTig of 
Joseph Ellicott, and beare date of Sept. l6, 1797. The orthography is here reproduced: 

No. I. At Kanuawaugus. Jeneseo River, 2 sqnare tniles. 
*' 2. .\t Big Tree, Jeneseo River, 2 sqnare miles. 
" 3. At Little Beard's town, Jeneseo River. 2 sqnare miles. 
'* 4. At Sqnawkie Hill, Jeneseo River. 2 sqnare miles. 
" 5. At Gardean, Jeneseo River, 2 sqnare miles. 
" 6. At Ka-onn-de-on, Jeneseo River. 16 square miles. 
" 7. At .\Ilegeniiy River, 42 sqnare miles. 
" S. .\t Kattarangus. about 42 square niiles. 

" 9. At Buffalo and Tannawanta Creeks, two reservations, 200 square miles. 
In all containing about 200,000 acres. See appendix No. 4. mentioned in Chapter 3, for ref- 
erence to various treaties by which the title to certain of these reservations was relinquislied by 
the Seuecas. 



2(IS HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY 

It is perfectly obvious that whatever interest in these reserved 
tracts Morris had after the execution of the treaty was the same 
interest that he had before, that is to say, the pre-emptive right that 
^lassachusetts transferred lo him, or, differently expressed, the right to 
buy from the Indians, nothing more; and yet an extraordinary claim 
has been made to the title of certain of these reservations, based 
upon the treaty, by what is known as "The Ogdeii Lanfl Company." 
and litigation involving the subject is now pending.' 

The Senecas also intended to reserve the Oil S[)ring reservation, 
one mile square, containing their famous oil spring, three miles west 
of Cuba in the counties of Allegany and Cattaraugus, from which 
nil had been gathered for centuries. As it was not excepted in the 
deed, the title passed t(j Robert Morris and the Holland Company, and 
then to three extensive land owners of Ellicottville. These men sup- 
posed it was an Indian reservation, and treated it as such until 1S42, 
when one of them discovered that it was not one of the reservations 
mentioned in the treaty. Accordingly they had the land surveyed 
and sold. In 1850 the Indians began legal proceedings ami ultimately 
succeeded in getting jxissession of the prt)perty. Governor Black- 
snake sup[)lied the most important evidence on the trial of the suit. 
He was present at the coinicil at Big Tree and remembered that when 
the treaty was read (jver the omission of the Oil Spring reservation 
was noticed and commented on, and that Thomas Morris executed and 
delivered to Handsome Lake, the Prophet, a separate paper, reserv- 
ing this tract to the Indians. Blacksnake also had in his possession a 
copy of the first map of the Holland Purchase made by Joseph Elli- 
cott and presented by him, this ma|) showing by means of red ink the 
eleven Indian reservations. 

On the 15th, the details having all been agreed upon, the deed was 
drawn up and signed. 

The following is a co|)y of the entire treaty: 

Contract entered into under the sanction of the United States of 
America, between Robert Morris and the Seneka nation of Indians. 

This indenture, made the fifteenth day of September, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, between the 
sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneka nation of Indians, of the 

I. See appendi.x No. i2 for transactions of "'I'lie ogden Land Comi);»ny" with refel"encc to 
this snbject. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 209 

first part, and Robert INIorris, nf the city of Philadelphia, esquire, of 
the second part. 

Whereas the commonwealth of Massachusetts have granted, bar- 
gained and sold unto the said Robert Morris, his heirs and assigns 
forever, the pre-emptive right, and all other the right, title, and 
interest, which the said commonwealth had to all that tract of land 
hereinafter particularly mentioned, being part of a tract of land 
lying within the state of New YorU, the right of pre-emption of the 
soil whereof, from the native Indians, was ceded and granted by the 
said state of New York, to the said comm<.)n wealth ; and whereas, at 
a treaty held under the authority of the United States, with the said 
Seneka nation of Indians, at Genesee, in the county of Ontario, and 
state of New York, on the day of the date of these presents, and on 
sundry days immediately prior thereto, by the Hon. Jeremiah Wads- 
worth, esquire, a commissioner appointed by the President of the 
United States to hold the same, in pursuance of the constitution, and 
of the act of the congress of the United States, in such case made 
and provided, it was agreed in the presence and with the approbation 
of the said commissioner, by the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the 
said nation of Indians, for themselves and in Ijehalf of their nation, to- 
sell to the said Robert Morris, and to his heirs and assigns forever, all 
their right to all that tract of land above recited, and hereinafter par- 
ticularly specified, for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to be 
by the said Robert Morris vested in the stock of the Bank of the 
United States and held in the name of the President of the United 
States, for the use and behoof of the said nation of Indians, the said 
agreement and sale being also made in the presence and with the 
approbation of the honorable William Shepard, esquire, the superin- 
tendent appointed for such purpose, in ])ursuance of a resolve of the 
general court of the commonwealth of jNIassachusetts, passed the 
eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and ninety-one; now this indenture witnesseth, that the said 
parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the premises 
above recited, and for divers other good and valuable considerations 
them thereunto moving, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, re- 
leased, enfeoffed and confirmed; and by the presents do grant, bar- 
gain, sell alien, release, enfeoff, and confirm, unto the said party of 
the second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that certain tract 
of land, except as hereinafter e.xcepted, lying within the county of 
Ontario, and State of New York, being part of a tract of land, the 
right of pre-emption wiiereof was ceded by the state of New York to 
the commonwealth of Massachusetts, by deed of cession executed at 
Hartford, on the sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord, 
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-si.x, being all such part there- 
of as is not included in the Indian purchase made by Oliver Phelps 



210 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and Nathaniel Gorham, and bounded as follows, to wit: easterly, 
by the land confirmed to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham by the 
legislature of the commonwealth ot Massachusetts, by an act passed 
the twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord, one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight; southerly by the north 
boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania; westerly by a tract of 
land, part of the land ceded by the state of Massachusetts to the 
United States, and by them sold to Pennsylvania, being a right 
angled triangle, whose hypothenuse is in or along the shore of Lake 
Erie; partly by Lake Erie, from the northern point of that triangle to 
the southern bounds of a tract of land one mile in width, lying on and 
along the east side of the strait of Niagara, and partly by the said 
tract to lake Ontario; and on the north by the boundary line between 
the United States and the King of Great Britain; excepting neverthe- 
less, and always reserving out of this grant and conveyance all such 
pieces or parcels of the aforesaid tract, and such privileges thereunto 
belonging, as are next hereinafter particularly mentioned, which said 
pieces or parcels of land so excepted, are, by the parties to these 
presents, clearly and fully understood to remain the property of the 
said parties of the first part, in as full and ample manner as if these 
presents had not been executed; that is to say, excepting and reserving 
to them, the said parties of the first part, and their nation, one piece or 
parcel of the aforesaid tract, at Canawagus, of two square miles, to be 
laid out in such manner as to include the village, extending in breadth 
one mile along the river, one other piece or parcel at Big Tree of 
two square miles, to be laid out in such manner as to include the 
village, extending in breadth along the river one mile; one other 
piece or parcel of two square miles at Little Beardstown, extending 
one mile along the river, to be laid off in such manner as to include 
the village; one other tract of two square miles at Squawky Hill, to 
be laid off as follows, to wit: one square mile to be laid off along the 
river, in such manner as to include the village, the other directly 
west thereof and (;ontinuous thereto; one other piece or parcel at 
Gardeau, beginning at the mouth of Steep Hill creek, thence due 
east, until it strikes the old path, thence south until a due w-est line 
will intersect with certain steep rocks on the west side of the (ienesee 
river, then extending due west, due north, and due east, until it 
strikes the first mentioned l)ound, enclosing as much land on the west 
side as on the east side <if the river. ()ne other piece or parcel at 
Kaounadeau, extending in length eight miles along the river and two 
miles in breadth. One other piece or parcel at Cataraugos, beginning 
at the mouth of the Eighteen mile or Koghquaugu creek, thence a 
line or lines to be drawn parallel to Lake Erie, at the distance of one 
mile from the lake, to the mouth of Cataraugos creek, thence a line 
^>r lines extending twelve miles up the north side of said creek, at the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 211 

distance of one mile therefrom, theni^e a direct line to the said creek, 
thence down the said creek to Lake Erie, thence along the lake to the 
first mentioned creek, and thence to the place of beginning. Also, 
one other piece at Cataraiigos, beginning at the shore of lake Erie, 
on the south side of Catarangos creek, at the distance of one mile 
from the mouth thereof, thence running one mile from the lake, 
thence on a line parallel thereto to a point within one mile from the 
Connondauweyea creek, thence up the said creek one mile, on a line 
parallel thereto, thence on a direct line to the said creek thence down 
the same to Lake Erie, thence along the lake to the place of be- 
ginning. Also one other piece or parcel of forty-two square miles 
at or near the AUegenny river. Also, two hundred square miles, to 
be laid off partly at the Buffalo and partly at the Tannawanta creeks. 
Also excepting and reserving to them, the said parties of the first 
part and their heirs, the privilege of fishing and hunting on the said 
tract of land hereby intended to be conveyed. And it is herebv 
understood by and between the parties to these presents, that all such 
l)ieces or parcels of land as are hereby reserved, and are not particu- 
larly described as to the manner in which the same are to be laid off, 
shall be laid off in such manner as shall be determined by the sachems 
and chiefs residing at or near the respective villages where such 
reservations are made, a particular note whereof to be endorsed on 
the back of this deed, and recorded therewith, together with all and 
singular the rights, privileges, hereditaments, and appurtenances 
thereunto belonging, or in any wise appertaining. And all the estate, 
right, title, and interest, whatsoever of them'the said parties of the 
first part and their nation, of, in, and to the said tract of land above 
described, except as is above excepted, to have and to hold all and 
singular the said granted premises, with the appurtenances, to the 
said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to his and their 
proper use, benefit, and liehoof forever. 

In witness whereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto 
interchangeably set their hands and seals,- the day and year first above 
written. 

Robert Morris, by his attorney, Thomas Morris, (L. S. ) 
Koyengquahtah, alias Young King, his X mark, ( L. S. ) 
Soonookshewan, his X mark (L. S. ) 
Konutaico, alias Handsome Lake, his X mark, (L. vS. ) 
Sattakanguyase, alias Two Skies of a Length, his X mark (L. vS.) 
Onayawos, or Farmer's Brother, his X mark, ( L. S. ) 
Soogdoyawautau. alias Red Jacket, his X mark, (L. S. ) 
Gishkaka, alias Little Billy, his X mark, (L. S. ) 
Kaoundoowana, alias Pollard, his X mark, ( L. S. ) 
Ouneshataikau, or Tall Chief, bv his agent Stevenson, his X mark, 
(L. S.) 



212 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Onnonggaihko, alias Infant, his X mark, ( L. S. ) 

Teahdowaingqiia, alias Thumas Jemison, his X mark. (L. S. ) 

Tekonnonck'e, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Oneghtaugooau, his X mark,(L. S. ) 

Connawaudean, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Taosstaiefi, his X mark. (L. S. ) 

Kooentwahka, or Cornplanter, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Oosaukaunendauki, alias To Destroy a Town, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Sooeoowa, alias Parrot Nose, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Toonahookahwa, his X mark (L. S.) 

Howvvennounew, his X mark (L. S. ) 

Kounahtaetoue, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Taouyaukaiina, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Woudougoohkta. his X mark. (L. S.) 

Sonauhquaukau, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Twaunauiyana, his X mark, (L. .S.) 

Takaunoudea, his X mark (L. S. ) 

Shequinedaughque, or Little Beard, his X mark. (L. S. ) 

Jowaa. his X mark, (L. S.) 

Saunajie, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Tauoiyuquatakausea, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Taoundaudish, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Tooauquinda, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Ahtaou, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Taukooshoondakoo, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Kauneskanggo, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Soonanjuwan, his X mark. (L. S.) 

Tonovvauiya, or Capt. Bullet, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Jaahkaaeyas, his X mark. (L. S.) 

Taiighishauta, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Sukkenjoonau, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Ahquatieya, or Hot Bread, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Siiggonundan, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Taunowaintooh, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Konnonjoovvauna, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Soogooeyandestak, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Hautwanauekkau, by Young King, his X mark, (L. S. ) 

Sauwejuwan. his X mark,(L. S.) 

Kaunoohshauwen, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Taukonondaugekta, his X mark. (L. S ) 

Kaouyanoughque, or John Jemison, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Hoiegush, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Taknaahquan, his X mark, (L. S.) 

Sealed and delivered in presence of 

Nat. W. Howell, James Rees, 

Joseph Ellicott, Henry Aaron Hills, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 213 

Israel Chapin, Henry Abeel 

Tasper Parrish, > t . . ^. 

ir ^ ^- ■, > Interpreters. 

Horatio Jones, ) ' 

Done at a full and general treaty of the Seneka nation of Indians, 
held at Genesee in the county of Ontario, and State of New York, 
on the fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one 
thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, under the authority 
of the L^nited States. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the 
day and year aforesaid. J ERE. WADSWCJRTH, (L. S.) 

Pursuant to a resolution of the legislature of the Commonwealth nf 
Massachusetts, passed the eleventh day of March, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, I have attended a 
full and general treaty of the Seneka nation of Indians, at Genesee, 
in the county of Ontario, when the within instrument was duly exe- 
cuted in my presence by the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the said 
natinn, being fairly and properly understood and transacted by all the 
parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to their uni- 
versal satisfaction; I therefore certify and approve of the same. 

Subscribed in presence of Nat. W. Howell. 

WILLIAM SHEPARD. 

Previous to subscribing, it was distinctly read and its import 
clearly explained to the Indians. Colonel Wadsworth then asked them 
if they understood it perfectly. If not he said it should be explained 
to them again. They replied that it was unnecessary, as they fully 
comprehended it, and that its terms were, in every respect, agreeable 
to them. They were then requested to sign it. Red Jacket here 
arose in behalf of Ebenezer Allen's daughter Polly, who wished to be 
informed of the situation of the land given by the Indians to Allen 
and his children. Mr. Morris replied that his father had already paid 
Allen for it and was now paying the nation for it again. To this 
Polly replied, "No, Mr. Morris, it was only the improvements my 
father sold." Morris answered. "The papers in my hands will prove 
the contrary." Turning to Colonel Wadsworth she said, " I forbid 
the Commissioners buying my lands given me by the Indians." 
AVadsworth told her that she had bad advisers, and that although he 
had nothing to do with her business, yet if she desired it he would 
examine her claim and give her a proper certificate if she would call 
on him in the morning. Nothing came of this [iroti-st, however, and 
there is evidence to support the belief that Polly Allen was defrauded 



214 HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY 

at the treaty of Bij:; Tree. This is her case: Ebenezer Allen, or 
"Indian Allen," had two half-breed daughters Mary, otherwise Polly, 
and Chloe, and on July 15, 17'Jl, the Seneca sachems deeded to the 
girls a tract of land four miles square at what is now ]\Iount Morris. 
The deed declared that this land was to be in full of their share of all 
the lands belonging to the Seneca nation. This deed was executed at 
the treaty of Newtown; it was approved by Timothy Pickering, United 
vStates Commissioner, and was recorded in the County Clerk's office 
at Canandaigua. The following is an extract from the deed: 

"Whereas, our said brother, Jen-uh-sheo, the father of the said 
Mary and Chloe, has expressed to us a desire to have theshare of 
the vSeneca lands to which the said Mary and Chloe (whom we consider 
our children) are entitled to have, set off to thern in severalty, that 
they may enjoy the same as their separate portions; now, know ye, 
that we, the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation, in the 
name and by the authority of our whole n;'.tion, whom according to 
our ancient customs in like cases we represent, and in consideration 
of the rights of said Mary and Chloe, as children and members of the 
Seneca nation, and of our love and affection for them, do hereby set 
off and assign to them, the said Mary and Chloe, and to their heirs 
and assigns, a tract of land, on part of which the said Jen-uh-sheo, 
our brother, now dwells upon the waters of the Jenusheo river in 
the county of Ontario, in the state of New York, bounded as follows: 
Beginning at an elm tree standing in the forks of the Jen-uh-sheo 
river (the boundary between our lands and the lands we sold to 
Oliver Phelps and Mr. Gorham) and running from thence due south 
four miles, thence due west four miles, thence due north four miles, 
and thence due east four miles until the line strikes the said elm tree, 
with the appurtenances. To have and to hold the said tract of land, 
with the appurtenances, to them the said Mary Allen and Chloe 
Allen, and to their heirs and assigns, as tenants in common, to their 
use forever. "1 

vSome unrest at Washington resulted from a transaction which ap- 
peared to reccgnize on the part of the Commissioners the right of the 
Indians to alienate their lands iiiidcr the supervision of the United 
States without consulting New Yoik and Massachusetts, but Com- 

I. See appendi.v No. 15 for a copy of the entile deed, and a refeiciice to the fact tliat it ecu- 
veved the Mouut Morris tract, so called. 



HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTON COUNTY 21S 

missioner Pickering made the situation clear in the followiii;^- letter- 
to Secretary of War Knox: 

"It appeared to be understood by the Senecas that Messrs. 'SUn'- 
ris and Ogden, as the grantees of Massachusetts, had the right of 
pre-emption of all their lands. But at the same time there existed 
nothing to bar a division of their whole country among themselves; 
and if they could divide the whole, they could certainly set off 
a part to two individuals of their nation as their share. This was the 
(ibject of their deed to Allen's children, whom they called their 
children, agreeably to the rule of descent among them, which 
is in the female line; and in this deed the land assigned 
is declared to be in full of those two children's share of the 
whole Seneca country. Here was the ground of my ratification. 
Now you will be pleased to recollect that before the matter was 
opened in council I had repeated the law of the United States relative 
to Indian lands and the solemn declaration of the President last win- 
ter to the Cornplanter that they (the Indians) had the right to sell, 
or to refuse to sell, their lands, and that, in respect to their lands, 
they might depend on the protection of the United States, so that on 
this head they had now no cause for jealousy or discontent. This 
being by them well understiiod, 1 saw no way of avoiding the ratifica- 
tion of the assignment to their two children, without reviving, or 
rather exciting, their utmost jealousy, as it would have been denying 
the free enjoyment of their own lands by soine members of the nation, 
according to the will of the nation; and a denial, I was apprehensive, 
would lead them to think that the solemn assurance of the President 
was made but to amtise and deceive. Here you see my great induce- 
ment to the ratification." 

With this "deed to his daughters in his possession Ebenezer Allen 
WL-nt to Philadelphia and assumed to sell the land to Robert Tklorris 
for dry goods and trinkets; he returned with these articles to what is 
now Mount Morris and began to trade with the Indians."' The ut- 
most that Robert ]\Iorris could have acquired by this enterprise was 
the improvements upon the land, if any, belonging to Allen, the 
father; the land was deeded to the daughters and it could be fairly 
released only by a dee'i from them; yet this was not obtained and no 
recognition was accorded to rights which were then explicitly hi ought 

1. From W, H. .Samson's addvess. 



216 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

to the attention of the elder Morris. Our atliniration for the Litter 
is not enhanced by this transaction nor by his promise t(3 divide with 
his son the sixteen square miles wrested from Polly and Chloe. 
Ebenezer was apparently quite conscious that his part in the affair 
was discreditable, "for, otherwise he would have appeared at the treaty 
himself and substantiated his daughter's contention, iristead of sending 
Mary Jeinison to plead privately with Thomas Morris," as was done, 
if the following statement made by the White Woman, and appearing 
in the first edition of Seavers "Life of Mary Jemison," is to be 
accepted: 

"At the great treaty of Big Tree one of iAllen's daughters claimed 
the land which he had sold to Morris. The claim was examined and 
decided against her in favor of Ogden, Trumbull and Rogers and 
others who were creditors of Robert Morris. Allen yet believed that 
his daughter had an indisputable right to the land in question and got 
me to go with Mother Farley, a half Indian woman, to assist him, 
by interceding with Morris for it, and to urge the pro[)riety of her 
claim. We went to Thomas Morris, and having stated to him our 
business, he tokl us [plainly that he had no land to give away, and 
that as the title was good, he never would allow Allen, nor his heirs, 
one foot, or words to that effect. We returned to Allen the answer 
we had received, and he, conceiving all further attempts to be useless, 
went home." 

Red Jacket, who had acted a doulile part throughout, came prix'ate- 
ly to Mr. Morris on the night previous to the signing of the treaty 
and asked that a place be reserved near the top of the parchment for 
his signature after the others had signed. He had pretended to oppose 
the cession, he said, and to be consistent he could not publicly affix 
his name, but would do so before it went to the President, for it would 
not answer to have the treaty sent off to Philadelphia without his 
formal approval to it, as General Washington might think he had 
lost his rank and influence with the Senecas. 

The consideration paid to the Indians doubtless exceeded the ex- 
pectations of Robert Morris, who had fixed the price in liis own mind 
at $75,(H)U. He hail directed his representatives at the treaty to 
conduct everything on the basis of a "liberal econom\. " He had 
himself [jrovided two ])ipes of wine, which lie dispatched t)verland 
frinti Philadel|)hia tn tieneseo by wagons. The presents tlistributed 



HISTORY OF LIVIXr.STOX COUNTY 217 

and the rations supplied, added more than IjplS.UOO to the purchase 
cost.i 

Nor did this represent the entire expenditure made by Morris be- 
yond the amount fixed by the terms of the treaty, for it cannot be 
doubted that, during the interval between Red Jacket's act of cover- 
ing up the council fire and the renewal of negotiations, Thomas ilor- 
ris and the representatives of the Holland Land Company were secret- 
ly bribing the warriors. They not only paid them money but agreed 
to give them annuities so long as they lived. To what extent, there- 
fore, the reopening of the council and the decision of the Indians were 
due to argument and to what extent to venal bargains with the chiefs 
cannot be ascertained. The researches of Mr. Samson have, however, 
disclosed the very best evidence that the procedure advised by 
Robert Morris was effectively, if more generously, employed. It will 
be remembered that he said in his letter of instructions: "Annuities 
of $20 to $60 may be given to inlluential chiefs to the extent of $250 
or $300 per annum." And again. "vSome dollars may be promised be- 
fore the treaty and paid when finished, to the amount of §500 or 
$()00, or if necessary $1,000. to the chiefs." Here, for instance, is 
a receipt acknowledging the payment of one of the annuities: 

1. The following were provided as preseuts: 

1,500 rations of beef, oue day, at five dolls, per hundred 5 75 

Do '* of flour, at 2'., dolls, per hundred 3S 

Do " of whiskey, 25 grallous, at I*.;, dolls 37 

Do " oftobacco 5 

For thirty days would be 54,650 

750, 3 ft., blankets at $2 each 51,500 

750, 2!4 ft.. " at$i'.ieach 1,125 2.625 

150 pieces blue strotidiiig. 24 yds. in piece, at $1 3.600 

10c " green legging stuff, of 18 yds. in piece twilled. -J^i 

wide, at 6 s i,350 

200 pieces com. calico at 4s., 14 yds per. piece 1.370 

50 " com. Holland at 4S., 24yds per piece... 600 

500 butcher or scalping knives - 35 

50 bags Vermillion loo 

3C0 lb. powder 600 

800 lb. lead 50 

100 small brass kettles, 4 to 6 qts 100 

50 brass kettles of 12 qts too 

ICO black silk handkerchiefs 80 

Presents for the chiefs in broadcloth, red or green, of good 

quality '"o 

Ji3.,s6o 
Several cows were also given to the s((uaw>. 



218 HISTORY OF LIVIXCxSTOX COUXTV 

"Received of Messrs. Leroy, Bayard & McEvers and Thomas Mor- 
ris, Esq., by the hands of Erastus Granger, the sum of two hundred 
and fift) dollars, being in full for my annuity for the year 1801 due 
rne by agreement with Robert Morris at Big Tree in September, 
17'^7. ' 

Signed his 

Corn X Planter" 
In presence of jasper Parrish. , mark 

"It is ( Icar frdui this that Corn[)lanter's price was §250 a year so 
long as he lived, in addition to the cash pa\ menl at the treaty. Al- 
together, therefore, he received about $10,(100 for his share in this 
transaction. Doubtless Thomas Morris felt that Cornplanter's ser- 
vices were worth the price, for it was Cornplanter who conducted the 
negotiations fi>r the Indians after the council fire had been rekindled. 
Of course he was not the only one who was paid. Young King, the 
'bearer of the smoking brand,' received an annuity of $100, or a total 
of $3,800. In later years, as he thought of the power he could have 
W'ielded at the treaty, it is probable that he marvelled at his own 
moderation. Little Billy was another who sold himself. His price 
was the same as Young King's — $100 a year — and as Little Billy 
lived till 1834 he received $3,700. Pollard received $50 a year c^r 
$2,200. Even the haughty Red Jacket consented to receive money- 
and drew §100 a year.' And so we might go on, if it w-ere necessary, 
with thfse unpleasant iletails. 

"An interesting and unpublished anecdote regarding these annuities 
is furnished by William C. Bryant, Esq., the scholarly Indianologist 
of Buffalo. It seems that the annuities we're not always paid exactly 
on time and the Indians were often worried. Millard Fillmore, sub- 
sequently President of the fnited States, said to Mr. Bryant: 'I don't 
remember seeing Corn[)lanter but on one occasion. He came to my 
office on Court street, soon after my return from Washington, after 
Congress had adjourned. He was a bowed, wrinkled and decrepit Old 
man. He was attended by two or three younger Indians. He pro- 
duced a cajiacious bag, similar in size to an ordinary mail bag, antl 
took out a venerable treaty, which he e.\plained to me. He said that 
soon after the treaty was made, the annuity was promptly paid, first 
it came when the tender blades nf the corn broke from the mould ; 
then it came when the stalks were as high as a child's knee; ne.xl 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 219 

it lingered till the grain was full and filled with milk, and now the 
stalks are dry and rustling and the Indians are very hungry for their 
money.' "' 

It is much to be deplored that a faithful chronicle of this transac- 
tion must contain matter impugning the good faith of the purchasers 
and the loyalty of some of the warriors to the interests of their people. 
We cannot, nevertheless, withhold from the Indians that charity 
which is aroused by a contemplation of the allurements held out t(.) 
these untutored people by the avaricious, importunate and cunning 
whites. 

The Indians went away satisfied that "Washington woulil guaid 
their interests securely, and that the purchase price of their lands and 
its earnings would be faithfully applied to their use. _ Everything did 
go well until ISll, when there was a failure on the part of the Govern- 
ment to pay. Then the anxious Indians held a council at BufTalo 
Creek, and Farmer's Brother. Young King, Pollard, Chief Warrior 
and other Seneca chiefs agreed upon the following letter, which w-as 
sent to the seat of Federal Government by special messenger: 

"To the Honorable William Eustis, Secretary at War: 

"The sachems and chief warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians 
understanding you are the person appointed by the great council of 
your nation to manage and conduct the alfairs of the several nations 
of Indians with whom you are at peace and on terms of friendship, 
come, at this time, as children to a father, to lay before you the 
trouble which we have on our minds. 

"Brother, we do not think it best to multiply words; we will there- 
fore tell you what our complaint is. Brother, listen to what we say: 
Some years since we held a treaty at Big Tree, near the Genesee 
river. This treatv was called by our great father, the President of 
the United States. He sent an agent, Colonel Wadsworth, to attend 
this treaty for the purpose of- advising us in the business and seeing 
that we had justice done us. At this treaty we sold to Robert ^Morris 
the greatest part of our country. The sum he gave us was $inO,()()il. 
The commissioners who were appointed on your part advised us to 
place this money in the hands ot our great father, the President of the 
United States. He told us that our father loved his red children and 
would take care of our money, and plant it in a field where it would 
bear seed forever, as long as trees grow, or waters run. Our money 
has heretofore been of great service to us. It has helped us to sup- 
port our old people and our women and children; but »ve are told the 

1. From W. H. Samson's address. 



220 IIISTORV OF LIVIXGSTOX COUXTV 

field where our money was planted is become barren. Brother, we do 
not understand your way of doini^ business. This thing is very heavy 
on our minds. We mean to hold our white brethren of the United 
States by the hand; but this weight lies heavy. We hope you will 
remove it. We have heard of the bad conduct of our brothers toward 
the setting sun. We are sorry for what they have done; but you 
must not blame us. We had no hand in this bad business. Thev 
have had bad people among them. It is your enemies have done this. 
We have persuaded our agent to take this talk to your great council. 
He knows our situation and will speak our minds." 

Immediately upon the receipt of this letter at Washington $S,OOU 
was appropriated and the Indians once more received their money. 
This $S,unO was "in lieu of the dividend on the bank shares held by 
the President of the United States, in trust for the Seneca nation, in 
the Bank of the United States." 

No sooner was the Indian title extinguished than prejiaration was 
made fur careful surveys of the whole tract. Joseph Ellicott. a gentle- 
man eminently qualified professionally and otherwise to superintend 
the work, had been commissioned in July preceding the treaty by the 
Company's agent to send forward supplies of provisions during the fall 
for his surveying parties, and was prepared in the spring of 17'*8 to 
run the principal lines. David Rittenhouse, the eminent American 
philosopher, had personally attended to the preparation of the com- 
pass and other instruments for use in the survey. It had been decided 
to divide each township of si.\ miles square into sixteen subdivisi(jns 
to be called sections, and the latter into twelve lots each, three- 
fourths of a mile long and one-fourth of a mile in width and contain- 
ing about 120 acres; but the surveyors soon found that the location 
of the larger streams and other causes would render this course im- 
practicable. The plan was therefore early abandoned, and the lots 
were laid out into farms of three hundred and si.xty acres each, as 
nearly as was practicable. 

This done the Holland Company lost no time in developing the 
rich country which had come into its possession. Roads were con- 
structed, mills erected, and encouragement offered to actual settlers 
by a fair adjustment of terms of payment. The investment of the 
Holland Company in Western New York proved more fortunate for 
the development of the region than inv the capitalists themselves, for 
it is understood that when the affairs of the association were finailv 




From Joseph Ellicott's Mtip of 1800 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 221 

settled, their investment had paid them a profit nf no more than five 
per cent. 

The ronduct of the several t;reat purchasers was eminently wise, 
and Turner justly concludes that Western New York "could have 
hardly fallen into better hands. Both the English and the Dutch 
companies, under whose auspices as proprietors-, three-fourths of the 
whole State west of Seneca lake was settled were composed of 
capitalists "ho made investments of large amounts of money in the 
infancy of the Republic, when its stability was by no means a settled 
point. They were satisfied with reasonable returns for their vast out- 
lays, and patient under the delays of payment, as all must concede. 
Their correspondence reveals no disposition to oppress the settlers, 
or wish to have their business conducted in any other than a fair, 
honest or liberal manner." 

On the 15th day of September, 18'*7, the one hundredth anniversary 
of the making of the treaty of Big Tree, which practically terminated 
the Indian occupation in Livingston County, was celebrated with 
suitable ceremonies at (xeneseo, under the auspices of the Livingston 
County Historical Society. A brief reference to this interesting in- 
cident, which transports the reader at once over the interval of a cen- 
turv, and shifts the scene from the council house in the forest resound- 
ing with the oratory of Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother and Corn- 
planter to late nineteenth century surroundings in the Genesee Valley, 
may not be inappropriate. 

Among the guests of the Society present were Mr. Gouverneur Mor- 
ris, of Detroit, the eldest male descendant and great grandson of 
Robert Morris, and Mr. A. Sim Logan and Andrew John, eminent 
members of the Seneca Nation of Indians, in the Cattaraugus Reser- 
vation, each representing their ancestors, the contracting parties to 
the treaty. After a business meeting at the Society's log cabin, a 
visit was made to the cobblestone house, previously mentioned in 
this chapter, and the site of the Council House. Exercises were held 
in the afternoon in the Normal School building consisting in part of 
an admirable historical address by John S. Minard, Esq., of Fillmore, 
N. Y., the exhibition of valuable historical documents by Dr. George 
Rogers Howell. Archivist of the New York State Library, brought by 
him from Albany, and the presentation to the Society, by Dr. Howell, 
on behalf of Mr. Gouverneur Morris, of a photographic copy of 



222 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

Rembrandt Peale's [lortrait of Robert Morris, which is here 
reprothiced. 

At the banciuet which <jccurred in the e\enin;4, .Mi'. Morris paid a 
fine tribute to his ancestor, who was so conspicuous a figure in the 
events recorded in this chapter. Mr. John and Mr. Logan, both 
eloquent men, spoke as follows: 

Mr. John said: 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is the greatest pleasure 
to me that the Managers of the Livingston County Historical Society, 
extend iheir invitation to our Indian people to participate at this 
commemtjraiion of one hundred years ago to-day of our forefather's 
signing, known as "The Treaty of Big Tree," and the Seneca Indians 
responded who are now present at this occasion of which I am proud 
to be one of the members, whom represented now of the said party of 
the first part to this great Treaty. Though the people wht> signed 
this treaty have passed away to the happy hunting grounds, and 
their descendants now to-day gathered here — the very grounds where 
our ancestors negotiated which involve a large amount of land. 

At that time our people, the Indians, ceded a large tract of land 
known as Western New York for a mere noininal sum of money for 
the consideration, excepting and reserving to the Indians certain 
privileges and reservations mentioned in treaty. This sale of land 
from the Indians to Rnbert Morris contained a large tract of land, for 
one hundred thousand dollars. The Seneca Indians are getting only 
six thousand dollars interest per annum at present, while the white 
people occupying the land mentioned in said Big Tree Treaty are 
getting millions and millions of dollars interest. From the stand- 
point of my race many incidents ot the most disgraceful tricks and 
robberies perpetrated upon the poor untutored sons of the forest. 
Still the Seneca Indians are happy and clinging upon the agreements 
and solemn obligations mentiimed in the treaties under which they 
are protected and are now enjoying within the borders of this great 
Empire State. 

The League of the Six Nations or Iroquois, as the French termed 
them when they spoke of this Indian Confederacy, was the most re- 
markable people in wisdom, oratory, political and the knowledge of 
the country during the early days when their glory was in full blast. 
The vast territory of country upon which they had immediate control 
comprises north by St. Lawrence, east by Atlantic Ocean, south by 
Tennessee, west by Mississippi river, from this vast territory of coun- 
try reduced that the control now at present by the Seneca Nation of 
Indians in the western part of this state about fifty-tive thousand 
acres of land. 

In speaking of the "Treaty of Big Tree" on the part of the party of 




Gouverneur Morris- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 223 

the first part of which we are now represented here to-day are now 
enjoying upon one of the reservations reserved and the interest money 
from the United States treasury annually to the Senecas, in pursuance 
to the agreements of this Treaty, in relation to this Big Tree Treaty 
of which we are now celebrating to-day a Centennial, I will now show 
and hold up in my hands an original letter from the United States 
to the Senecas, the same reads as follows: 

War Department, May 14. 1798. 

Brothers: — By the Indenture made between you and Robert Morris, 
Esquire, under the authority of the United States at Genesee, in 
the County of Ontario in the State of New York, on the 15th day of 
September, 1797, in consideration of One Hundred Thousand Dollars, 
to be by the said. Robert Morris, vested in the stock of the Bank of 
the United States, and held in the name of the President of the 
United States, for the use and behoof of the Seneca Nation of Indians. 
Vou bargained and sold a large tract of country mentioned in the 
said Indenture to the said Robert Morris, excepting nevertheless, and 
always reserving out of this Grant and Conveyance all such pieces or 
parcels of the aforesaid tract and such privileges thereunto belonging, 
as therein afterwards particularly mentioned, which said pieces or 
parcels of land so excepted, are by the parties to the presents clearly 
and fully understood to remain the property of the Seneca Nation in 
as full and ample a manner as if the presents had not been e.vecuted. 
It being also [irovided by the same instrument, as understood by 
the parties, that all such pieces or parcels of land as are thereby re- 
served, and are not particularly described as to the manner in which 
the same are to be laid off, shall be laid off in such a manner as shall 
be determined by the Sachems and Chiefs residing at or near the re- 
spective villages where such Reservations are made, a particular 
whereof to be endorsed on the back of the deed and recorded with the 
same. 

I write this letter by order of the President of the United States, to 
inform the Seneca Nation of Indians that the one hundred tiiousand 
dollars, being the consideration money in the Indenture mentioned 
has been vested conformably to the intention of said instrument, and 
that the President being thereof satisfied, hath by and with the 
consent and advice of the Senate, accepted, ratified and confirmed the 
Convention or Treaty aforesaid. And that Joseph Ellicott, a beloved 
man, skilled in surveying has been employed to lay oft" the Reserva- 
tions, excepted and made in the aforesaid Deed. To him, therefore, 
the Sachems and Chiefs concerned will give their directions for laying 
off the same. 

I am also to assure the Seneca Nation that Joseph Ellicott is a 
gentleman of integrity, and that the Nation may confide to him the 



224 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

laying off of the Reservations aforesaid, having no doubt lie will exe- 
cute the trust with fidelity and impartial justice. 

Dividends upon the Stock of the Bank of the United States pur- 
chased with the one hundred thousand dollars, for the use and behoof of 
the Seneca Nation of Indians, will be paid half yearly, the first dividend 
about the middle of July next, which will be remitted to the Seneca 
Nation in such manner as they shall direct, and their orders for the 
remittance of future dividt-nds when they are paid, will be always 
attended to. 

Wishing you health, I am, Brcjthers, 

Your friend and obedient servant, 

James McHenry, 
Sec'y of War. 

To the Chiefs and Sachems of the Seneca Nation. 

AVe perceive by the foregoing letter how careful and watchful by 
the President of the United States for the welfare and interest for the 
Seneca Indians. In review just a few out of many unpleasant inci- 
dents that happen along about the 16th century, how dark and 
gloomy must have been over the people of this country, even one him- 
dred years ago to-day this country was owned by the Seneca Nation of 
Indians, and it was in a wild state, unimproved, uncultivated and un- 
settled excepting small spots here and there, villages, by Natives. By 
signing the Big Tree Treaty by Indians made this country a great 
change; to-day we see most inagnificent farms all over this country, and 
the civilization prevails among the people where one hundred years ago 
everything was wild. To-day the Seneca Indians are enjoying the 
fruits of civilization as well as the white people, especially when they 
are participating in this great Centennial Celebration. 

I will now conclude my short speech by extending my sincere 
thanks to the managers of the Livingston Count)' Historical Society 
for the honor extended to me in making this .address. 

]\Ir. Logan said: 

Mr. Toastmaster and (lentlenien: As a representative of the Seneca 
Nation of the Iroquois Indians, I come before you on this occasion 
as a representative of the people who once held sway over 
tliis entire continent, and as I have consented to make a short speech 
on this joyous occasion, I do so with a proper sense of the obli_gation 
I am under to my own race. We liave laid aside all those feelings of 
animosity which actuated our forefathers when they saw that the 
vast Cfumtry over which thej' roamed must give way to the civiliza- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 225 

tion (if the white man, and we have learned that it is better for us to 
settle down and cultivate well a small piece of ground rather than to 
roam over all creation, and we have learned also that our children 
must take their places in the grand procession of progress, and, in 
order to do this, we must have elementary and high schools where our 
young men and women may be equipped for a successful career. It 
is well known to those who have studied my people that when we get 
the better of your civilization, we thrive under it, and our children 
take equal rank with yours in the acquisition of knowledge. It has 
been said, Mr. Toastmaster, that the only good Indian is a dead one. 
Give us your schools and your Christianity, and a fair chance in life, 
and do not treat us as dogs, and we will show by our love for our 
white brothers, and by our improvement that there are good Indians 
who are not dead. 

The Indians are not decreasing in this country; they are increasing, 
and so Mr. Toastmaster, you are likely to have the Indian problem 
on your hands for some time to come, and the only proper settlement 
of the Indian problem is to educate and Christianize my people. And 
it is a great deal cheaper to do this than to exterminate us. Presi- 
dent Grant stated that it has cost this government two millions of 
dollars to kill an Indian, but it costs only about $200 on the average 
to educate and Christianize an Indian, and an educated Indian is 
move glory to your race and to your civilization than a murdered one. 

Your Centennial celebration is a great event, and I am here to-day, 
not to gl'iry over the departure of my people from this region, but to 
assure you that, though we have parted with our fertile lands, and 
gone from your immediate midst, with a good heart we rejoice in the 
improvement which God has spread over this land, and we unite with 
you on this great occasion out of respect for our white brother and 
his government and for our great white father at Washington who 
recognizes the Indians as wards of his government, to look with a 
father's interest after the welfare of us, who, like you, are the children 
of the Great Spirit. 

Although, ^Ir. Toastmaster, my people are increasing in the United 
States, our ancient customs are gradually fading away, and we shall, 
under the influence of the progress of the age, in taking our places in 
the procession with you, lay aside the customs of our fathers, but we 
hope to prove ourselves worthy of the advantages which our white 
brothers have brought us, and act well the part which the Great Spirit 
created us to perform. 



226 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER IX, 

IT WAS fortunate for this county that the earliest settlers here 
represented the enterprise, the culture and refinement, as well as 
the patriotism of the three States of Connecticut, Pennsylvania 
and Maryland, coupled with the proverbial independence, religious 
spirit and forecast of the Scotch emigrants. The Wadsworth brothers, 
and the Finleys, Jones, Fitzhughs, Carrolls and Rochesters, and the 
Scotchmen of Caledonia, may be mentioned as types of those who 
were first to establish their homes in this new country. Ireland, 
Germany and England were soon represented, and every Atlantic 
State added its quota to the daily growing settlements ivithin the 
boundaries now prescribed to this prosperous shire. 

Captain Williamson, speaking of the settlement of this region at- 
tempted by Oliver Phelps in 178"), says it "was attended with great, 
almost insurmountable, difficulties. There was no access to the 
country but by Indian paths, and the nearest settlement was above 
one hundred miles distant. I^he Allegheny mountains, then never 
passed, lay on the south, and Lake Ontario on the north, while to 
the west was one boundless forest. By the census of 17"»ii there 
were only 960 souls, including travellers and surveyors with their at- 
tendants, within the bounds" of the State, west of the pre-emption 
line. ' 

The large share which James Wadsworth had in developing the 
Genesee country will be recognized by all. He was graduated at 
Yale College at the age of twenty. About that period his father 
died. He went to Montreal and taught sch(K)l a year, and then re- 
turned to the paternal home at Hartford, Connecticut. An uncle had 
.administered upon the estate, and the property, about $45,000 in all, 
at that time a large sum, was divided equally among the three 
brothers, himself, William and a third w'ho remained in Connecticut. 
■On his way home from Montreal James had seen some very fine land 

J. See William.son's letters to a friend. Doc. Hist, N. Y. 




Jeremiah W&d^worth 
Uncleof James and Major General William Wadsworth. First purchaser of the Wadsworth 
lands from Phelps and florhara. From Portrait In possession of Hon. James W. Wadsworth. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 227 

on the Onion river in Vermont, and made up his mind that he would 
go back there and make an investment, ijiit his uncle, Colonel Jere- 
miah Wadsworth, who had taken an interest in the Phelps and Gor- 
ham purchase, offered his nephews James and William one-half of his 
interest, or about one-twentieth of the reserved portion, at cost, and 
proposed to the former to give him the agency of the other half if he 
would remove to the Genesee. To this the brothers assented. It 
had been agreed that any co-proprietor who would settle on the lands 
might locate one thousand acres at the cost price, which was eight 
cents per acre. Phelps and (lorham had availed themselves of this 
provision in 178') and located at Canandaigua. The Wadsworth 
brothers the succeeding year took the two thousand acres at Geneseo, 
at a cost of one hundred and si.xty dollars. In the spring of 1700 they 
purchased a new- and substantial ox cart and three pairs of o.xen, and 
after many farewells William, with two or three hired men and 
jenny, a favorite colored slave belonging to the family, started across 
the country for Albany, while James went to New York to purchase 
an outfit for the new settlement, including a small quantity of "store 
goods" and household furniture. He then took passage on board a 
sloop for Albany. The trip up the Hudson occupied a week. Mr. 
Wadsworth had for a fellow passenger at this time John Jacob Astor, 
who was making his first trip to Canada and the Northwest to pur- 
chase furs. The acquaintance then formed between these two remark- 
able men ripened into intimacy and continued through life. At 
Albany Mr. Wadsworth found his Ijrcither with the men and team, 
ready to take the supplies to Schenectady, where they purchased a 
boat. This the men poled up the Jlohawk to Little Falls, whither 
William had preceded the water party overland, ready to draw the boat 
and its cargo around the falls. Another day's poling brought the 
boat to Rome, where they found two log houses, though there was but 
one as yet at Utica. Another portage by the o.x team and cart 
brought them over to Wood creek ; and when William saw all on board 
the boat at that point he started through the woods with his slow 
moving team for Canandaigua, following the trail traveled by Phelps 
and Gorham's party the preceding year. West of Whitestown the 
road, little more than an Indian path, was full of impediments. 
Fallen trees had to be removed, the approaches to small streams 
often to be laid with logs, and standing timber to be cut away before 



228 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the cart could proceed. So well, however, was the work done that 
the roadway thus improvised was used for some time, and to this day 
William Wadsworth enjoys the credit of opening the first road through 
the wilderness between Whitestown and Canandaigua. 

"Arriving at Cayuga lake, there was no ferry scow, and the party 
chartered two Indian canoes which they lashed together, and making 
a deck of poles, succeeded in crossing. Between Whitesboro and 
Canandaigua their average progress w-as twelve miles a day."' On 
reaching Canandaigua William expected to find his brother and the 
boat, but was disappointed. In going down Wood creek the 'party 
had run the boat upon a snag, and it was there held fast for three 
days until overtaken by Augustus Porter, the brother of General 
Porter. He took a part of Mr. Wadsworth's cargo on his boat, and 
so far reduced the burthen that little trouble was now experienced 
in getting it again afloat. The two parties now started in company 
down the creek into Oneida lake, thence through the lake and river 
to the Oswego river, and up the latter stream to the outlet of Cayuga 
lake, thence to Mud creek. Passing up Mud creek to the outlet of 
Canandaigua lake, they then found their way to the lake, and the 
cabin of Phelps and Gorham at Canandaigua. William had reached 
that hospitable roof several days before the arrival of the boat, and 
becoming very anxious about his brother, fearing that he had been 
killed by the Indians, had gone down the outlet several miles and 
taken his position in the top of a tree which leaned over the stream. 
He saw them a long distance below, and joyfully welcomed them as 
they came under his lofty perch. Stowing a part of their supplies at 
Canandaigua and learning that there was a fine tract of unoccupied 
land on the Genesee near Big Tree, they started for that point, fol- 
lowing vSuUivan's route a portion of the way, and camping the first 
night at Pitt's flats, and the second night a little east of the foot of 
Conesus lake. The next morning William, keeping charge of the ox 
team, set out for the spot that had been described to them for a 
home, by the Indian trail leading to the Oneida village, while James, 
with a part of the men, shouldered axes and started on foot for the 
same place through the woods by the Big Tree trail. Reaching a 
point on the western edge of the table land west of the present village 
of Genesee, he began cutting down trees for a log cabin. The loca- 

1. Turner's Phelps ami fiorhain's I'urchase. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 22'J 

tion of this cabin was about one huntlred rods west of the Mount Mor- 
ris road and forty rods south of the hme leading from the Park to the 
"Home Farm" boarding house. Mr. James AVadswortli marlced 

the spot by erecting there in after years a small cobblestone house 
long used in connection with the farm, and but recently demolished. 

William, getting lost in a swamp two miles northeast of the present 
village of Geneseo, tied his cattle to saplings and there passed the 
night. This delay causing some anxiety, James got on their track 
the next morning, and finding the bewildered party, conducted them 
to the spot selected by him for the cabin, where they arrived on the 
Kith of June, 17'»0. The party slept in the cart and upon the ground 
for two or three nights until their hut was ready to afford them shel- 
ter. The unwonted sound of axes brought to their camp Lemuel 
Jennings, the only earlier white settler in that vicinity, who had 
erected a cabin and was herding some cattle on the fiats in their 
neighborho'id for Oliver Phelps, i 

The Wadsworth brothers followed their first purchase of 2,000 acres 
at Geneseo for eight cents per acre, by a second of 4,000 acres the 
same season at fifty cents an acre, which was the price fixed by the 
Company for the land in the vicinity of Geneseo. A portion of the 
latter purchase was situated on the outlet of Conesus lake, where 
they had encamped the second night out of Canandaigua, and where 
they subsequently built a grist mill. 

In August, 1790 General Amos Hall, who had been appointed to 
take the census of Ontario county, then embracing the whole of the 
Genesee C(nmtry, reported the population embraced within the pres- 
ent limits of Lima at four families, comprising twenty-three persons; 
Sparta, one family of five persons; Geneseo, eight families, embracing 
thirty-four persons; Avon, ten families, sixty-six persons; Caledonia 
ten families, forty-four persons; Leicester, or "Indian lands, " as it 
was designated in the return, four families of whites, seventeen 
persons. 

In September of the same year the new settlers had their first ex- 
perience with fever and ague. The Wadsworth household, with the 
exception of the negro woman Jenny, were all brought down witii it. 

I. James returned to Cauaudaigua on the first day of their arrival, and on his waj- back was 
henighted, but was guided to his home by a light held by Jenny, the colored woman, for William, 
who was hewing some planks for the cabin. 



230 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The brothers Horatio and John H. Jones had preceded the Wads- 
worths a few weeks. On the arrival of the latter they were occupying 
an Indian cabin at Little Beardstown, while a cabin they had begun 
the year before was being completed. "They had come from Geneva 
by way of Canandaigua and Avon with a cart, Horatio's wife and 
three children, several hired men and some household furniture. Their 
cart was the first wheeled vehicle that passed over that route. From 
Avon they had no track but picked their way along the ridges and 
open grounds. Besides Horatio Jones's family, there were in August, 
1790, west of the river in the 'Indian lands' the families of William 
Ewing, Nathan Fowler and Jeremiah Gregory." 

Immediately after the Revolution all that part of the State lying 
west of a line running north and south and passing through the center 
of the present county of Schoharie was called Montgomery county, 
and the town of Whitestown embraced all the region west of Utica. 
In 1789 the county of Ontario was formed from the western part of 
Montgomery, but, notwithstanding this, town elections for the town 
of Whitestown continued to be held in all this region until 17'J1. At 
the election held in the latter year Trueworthy Cook of Pompey, 
in the present county of Onondaga, Jeremiah Gould of Salina, and 
James Wadsworth of Geneseo, were chosen pathmasters. The dis- 
trict of the latter embraced the territory west of Cayuga lake, cover- 
ing an area large enough for a State. 

Ontario county was at first divided into districts, the second dis- 
trict, Genesee or Geneseo, "embracing all west of the east line of the 
present towns of Pittsford, Mendon, Richmond." The first town 
meeting for this district was held on the 5th of April, 1791, at 
Canawaugus. 

Captain John Ganson, an officer of the Revolution, was elected 
supervisor; David Bulleri, town clerk. The assessors chosen were 
Deacon Gad Wadsworth, a Revolutionary soldier from Connecticut, 
Israel Stone of Stonetown (now Pittsford), General William Wads- 
worth of Geneseo, General Amos Hall of West Bloomfield, an officer 
of two wars, and Nathan Perry of Hartford, now Avon. The constables 
were Jasper Marvin and Norris Humphrey. 

Roads opened slowly and settlements made small progress west of 
the river. Thomas Morris says that in 1791 and for several years 
thereafter there was only an Indian path leading from Canandaigua 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 231 

to the Niagara river, and there was not a habitation of any kind be- 
tween the Genesee river and Fort Niagara. 

The Revolution had left the Indians broken in strength, and the 
growing power of the government held them under restraint; but it is 
well known that influences unfriendly to the Republic were at work 
among the western tribes, and to some extent among the natives oc- 
cupying the villages along the Genesee, although the latter claimed to 
be friendly and generally deported themselves properly. The appre- 
hension of an Indian war deterred settlers from crossing to the west- 
ern side of the river. 1 In the latter part of the summer of 1791 
James Wadsworth went on horseback to Niagara for the purpose of 
informing himself as to the prospect of an Indian war. To a friend 
he wrote on his return: "You will not suppose that we are under 
much fears from the Indians when I tell you that I started from the 
(ienesee river without company, and reached Niagara in two days 
without difficulty. But, sir, it was a most solitary ride. I had an 
excellent dinner with Colonel Butler at Niagara. We were served 
with apples, chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts, but what surprised me 
most was to see a plate of malcatoon peaches as good as I ever ate." 

The summer of 1792 witnessed a large addition to the population 
of the Genesee country. In July of that year the Albany Gazette- 
says: "We are assured of the rapid increase of settlements there, 
encouraged by the situation, climate and soil — equal in goodness to 
any part of the United States — and that the fever and ague, which 
it is common to suppose is epidemical there, has scarcely been known 
the present season. The Indians are very friendly, attending solely 
to their domestic concerns and gradually acquiring civilized habits." 
The population had so far increased that at the fall election in that 

I. There are two sides to most public questions, and it cannot be denied that the Indians had 
many provocations, which artful men could use to influence them. In the summer of 1790 two 
of the .Senecas of Little Heardstown, minor chiefs, were murdered on Pine Creek, in Pennsylvania. 
.\ reward was offered by the Governor of thai State for the apprehension of the murderers. Little 
Beard and Red Jacket, in a letter of thanks to the executive, "hoped that the murderers might be 
taken and that they might see them executed, for it is natural to look for revenge of innocent 
blood. You must not think hard if we speak rash. The words come from a wounded heart as 
you have stuck the hatchet in our head, aud we can't be reconciled until you come aud pull 
it out. We are sorry to tell you that you have killed eleven oflus since peace, and we never 
said anything until the other day when in liquor." The letter is dated at "Geneseo River and 
flats. .August 12, 1790," and signed ii«/t' /?<oirf (of Beaver Tribe). Saugoyea-uiatau (Red Jacket). 
Ciiseliaskc (of Wolf Tribe) and Caunliesongo. 

a. Albany C<ljf//(f of July 9, 1792. 



232 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

year the canvass for governor was quite animated. The candidates 
were George Clinton, the incumbent, and John Jay, the Chief [ustice 
of the Supreme Court of the United States. The poll of the town of 
Canandaigua stood three to one for Jay; and it is said that the com- 
plexion of the vote in Geneseo, where fifty ballots were cast, was the 
same, but owing to the fact that the tally list was transmitted to 
Albany without being signed by the inspectors, the returns were re- 
jected. The result in the State was rendered so close by the rejection 
of Geneseo and certain other towns in the State, and the irregularities 
were so great that' the courts, after a heated controversy by the 
partisan press, were called upon to decide the question. The office 
was awarded to Clinton, against the earnest protest of Jay's friends. 

Postal facilities, as yet, were meager indeed. Twice a month a 
mail was carried on horseback between Albany and Whitestown. In 
July, 1792, "several patriotic gentlemen of the Genesee country 
established a post to meet the one from Albany, at Whitestown, 
which once a month will pass through Geneva, Canandaigua and 
Canawaugus to Williamsbtirgh on the Genesee river. ">■ In Sep- 
tember of that year the Postmaster General, Timothy Pickering, 
advertised for proposals for the extension of the post road from 
Canajoharie to Whitestown and thence to Canandaigua. 

Eastern newspapers as early as 1792 contained advertisements of 
Genesee lands. Captain Williamson, in August of that year, pub- 
lished an answer "to numerous applications for farms." He says,^ 
"to those who wish to make actual settlements on his lands," that 
he has "surveyors employed in laying off some hundred thousand 
acres which will Ik- ready to be viewed by the loth of September. It 
will be necessary for persons to receive instructions from Mr. Wil- 
liamson at Williamsburgh. The price fixed on the land is one dollar 
per acre. " 

In the fall of 1792 William McCartney bought a farm of 320 acres 
in the southerly part of what is now the town of Sparta, near the 
Steuben county line, and was the first white settler in that region. 
Indeed, for more than a year there was not a while man witiiin ten 

1. A\bauy Gaeetie, July), iyc)2. The proprietor of the G<izi-/tt' iouk charge of packages in- 
teuded for the Genesee couutr>' free of expense. 

2. Albany Gazelle, Aug. l6, 1792. James Abeel, in the Gazette of Aug. 20, advertises "13,000 
acres of most valuable laud iu Phelps and Gorhani's purchase in the Geuesee country." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 233 

miles of him. Mr. McCartney was born in Barlocks, Dumfrieshire, 
Scotland, on the 2d of April, 1770. He came to America in the year 
17')1 in company with Andrew Smith, the latter settling at Rath, 
while the former as stated settled in Sparta. With little or no 
assistance he set to work to clear his purchase of the dense growth 
of oak, walnut and underwood with which he found it covered, and 
was the first to raise a crop of grain at the head waters of the 
Canaseraga. In the summer of 1796 he married a sister of James 
McCurdy, who resided within the limits of the present village of 
Dansville. Mr. McCartney was mild and frank yet firm in his deal- 
ings with his fellow men, and the pioneers speak of him as a man of 
strong good sense, and qualified not only to manage his own interests 
with wisdom but to administer in public affairs with great success; 
and the local records show that continuously, for more than a third 
of a century, he was called by the almost unanimous voice of his 
neighbors and townsmen to hold office. In 179() he was made a com- 
missioner of public roads, and directed the laying out and establishing 
of the highways of Sparta. This burthensome position he held for 
a number of years, as well as that ot town clerk and commissioner of 
schools down to 1806, when he was made supervisor, to which office 
he was reelected for twelve successive years. In 1817 he was sent 
to the Assembly, to which body he was reelected the following year. 
In 1819 he was again made supervisor and held the office continuously 
until his death which occurred in 1831. ' The same sterling business 
qualities that enabled him to lay the foundation of a competency he 
carried into the discharge of his official duties, and in the board of 
supervisors, where he so long held a seat, composed of such men as 
Colonel Fitzhugh and General William Wadwsorth, Mr. McCartney 
was notably one of the leading men. 

In 1793 Thomas Morris and Oliver Phelps each built a small frame 
house at Canandaigua, and when completed these were the only 
frame houses west of Whitestown in the present county of Oneida. 

By January, 1793, letters and newspapers were conveyed by stated 
private posts, though at infrequent intervals, through all the Genesee 
settlements and as far west as Canandaigua. Writing to his father 
on the 4th of February, 17'i3. Thomas Morris says, "Our post goes 

I. He died OH tile yth of Feb., 1S31, aud was buried iu the cemetery near the South Sparta 
ineetiug house. 



234 HIST(JRV OF LIVIXGSTOX CULWTV 

(east) once a fortnight," and speaks of the great mildness of the pass- 
ing winter and of the influx of settlers. In May of that year Moses 
Beal romnienced running a weekly stage from Allumy llnough Sche- - 
nectady to Johnstown and Canajoharie, "at three cents a mile for pas- 
sengers and fourteen pounds of baggage gratis." And tiie same 
month a stage was established between Canajoharie and Whitestnwn to 
connect with ReaTs stage. This essentially increased the postal 
facilities of the pioneers of the Genesee. 

"The famous Genesee flats lie nn tlie bnrtlers of the Genesee river; 
they are abcuit twenty miles in length, and about four miles wide; 
the soil is remarkably rich, quite clear of trees, and producing grass 
near ten feel high. I estimate these flats to be well worth 200,000 
pounds as they now lie. They are mostly the property of the In- 
dians. Taking a view of this country altogether, I do not know an 
extent of ground so good. Cultivation is easy, and the land is grate- 
ful. The progress of settlement is so rapid, that you and myself may 
very probably see the day when we can apply these lines to the Gen- 
esee Country: — 

" 'Here happ)' millions their own lands possess, 
No tyrant awes them, nor no lords oppress.' 

"Many times did I break out in an enthusiastic frenzy anticipating 
the ]jrobable situatii)n of this wilderness twenty years hence. All that 
reason can ask may be obtained by the industrious hand; the only dan- 
ger to be feared is, that luxuries will flow too cheap." 

"From Canandaiji'ua I traveled about twenty-six miles through a 
fine country, with many settlements forming; this brought me to 
Genesee river. On this river a great many farms are laying out; six- 
ty-five miles from its mouth is a town marked <Hit by the name nf \\"\\- 
liamsburgh, and will in all probability be a place of much trade ; in 
the present situation of things it is remote, when considered in a com- 
mercial |)(iiiit of view; but should the fort of Oswego be given up. and 
the lock navigation be completed, there will not be a carrying place 
between New York and Williamsburgh.* * * 

"After I had reached the Genesee river, curiosity led me on to Niag- 
ara, ninety miles — not one house or white man the whole way. The 
only direction I had was an Indian [)ath, which sometimes was doubt- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 23S 

fill. The first day I rode fifty miles, through swarms of mosquitoes, 
gnats, etc., beyond all description."! 

Another writer at about the same perioil says of the advantages 
attending a settlement in the Genesee country: 

"But the peculiar advantages which distinguish these lands over 
most of the new settled countries of America, are these following; 1. 
The uncommon excellence and fertility of the soil. 2. The superior 
quality of the timber, and the advantages of easy cultivation, in conse- 
quence of being generally free from underwood. 3. The ;il)uiidance 
of grass for cattle in the woods, and on the extensive meadow grounds 
upon the lakes and rivers. 4. The vast quantities of the sugar maple 
tree, in every part of the tract. 5. The great variety of other fine 
timber, such as oak, hickory, black walnut, chestnut, ash of different 
kinds, elm, butternut, basswood, poplar, pines and also thorn trees of 
a prodigious size. 6. The variety of fruit trees,, and also smaller 
fruits, such as apple and peach orchards, in different places, which 
were planted by the Indians, plum and cherry trees, mulberries, 
grapes of different kinds, raspberries, huckleberries, blackberries,, 
gooseberries, and strawberries in vast quantities; also cranberries, 
black-haws, etc. 7. The vast variety of wild animals and game which 
is to be found in this cduntry, such as deer, moose deer, and elk of 
very large size, beavers, otters, martins, minks, rabbits, squirrels^ 
racoons, bears, wildcats, etc., many of which furnish excellent furs and 
peltry. 8. The great variety of birds for game such as wild turkeys,, 
pheasants, partridges, pigeons, plover, heath-fowl, and Indian hen, 
together with a vast variety of water-fowl on the rivers and lakes, 
such as wild geese and ducks, of many different kinds, not kn<nvn in 
Europe. '*. The uncommon abundance of very fine fish, with 
which the lakes and rivers abound, among which are to be found ex- 
cellent salmon of two different kinds, salmon-trout of a very large size, 
white and yellow perch, sheep-heads, pike, suckers and eels of a 
very large size, with a variety of other fish in their different seasons. 
Hi. The excellence of the climate in that region where these lands are 
situated, is less severe in winter, and not so warm in summer, as the 
same latitudes nearer the sea. The total e.xemption from all periodical 
disorders, particularly the fever and ague, which does not prevail in 
the Genesee country, on account of the rising grounds and fine situa- 

I. (Massachusetts Historical Collection I.) Col. Hist. II. 110.S-U09. 



236 HISTORY OF IJVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

tions. 11. The vast advantages derived from navigable lakes, rivers 
and creeks, which intersect and run through every part of this tract 
of country, affording a water communication from the northern parts 
of the grant by the Genesee river one way, or by the Seneca river an- 
other way into the great lake Ontario and from thence by Cataraqui 
to Quebec, or by the said Seneca river, the Oneida lake and Wood 
creek, to Schenectady on the Mohawk river, with only a short land 
carriage, and from thence to Albany, with a portage of sixteen miles; 
affording also a water communication from almost every township of 
the southern part of the grant by means of the different branches 
of the Tioga river, which joining the Susquehanna, affords an outlet 
to produce, through an immense extent of country on every hand, to 
Northumberland, and all the towns upon the great branch of this riv- 
er, down to Maryland and Virginia; and (with a portage of twelve 
miles) even to Philadelphia with small boats; and when the improve- 
ments are made in the Susquehanna, and the projected canal cut 
between the Schuylkill and that river, there will be an uninterrupted 
good water communication for boats of ten or fifteen tons from the 
interior parts of the Genesee country all the way to Philadelphia. 
12. But above all, the uncommon benefits these lands derive from the 
vicinity to the thickly settled countries in New York and New Eng- 
land governments on the one hand, and Northumberland county in 
Pennsylvania on the other, from all which quarters, from the great ad- 
vantages which are held out, there must be an overflow of emigrants 
every year, until these lands are fully settled, which expectation is 
already completely evinced, from the rapid population that has taken 
place on the east boundaries of the grant upon the Tioga river, and 
between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes up to Ontario, where, in the 
course of three or four years, above eight hundred families have 
fixed themselves in this fertile country, most of whom having emigrat- 
ed from the Eastern States of New England, New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, have all the advantages which are to be derived from a perfect 
knowledge of the country, and from that kind of education and local 
resource, which soon renders the situation of a new settler comfortable 
and happy, enabling them, at the same time, to assist new comers, 
who may be less acquainted with the nature of the country. 

"At present wheat can be sent from the Genesee Settlement to 
Philadelphia, at one shilling sterling per bushel: but if the water com- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 237 

munication be opened between the two rivers, the cost will not exceed 
fourpence. i 

"Dry goods can now be sent to these new settlements at about eii;ht 
shillings sterling per hundred weight, which will probably be reduced 
to three shillings when the navigation is completed. 

"No country in the world is better adapted for raising cattle than 
the Genesee grant. One of the first settlers in that country asserts 
that he can every season cut wild grass on his own farm in the 
Genesee flats sulificient to maintain 2,<X)0 head of cattle through the 
winter; and that such hay, with rushes and vegetables which are 
found above the snow, generally keep the cattle fat without any ex- 
pense. Hogs can also be reared in the woods at little or no expense 
to the farmer. "As the distaiTce from Philadelphia (between which 
and the Genesee lands a road was to be completed in 1791) is somewhat 
less by land than two hundred miles, there can be no difificulty in driv- 
ing fat cattle and hogs to that market for sale; as they can transport 
themselves at a very small expense, and as the demand for provision 
increases every year, and a liberal price is given for beef and pork, there 
can be no doubt but the rearing of cattle and hogs, as well as horses, 
for sale in the low countries, will soon become a great object of profit 
to the settlers, as the extensive ranges of meadow ground on the flats, 
and the blue grass, white clover and pea-vine in the woods, must en- 
able the farmer to feed almost any number he can raise, or find capital 
to purchase. In many parts of the tract there is little or no under- 
wood, and excellent pasture in the forests between the trees, in conse- 
quence of their being in general of an enormous size, and of the consid- 
erable distance between them , thereby affording even a wide range for 
cattle in the upland country, as well as in the flats and meadows, 
which have already been represented to be luxuriant beyond descrip- 
tion, in a species of coarse grass, very fit for hay. It is said that there 
are many wild horses upon the tract, which is an additional proof of 
there being winter food in the flat land.s and in the forests. 



"The present settlers have already got a fine stock of cattle and 
hugs, and find that they thrive and increase very fast; but as yet there 
are very few sheep, although, it is supposed, they would succeed well 

1. This communication was begim in 1793. 



■238 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNT Y 

on thf hills, after the country is more fully peopled. Several genteel 
families are preparing to settle on the tract this season, which will 
greatly facilitate the population of these lands. 

"The crops of wheat, Indian corn, and other small grains were very 
abundant last year; so that the present settlers are in a situation to 
assist and supply the wants of new-comers. 

"The market for grain and provision raised in the Oenesee country 
will be on the spot for some time to come, and the constant influx of 
■settlers, who may be expected, until the whole of these lands are occu- 
pied, will, at least for a time consume all the surplus produce; after- 
wards the city of Philadelphia will probably be the best market; and 
while the country is in progress of being settled, the hemp and flax 
raised by the Genesee farmers, and also the ashes and sugar made up- 
on these lands, and the skins and furs procured by hunting, must ulti- 
mately goto Philadelphia and New York; but this will be the business 
of the merchant, who will receive all these articles from the farmer in 
return for dry goods, implements of husbandry, salt and rum, and 
such other articles as the settlers mav want. 



"Wheat is at present, 1791, one dollar per bushel (4s. 6d. sterling); 
Indian corn, 2s. (>d. ditto: salt from the Onondaga works, (><) miles 
east of the grant is half a dollar a bushel.' 

The following is an account of a visit of a gentleman to the Genesee 
ct)untry in February, 1792: "From Canandaigua to the Genesee river, 
twenty-six miles, it is almost totally uninhabited, only four families 
residing on the road. The country is beatitifully diversified with hill 
and dale, and in many places, we found openings of two and three hun- 
dred acres, free from all timber and even bushes, which, on our ex- 
amining, proved to be of a rich, deep soil. It seemed that, by only 
inclosing with one of these openings a proportionable quantity of tim- 
bered land, an inclosure might be made similar to the parks in Eng- 
land. 

"At the Genesee River I found a small Indian store and tavern; 
the river was not then frozen over, but was low enough to be forded. 
As yet there are no settlements of any consequence in the Genesee 
■country. That established liy a society of Frieniis, on the west side 

I. Doc. Hist. II., 1II1-1122. 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(^STOX COUNTY 239 

of the Seneca lake is the most considerable: it consists of about forty 
families. But the number of Indians in the adjoining country, 
when compared with the few inhabitants who venture to winter in 
the country, is so great, that I found them under serious apprehen- 
sions for their safety. Even in this state of nature, the county of 
Ontario shows every sign of future respectability. No man has put the 
plough in the ground without being amply repaid; and, through the 
mildness of the winter, the cattle brought into the country the year 
before are thriving well on very slender provision for their subsistence. 
The clearing of land for spring crops is going on with spirit. I also 
found the settlers here abundantly supplied with venison, "i 

The institutions of socisty came slowly. Up to the month of June 

1793, owing to neglect to appoint judges, no courts had ever been 
held in Ontario county, then embracing the country west of Seneca 
lake, although the county had been organized ujiward of four years. 
The first Circuit Court and Court of Oyer and Terminer was held at 
"Patterson's Tavern," in Geneva, on the 9th of June 1793, the pre- 
siding judge being John Sloss Hobart, one of the three judges ap- 
pointed in 1777 on the organization of the judiciary. A grand jury 
was empanelled and charged, but no indictments were found. The 
first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions was held at the 
house of Nathaniel Sanborn in Canandaigua on the 4th of November, 

1794. The presiding judge was Timothy Plosmer with Charles Wil- 
liamsim and Enos Boughton as associates. At this term James 
Wadsworth, Thomas Morris, John Wickham and \'incent ^Matthews 
appeared as attorneys. 

In the autumn of 1793 the Marquis de Talle_\rand, the famous 
French statesman, was piloted through the wilds of the Genesee by 
Benjamin Patterson, who resided in Steuben county. The Marquis 
was then an exile and had leisure to inspect the natural features of 
this valley. Standing on the bluff near the present dam at ^lonnt 
Morris, he said, after admiring for an hour the scenery spread out 
before him to the eastward, "It is the fairest landscape that the 
human eye ever looked upon." 

The Albany Gazette of the 15th of July, 1793, contains this ad- 
vertisement: "Williamsburgh Fair and Genesee Races. There will 
be held ;it Williamsburgh, at the great Forks of the Genesee river, 

I. Doc. Hist. II., 1131-1132. 



240 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

an annual fair for the sale and purchase of cattle, horses and sheep, to 
commence on Monday, the 23d of September, and continue on Tues- 
day. It is expected at this fair that a number of fat bullocks and 
working oxen of the best New England breeds, with which the coun- 
try is well supplied, will be shown. As the situation of Williams- 
burgh lays convenient for the Niagara market, it is also expected that 
both horses and young cattle will meet with ready sale at high prices, 
the demand from Upper Canada being considerable. On Wednesday 
there will be run for over the race ground a purse of fifty pounds, 
and also a subscription purse. On Thursday there will be arun for 
the sweepstakes, and races for small prizes. On Friday there will be 
shooting matches and foot races. As this meeting will be held in the 
centre of a country abounding in provisions, strangers will find no 
difficulty in providing themselves and horses, and pains will be taken 
to afford them every possible accommodation. Particular convenience 
will be made for such horses as are brought to compete for the 
different prizes. The horses must be regularly entered and carry 
weight according to the established rules at the races in the Low 
Countries. " 

The following year (1794) fourteen horses were entered for the fifty 
pound purse, and cattle were driven from all the adjacent country to 
the show. The fair and races continued for several years to be highly 
successful, while the sales of stock were quite large. The exhibitions 
were held on the flats lying between the present highway and the 
Canaseraga creek, west of the residence on the Colonel Abell farm, now 
the property of Major William A. Wadsworth. 

In 1793 the small-pox, a disease of which the Indians had justly a 
great dread, broke out among the Senecas on the Genesee. The In- 
dian agent at Canandaigua, General Chapin, employed male nurses to 
go to Little Beardstown and other villages and take general charge of 
the sick. The papers of the agency contain the account of "Solomon 
Jennings for thirty-nine days musing the Indians with the small-pox 
at Genesee river, seven pounds, sixteen shillings." The general 
government employed and paid blacksmiths for the Indians, as well, 
and Chapin's papers contain the account of George Jones, rendered in 
November, 1793, for fifteen months' services as blacksmith for the 
Senecas at Genesee river, tools and sundry supplies, one hundred and 
twelve pounds. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 241 

The new stage lines appear t<> have promoted postal facilities but 
little at first, for in February, 1794, the Albany Gazette, expressing 
regret at the deficiency of mail communication between Albany and 
the Genesee river, says, "a respectable if not a major part of the 
letters and papers brought m the mail to the post-office in this city 
are destined further westward, but for want of regular conveyance 
are rendered useless from the length of time elapsing before they can 
reach the place of destinaticm."!- It appears that there was a sort of 
provisional post-office at Williamsburgh in 1793, for Timothy Pickering, 
writing to General Chapin from Detroit in August, 1793, says: "Tlie 
enclosed letter I request you to forward to Philadelphia, either by ff)r- 
warding it to the post-office at Williamsburgh, or let it be carried by 
an Indian runner to the post-office at Whitestown," and the same year 
the Secretary of War directs General Chapin "to write him weekly" 
by Captain Williamson's post. 

In 1793 a plan was developed to divide this State, and erect the 
western half into a separate commonwealth. The crafty managers of 
the Livingston lease were doubtless at the bottom of this project. 
Failing to receive the approval of the Legislature to their contract for 
the Indian lands, these men proposed, it would appear, to accomplish 
their design in this revolutionary manner. A variety of reasons, 
though not the real ones, were assigned for this step. James Wadsvvorth 
and other large landowners were invited to take part in the movement. 
But it received no countenance from him nor from others in this 
region. The adjournment of the November term of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas and General Sessions of Ontario, in 1794 was chosen as 
the occasion for a meeting to declare the popular opposition to the 
measure. The attendance was large. Timothy Hosmer, First Judge 
of the county, presided, and a series of resolutions were adopted set- 
ting forth that certain restless and turbulent characters from the 
eastern district of this State, evilly disposed towards the welfare of 
the country, had for some time past endeavored to stir up sedition 
among its peaceable inhabitants and incite them to acts both treason- 
able and improper, in proposing that the counties of Ontario, Otsego 

I. Timothy Pickering, Poslma<ter Oeueral, writes to Geu. Chapin, niider date of June 3d. 179.1, 
"The postroad is extended by law to Canaiidaigiia. x x x The post will not be riding till Sep- 
tember. X X X I shall order the mail once in two weeks from Whitestown to Canandaigtia." — 
See Chapin's Mss. papers, X. V. Hist. Soc. 



242 HISTORY OF MVIXGSTON COUNTY 

and a part of Tioij;a and Herkimer Hhnuki immediately shake off all 
dependence from the State of New York, and support their independ- 
ence by force of arms if need be; that the passions of the dishonest 
and disorderly, the ambitious and timid, had lieen Mattered to exj^ect 
that laws would be passed by the proposed State for screening in- 
dividuals from the payment of their just debts for six years and that all 
Indian lands and all public lands should become a prey to the rapacity 
of their hiiiis^ry followers, and that they had engaged to sustain their 
measure with armed troops, collected from X'ermont and elsewhere. 
Referring to the threats of the revolutionists, the resolutions say: 
"We have nothing to fear from any banditti they can collect for for- 
cing us into measures we heartily disaiijirove," and that, sensible of 
the many advantages they derive from their connection with one of 
the most respectable States in the Union, and desirous of a continu- 
ation of the same, they highly resented the ill-timed and improper at- 
tempt made by the characters above alluded to to disturb their peace. 
The proposed state could not defray the necessary e.xpenses of the 
most moderate state governmerit, and it would be unjust to raise 
enormous taxes for such an object on uncultivated lands, and they 
recommended that the Cleneva meeting, appointed to be held on the 
25th of November, be not attended, as it was called by strangers to 
the county. 

The meeting expected, after such a public declaration, that the 
State administration would take the inost vigorous measures to sup- 
press any attempt that might be made to destroy the peace and quiet 
of the county. Judge Cooper, in his charge to the grand jury of 
Otsego county, referred to this meeting and endorsed its action. 
Other officials and other public meetings discountenanced it, and the 
project, however formidable at one time it appeared, seems never 
to have been revived. 

The loss of the colonies was accepted with ill grace by the British 
authorities in America. The treaty of 17S.'i had, indeed, ended the 
war, but a spirit of hostility remained, and under one i)retext or 
another the forts at Oswego and Niagara and other military posts on 
the western lakes continued to be occu[)ied by British garrisons. 
British officers aft'ected to claim the territory of Western New York, 
the valleys of the western lakes and the region of the Mississippi and 
every art was employed by them to keep alive the prejudices of the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTOM COUNTY 24.-^ 

Indians and to incite them to unfriendly acts. The growth of the 
settlements along the Genesee was an especial cause of jealousy, both 
to the British and the Indians, though they did not venture directly 
to interfere. But when, in 1794, Charles Williamson began a settle- 
ment at Sodus Bay, the authorities of Canada resolved to jnit a stop 
tt> it. Lord Dorchester, then Governor-General of Canada, hekl 
a talk with the Indians, in which he artfully sought to provoke them 
to a hostile course, and found them disposed to second his measures. 
An alliance was formed, it is said, and a concerted movement agreed 
upon, having for its object the repossession of Western New York. 
Presents were freely distributed, "the British Superintendent of In- 
dian Affairs," says Colonel Hosmer, "being profuse of costly pres- 
ents to his fierce allies ; and broadcloths, blankets and silver orna- 
ments w'ere tauntingly exhibited to the white settlers of Avon and 
vicinity by the young braves of Canawaugus," who had received them 
of the Canadian authorities. There was good ground for believing, 
as our government did, that the Ministry of Great Britain enter- 
tained the idea of making war upon us. As a first step, the Deputy 
Governor, Simcoe, dispatched Lieutenant Sheafifei of the British 
army to Williamson with a formal protest against the further prose- 
cution of the settlement at Sodus Bay, and all other settlements in 
Western New York, during the inexecution of the treaty. William- 
son happened to be at Bath at the time, and SheafTe informed his 
agent, a Mr. Moffatt, of the nature of his mission, and stated that he 
would return in ten days. Williamson was sent for, and Thomas 
^lorris met the British officer and conducted him to Williamson, who 
stood beside a table on which lay a brace of loaded pistols. The 
meeting was friendly and even cordial, for the two gentlemen had 
known each other years before, when both w-ere in the English ser- 
vice. The protest was delivered and read, and Williamson desired 
tile Lieutenant to inform his principal that no attention could be paid 
to the missive, but that the settlements there and elsewhere would be 
proceeded with all the same. 

News of this proceeding on the part of the British authorities was 
not slow^ in spreading through the Genesee settlements. Its abrupt 
nature, and the morose and qiiarrelsome temper of the Indians wMio 

I. Hetter known aflerw.Trds as Major General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe. He commonded at the 
battle of Quecustown, after Hrodie's death, aud was otherwise conspicuous during the warof 1812. 



244 HISTORY QF LiVIXGSTON COUNTY 

swarmed the forests, and had become "rude and saucy tu the white 
settlers, " says George Hosmer, "and would impudently enter their 
houses, take the prepared food from the tables and commit other 
offences," and who were known as ready and willing allies of the 
authorities across the border, caused no little anxiety and alarm 
among the pioneers, who were destitute of arms and ammunition, and 
were scattered over a large territory, remote from assistance. A few 
sold out their betterments at a loss, and returned to the East. But 
the insolence of the demand excited the spirit of the settlers, many of 
whom had but recently laid down their arms, and many were the 
offers of personal service to repel any attempt to take Captain Wil- 
liamson prisoner and send him in irons to England, as had been 
threatened. A letter written at this period expresses the feeling of 
the sturdy settlers. "We are prepared to give a cordial and warm 
reception to our Canada friends, and shall not fail to persuade them 
to make six foot locations in the rich soil of the (ireat Sodus and 
along the (Jenesee should they come over with guns loaded and 
pointed." 

The Lieutenant no sooner left than Captain W'illiamson dispatched 
an express rider to President Washington and another to Governor 
George Clinton, advising them of the peremptory character of 
Simcoe's order and of his own purpose to resist any attempt to inter- 
fere with the settlements. He requested that arms might be fur- 
nished and authority given to collect and organize the militia and 
volunteers. Governor Clinton was found at his home in Little Britain 
near Newburgh. The independence of the act stirred the stern old 
patriot, and he lost no time in directing that the arms that had been 
assigned to the militia of the western frontier and the cjuota for 
Ontario county should be immediately forwarded. "For," said he in 
his order, "the principle set up in Governor Simcoe's protest cannot 
for a moment be tolerated, and if any attempt should be made on the 
part of the British to carry it into execution, force must meet force. 
To this end, exert every means to keep the militia of your division in 
the most perfect readiness for actual service." A law had recently 
passed the Legislature authorizing the erection of fortifications on the 
northern and western frontiers, and commissioners were selected to 
carry it into execution. They decided to establish block houses at 
Fort Stanwix, at Onondaga Salt Springs, Canandaigua, Canawaugus 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 245 

and at Bath. The Albany G.'.zette of the 11th of September, 1794, saj-s, 
"vSeveral of the block houses and pickets on the western frontier are 
already completed, and all of them are in great forwardness. Each 
will be furnished with a piece of cannon and all necessary ammunition, 
and seven hundred stand of arms for use if inhabitants of the frontier 
are on their way." 

"While all this was progressing," says Turner, "in four days after 
the affair at Stxlus, in fact before Governor Simcoc would have had 
time to execute his threats, the great measure of deliverance for the 
Genesee country and the few scattered border settlers of the west, 
had been consummated. 'Mad Anthony'^ — and there had been 
'method in his madness' — had met the confederated bands of the 
hostile Indians of the West, and almost under the walls of a fortress 
of their British allies achieved a signal victory ! Those upon whom 
Governor Simcoe was relying for aid (for it is evident that he looked 
to a descent of the western Indians upon the Genesee country in case 
the war was renewed), were humbled and suing for peace. This 
alone would have averted his worst intentions, and added to this was 
the consideration that Mr. Jay had sailed for London on the I2th of 
May, clothed with ample power from our government to arrange all 
matters of dispute. 

"Tiiose familiar with the history of our whole country in the earliest 
years of its separation from England, are aware how important was 
the well planned and successful expedition of General Wayne. Im- 
])ortant in its immediate consequences, the putting an end to pro- 
tracted, harassing Indian treaties, and the founding of that great 
empire of wealth, prosperity and unparalleled progress, our Western 
States. But few can now realize its local consequence in the Gene- 
see country. It gave security where there was little of it before, and 
inspired hope and confidence with those who were half determined to 
retrace the weary steps that had brought them into the wilderness; 
for they felt that if war was to be added to all the sufferings and 
privations they were encountering, it were better to abandon the 
field, if not forever, to a period more propitious. The news of Wayne's 
victory was communicated by Brant to General Chapin, and it circu- 
lated briskly among the backwoods settlements. Here and there 
were seen small gatherings of pioneer settlers congratulating each 

I. General .\titIioiiy Wayne, of ReVointu>nary fame. 



246 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

other upon the event, and taking fresh courage to grapple with the 
hardships of pioneer life. All was contirmed when, in a few days, the 
Senecas were seen coming back, upon their war path, humbled, 
quaking with fear at t-he mere recollection of the terrilile onslaught 
that Mad Anthony had made upon the dusky legions that had gatheretl 
to oppose him, and uttering imprecations against those who had 
lured them from home to take part in the contest and then remained 
far away from danger, or shut themselves up in a strong fortress, 
mere spectators in a conflict while they and their confederates 
were falling like autumn leaves in a shower of hail." 

Colonel Hosmer says, "Tidings of Wayne's victory came like a 
reprieve after sentence of death, a skylark's call after a raven's 
croak." The Indians were thoroughly subdued, and, chagrined by 
their terrible reverses and the bad faith of their Canadian allies, they 
determined to settle down quietly in their villages and renew their 
amicable relations with tlu'ir white neighbors. The British, also, 
bound by the terms of the Jay treaty, ceased from troubling, and the 
Genesee settlements were finally permitted to progress in peace. 

Early in September, 1794, Daniel Kelly, John Jones and John Har- 
rison, all of whom were afterward notable farmers of Groveland, and 
all became deacons in the same church, left their Pennsylvania home, 
on the north branch of the Susquehanna, for a visit to the Genesee 
country by way of the Williamson road, "which was without bridges 
over creeks, or crossways in bad places, the underbrush and logs being 
removed a rod wide," says Mr. Harrison. William Ryans was also 
of the party. They had two horses between the four, riding and 
walking in couples by turns. The party on horseback would trot on 
far ahead, and hitching the horses beside the road, w^oulil start for- 
ward on foot, leaving their companions to come up and resume the 
saddle. A journey of eight days brought them to Wiliiamsburgh, 
where, on the 13th of September, 17'i4, tliey put up at William 
Lemon's tavern, a small frame house, and the first frame house built 
in the town of Groveland. Ryans was displeased with the country 
and homesick, and started back the following morning, taking with 
him one of the horses. The three others went to Geneseo to pur- 
chase lands of the Wadsworths, who were then laying the cellar wall 
of their homestead. James Wadsworth at once saw iliat they were 
good judges of farming lands, and advised them to look at some lots 







1» 


LLj 


-^, 




' 






ui 



i | -.■■■"• V-w^J-<g : 






T 
1 



-^?4 iJ^^- ^ril'g 



.fc:3 



■"-i» i*QjV 



IL 






'^r-i 



Map of Willlamsbursh, made by John Smith in 1794. The "Colonel Abell" dwelling house 
is on loU, 13, 14, IS and 16. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 247 

lying along the road leading to the foot of Conesus lake, describing 
the lands minutely to them, and specifying particular parcels on 
either side of the highway. They at once took the path up the hill, 
over the rtiute now traversed by .South street, just as a cold, drizzling 
rain began to fall. Daniel Kelly selected a lot of over a hundred 
acres on which the present Lakeville cemetery is located, and John 
Harrison selected the farm lying directly east of it, across the main 
road. This done, they went down to Peter Steel's tavern, a little 
log cabin situated in Upper Lakeville, for dinner. They reached there 
drenched to the skin, and John Harrison no sooner got to the fire than 
a chill seized him, which was so severe that it drove him almost into 
the heap of smouldering coals. The first salutation that met his ear 
was the unwelcome remark of an old root doctor from a neighboring 
settlement, "You've got the ager, stranger, fast enough." After an 
hour spent here, they returned to Genesee. Kelly paid earnest money, 
but Mr. Harrison was sick and far from home, and it was therefore 
concluded that he had better not part with the little money he had. 
It was agreed, however, that he and Kelly should return by the first of 
the following ^lay to complete the purchase of the lands selected by 
them. 1 They then went to Lemon's tavern for the night. Harrison's 
ague came on again, and a daughter of John Ewart, who resided at 
Williamsburgh, was also down with it. The party were ready by 
daylight to return to Pennsylvania, and Mr. Harrison, sick as he was, 
decided to return with them. They had now but one horse, and as 
Mr. Harrison was weak he took the saddle. In going down the hill 
leading to the inlet of Hemlock lake Harrison began to shake, and 
calling to his companions to secure the horse, he threw himself ofl: and 
started forward on a run. "shaking and stooping," he says, "as if I 
had my back broken. ^ly companions laughed at my odd motions, 
but I felt too wretched to notice their jokes. Still, I liked the new 
country, as well as my companions who had escaped that abomination 
of new settlements, the fever and ague, and we all three came back 
and located the following May, a step I have never regretted." Mr. 
Harrison says that Williamsburgh, at this, his first visit, contained, 
besides the frame tavern and a house occupied by John Ewart, some 

I. They (lid not get back, however, until the i2lh of May, auti Mr. Wadsworth had by that 
time sold the lot selected by Johu Harrison. The latter then purchased in Grovelaud. Kzra Gray 
occupied a part of Mi. Harrison's first purchase. 



248 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

five or six log houses built by Captain Williamson. On their way 
home they met persons going toward the village they had just left. 
with cattle to exhibit at the approaching fair, and heard frequent men- 
tion of the races soon to come off, at which fourteen speed horses were 
entered for the fifty pound purse. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 24') 



CHAPTER X 

WHILE full heed was given to the material interests of the 
new settlements, the attention of religioi'is societies was also 
drawn to the spiritual demands of the frontier. The Legis- 
lature of Connecticut, at its session in October, 17')2, passed an act 
enjoining contributions from all the churches of that State on the first 
Sabbath in the month of May, annually for three years, to support 
missionaries and promote Christian knowledge in the northern and 
western frontier settlements, "where the ordinances oi the gospel are 
not established and in places destitute of the stated means of grace." 
The moneys thus raised were placed in the hands of the good and wise 
Jonathan Edwards and two associates.' Eight missionaries were sent 
out by them in the summer of 1794, one of whom, the Rev. Aaron 
Kinne. proceeded on horseback by way of Catskill westward, passing 
thriiugh Geneva, where he preached to a large audience, to the Gene- 
see river. He preached at Canawaugus, Big Tree, Williamsburgh and 
other settlements, travelling more than thirteen hundred miles and 
preaching more than four score sermons, besides administering the 
sacrament. His hearers often came eight or ten miles to listen to him. 
The following year he again visited these places. When he reached a 
settlement it "seemed a day of gladness." Many with open arms 
embraced him, and often with the remark "We are glad you have 
come back. We have not heard a sermon since you were with us last 
year." He found the people possessed of but limited school privileges, 
and generally observed a great scarcity of books, especially of a re- 
ligious character. 

In July 1795 the Rev. Daniel Thatcher, a missionary, under the 
auspices of the Presbyterian General Assembly, organized a church at 
Lima,'- and one in Geneseo, which subsequently removed to and still 

1. The orgauizatioii was denominated the "Missionary Society of Connecticut," and was the 
first organization of the kind in the Cnited States. Its meetings were held at the State Honse in 
Hartford. 

2. Then ca1le<l Charlestown. 



250 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

remains at Lakeville. Neither of these societies was immediately 
prosperous. That at Lima continued feeble until 1799, when it was 
reoiganized as a Congregational society, and that at Geneseo, irreg- 
ularly supplied and destitute of stated public worship, remained in- 
effective for some years and until the removal to its present location. 

The missionaries seemed reluctant to cross the river. Society 
there' for several years paid little regard to the demands of the 
church, or, indeed, to the mere ordinary restraints of order, and it 
was a common remark, untd the Scotch settlement was formed at 
Caledonia, thai "Sabbath day never crossed the Genesee river." 

In 1802 the Hampshire Missionary Society of Massachusetts sent 
out missionaries to the new settlements. These also visited the Indian 
villages along the Genesee river. The Society represented that it 
had been favored with liberal subscriptions by the public for the ex- 
penses of ministers and for the purchase of bibles and other religious 
writings to be distributed among the settlers. The letter of introduc- 
tion from the trustees of the Society to the missionaries is written in 
liberality of spirit. They were enjoined to avoid mere doctrinal dis- 
putations, and not to complain of the unavoidable hardships incident 
to a new country, which they were voluntarily undertaking. 

The broad forests and fine natural scenery of Western New York, 
and a desire, perhaps, to see the Indian in his native haunts, appear to 
have possessed a fascination for European travelers. The visit of Talley- 
rand has already been mentioned. Louis Philippe, afterward Citizen 
King of France, tarried many days along the streams and among the 
habitations of the early settlers, and in June 1795 the Duke de Lian- 
court, "one of the most eminent noljlemen of France," says General 
King, passed through the Genesee valley, visiting every settlement and 
spending several weeks with Captain Williamson, Mr. Wadsuorih and 
others. He was accompanied by a young Englishman, three or four 
servants and a favorite dog named Cartouche, who made a good meal 
of one of black Jenny's fine chickens at Geneseo, greatly to her dis- 
gust. The Duke was a close observer, and has left an interesting 
record of what he .=aw. He liked Capt. AV'illiamson, who explained to 
him that, after spending si.x months in visiting and surveying the 
estate of his principals, he concluded to establish several settlements 
rather than one capital colony. The most eligible spots were there- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 251 

fore fixed upon, and Bath, Williamsburgh,' Geneva and Great Sodus 
were begun. By the summer of 179') three grist and seven saw mills 
had been erected, and the eight hundred thousand acres that iiad 
been disposed of at an average price of three dollars per acre had re- 
funded the whole purchase money and other expenses incurred, and 
left a net profit of fifty thcjusand pounds sterling. The Duke says 
that AVilliamson personally directed everything and was attentive to 
all who had business with him. Contracts were promptly concluded 
and new settlers were treated with marked consideration. The titles 
secured from him were perfect; and the terms, which were reasonable 
and easy, required that all who purchased land of him should 
clear a certain number of acres and place a family upon the farm 
within eighteen months, half the purchase money to be paid at the 
end of three years and the remainder at the end of six years. No 
settler was allowed to want. Occasionally a poor famdy was supplied 
with a cow, and, where a willing farmer was found struggling, with a 
yoke of oxen and even a house to shelter him, where adversity render- 
ed such an act a matter of humanity. Williamson was everywhere. 
No detail was too insignificant for his personal attention, and no com- 
plaint was too trivial. His manner was mild and just, and his policy 
is commended in fitting terms by the titled Frenchman 

De Liancourt brought a letter of introduction from General Chapin 
to William Wadsw'orth, whom they found at Geneseo preparing to leave 
the next morning for Canandaigua, where he was to meet his militia 
command for a general muster. Of the ride to Geneseo the Duke 
says, that "along the whole route from Canandaigua to Geneseo the 
woods, beautiful to the eye, are not so crowded with trees as on the 
other side (of Canandaigua). Several parts of the forest have been 
burnt over by the Indians." The Duke was invited to spend the night 
at ^Ir. Wadsworth's house, and, as there was no tavern then in Gene- 
seo, he accejjted. It was then eight o'clock in the evening and Mr. 
Wadsworth was just mounting his horse to visit a friend. The Duke 
describes Wadsworth's domicile as a "small log house as dirty as any 
I have ever seen." vStores of all kinds, meats, vegetables and live 
poultry were crowded in and about the house, and the Frenchman's 
olfactories were ofifended by the odors, and he was not overpleased with 

1. A rull accouut of this now extinct village will he found in the sketch of the town of 
Groveland. 



252 HISTORY OF LIVIXfiSTON COUNTY 

the beds. But so hearty a welcome was extended to him that he could 
overlook what his fastidious taste did not approve, and he was well 
pleased with the rough courtesy and Vjluff manner of his host. The 
Duke rose early in the morning to see Mr. Wadsworth, then a captain, 
before he set out for the muster. He foimd him undergoing the 
operation of hair-dressing at the hands of his negro woman Jenny. 
An Indian came in and bought a barrel of whiskey of him, and two 
persons from Williamsburgh were negotiating the purchase of some 
lands while his hair was receiving the final touches. Orders were 
given to the domestics and to his man of business, and a pressing re- 
quest was made of the Duke to pass several days under his roof, all 
in the space of a few minutes. When the Captain's fine horse was 
brought to the door he grasped the Duke's hand, mounted his black 
charger and galloped away. "After the Captain left," says the Duke, 
"his nephew, a youth of about fifteen vears of age. rondintcil us to 
the flats which border the river." 

On the flats, three miles from Mr. Wadsworth's. residence, the Duke 
found a recluse named De Boni, whose character and history greatly 
interested him. Hermit-like, De Boni occupied a log hut, twelve feet 
square, built by himself and a faithful mulatto servant named Joseph. 
Twenty acres of land supplied them with grains and garden vegeta- 
bles, and an occasional day's labor of Joseph secured them milk and 
eggs of their neighbors. De Boni was a Frenchman, a native of 
Alsace, born of parents of w-ealth and position. A quarrel with a 
neighboring land proprietor led to a duel in which his antagonist, a 
gentleman of greater age than himself and a man of consequence, 
was wounded. The dread of a lettrc de cachet induced him to quit his 
native country and find his way to San Domingo, where he enlisted 
as a private soldier. Opportunity soon afforded a discharge, and his 
ability and attainments as a civil engineer secured him a situation in 
the government of the island. He also became a planter and was en- 
joying a good income when civil dissensions suddenly broke out, and he 
w-as forced to quit the island. He came to America with little money 
and few effects. At Hartford he met Colonel Jeremiah 'Wadsworth, 
who, commiserating his condition, offered him the land he was found 
occupying, and aided him in securing a small sum of money. The 
Duke's party, now increased by the addition of two countrymen, sent 
■word to De Boni that the party would dine with him the ne.xt day. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 253 

The hermit expressed tmich satisfaction on their arrival, and though 
habitually peevish, exerted himself to make their visit agreeable. 
They found him a man of forty years of age, and of easy and agree- 
able manners. His reading had been extensive, his understanding was 
sound and his conversation entertaining. His nature was over-sensi- 
tive, and misfortimes had quite soured his temper and made him a 
misanthrope; and even the sprightly conversation of his countrymen 
did not dispel, except at intervals, tlie settled gloom that overhung 
his spirits, nor jirevent occasional bitter references to mankind, whom, 
in the gross, he appeared deeply to hate. He spoke kindly of Joseph, 
a busy and cheerful fellow, who stood in the relatirjn of a friend rather 
than of a servant, and dwelt upon his capacity as a husbandman, gar- 
dener and cook, and the shrewdness with which he managed to 
secure the assistance of farmers and their teams to cultivate his land. 
Of the Indians occupying a small village located near his domicile he 
spoke kindly. Their freednm from the restraints of society and their 
dislike of the encroachments of the whites seemed to agree with his 
own singular mood, and he reasoned acutely in favor of that form of 
society which gives back to the whole all property and dispenses with 
all law. Two of the i^arty passed the night with him, and at parting 
he expressed his thanks for the attention that had been shown him. 

On their return the party were made acquainted with many facts 
relating to the progress of the settlements. Day laborers were then 
scarce and readily commanded one dollar a day. Merchandise was 
brought by Mr. Wadsworth from Connecticut to supply his store, in 
wagons drawn by oxen, and the cost of transportation was met by 
fattening and selling the oxen at Niagara for beef at enhanced prices. 
Land was worth from $2 to $2.50 per acre, and under the contracts 
the purchase all fell due in four vears. the interest running from the. 
date (jf the contract. 

The Duke and his party quit Geneseo on the morning of the 16th 
of June 1795 for Niagara. He says the road from Geneseo to Canan- 
daigua "is a good one for this country. As usual it leads through the 
midst of woods. Within the space of twelve miles we saw only one 
habitation." Of Canawaugus he says, "the inhabitants here are yet 
but few, but among them is one of the best inns we have seen for 
some time past. Mr. Berry keeps it, a good civil man," but of whose 
sobriety he does not speak so flatteringly. 



254 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COTXTV 

The Duke makes particular reference to the oak openings along the 
road. These singular tracts, entirely free of timber and showing 
signs of former cultivation, as well as the open flats of the Genesee, 
"where ten thousand acres might be found in one body, encumbered 
with not even bush, but covered with grass so high that the largest 
bullock, at thirty feet from the path, would be completely hid from 
view,"' excited much speculation in early days. The first settlers 
supposed that the openings were poor lands, and it was only when 
compelled to test their quality that they discovered, to their agreea- 
ble surprise, that the soil was of great excellence, and lands which 
before could have been bought for a quarter of a dollar an acre at 
once advanced to ten dollars. 

In May IT'Jf) Charles Williamson was placed in nomination ft)r the 
Assembly, the district embracing the counties of Ontario and 
Steuben, which then included all this region, and out of 63S 
votes cast he received all but eleven. Lemuel Chipman wa> 
elected to the Assembly on the same ticket. The returns from th^ 
town of Sparta, which had cast its suffrages for him, were sent tu 
Albany signed only by the clerk of the poll and not by the inspectors. 
The vote of the town was therefore rejected and lost. Captain Wil- 
liamson secured useful legislation for this region, and lost no oppor- 
tunity of making the advantages of the Genesee country known to his 
■colleagues and others. Other effective influences were also at work to 
bring the region to the attention of capitalists. James Wadsworth 
was in London in the spring of 1796, negotiating for the sale of Gen- 
esee lands. He writes in May, "My letters and friends have intro- 
duced me to an extensive acquaintance and a number of cajiitalists. 
I think I may be justified in saying that I have been able to inspire 
greater confidence in American new lands among gentlemen of prop- 
erty and respectability here than any who have preceded me on simi- 
lar business." He found an earnest coadjutor in Sir William Pulteney, 
with whom he was on terms of social intimacy. An observer, writing 
from Ontario county a few years later, says, "No land agent in the 
Genesee country is so successful as James Wadsworth. He sells three 
times as much as any one else." With the increasing sales of land 
and growing immigration the roads began to improve. In Septem- 
ber 1796 Thomas Morris, writing to his father, says, "From Bath to 

1. Williamsou's letters to a friend. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 255 

the Genesee river the r(jad is very practicalile for wagons to travel, 
although at this season it is nut always good." Williamson had pro- 
cured legislation on the subject (if public highways, and the Indians, 
who had previously oppnseil the cutting of a road through their lands 
from Canandaigua to Niagara, agreed in a C(jnference held in October 
IT'il), at which Cornplanter was a principal speaker, to grant the priv- 
ilege. "■ 

In the Spring of 1796 William Magee- came to Sparta with his fam- 
ily and settled in the Canaseraga valley, on what was formerly known 
as the Ward farm. He had selected the land the previous year, and eti- 
gaged his brother Henry, who was then residing on Captain John 
Smith's farm, to put up a log cabin against the arrival of himself and 
familv. He left New Jersey in September 1795, Intt thiods in the Sus- 
quehanna detained him several months, and it was not until May that 
he was enabled to place his little family on a flat boat and make the 
slow journey up the river. From Hortiellsville to Sparta thev came 
by wagons laden with household effects, a pair of copper stills and seed, 
passing over the site of Dansville, where not a building of any des- 
cription had as yet been erected.-^ The house then building, about 
seventy rods east of the Canaseraga, was not yet dtme on their arrival 
and the family took temporary shelter in an Indian hut near by. The 
country was indeed new. The nearest neighbor north was Henry 
Magee, distant by way of the road which then ran on the flats near 
the swamp three miles, and as the gullies were yet unspanned by 
bridges and the steep places unleveled, locomotion was not very rapid. 
To the south the nearest neighbor was Darling Havens, who was keep- 
ing tavern in a log cabin three iniles away. Groveland hill did not 
count a single settler. The road, a path by way of Havens' tavern, led 
to the Williamson grist mill and saw mill, the latter standing a few 
rods below the former, near Dansville; and the only settler on the road 

1. Albany Gazette (if October 17, 1796. 

2, William Magee was a native of Ireland, which couutry he left in I7.s.i, and landed at I'hil- 
adelphia the same year. From there he went to Greenwich, New Jersey, where in 178S he married 
Hannah (Jiiick, who was of Low Dntch descent. From thence he came to the Genesee conntry. 

^. It was an entire wilderness. I mean where the village now stands. South of the village 
nearly a mile there was one log cabin owned and occupied by Neal McCay, and one other cabiu 
occupied by .^mariah Hammond, north of the present village, near the Indian trail that passed 
through the place. He came into the place the same year that my father came into Sparta, 1796. 

— Sam'l Magee's Mss. Recollections. 



250 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUX.TY 

between the tavern and the mill was Captam John Clark, who then 
lived near the old Drieshach tavern stand. The site oi Uansville was 
a dense thicket of pine underbrush with here and there a stately pine 
tree. A mere wagon-track led to the mill, and to right and left "the 
pine bush was so thick that a person could not possibly see one rod into 
it on either side.""^- Both flat and hillside were a dense wilderness. 

About a mile north of Henry Magee's house, on the main road, was a 
small settlement called Hermitage. Residing there were Captain John 
Smith, a surveyor of some note, and a brother, tieorge Smith, Alex- 
ander McDonald, a distiller, James Butler, an Irish boot and shoe 
maker, Scotch John Smith, Joseph -Roberts and several sons, all young 
men grown. Hector McKay, Robert Wilson. James Templeton, u lail- 
or, Nicholas Beach and Levi Dunn. 

In 1798 Thomas Howey opened a blacksmith shop at Hermitage. 
At that time there was no other blacksmith in the town of Sparta, and 
yet he had not business enough to engage him more than half the time, 
the remainder of his time he employed in farming. He was stout and 
not well suited to horseback riding, and consequently one day, when 
his family stood in need of some flour, he consulted with a fellow coun- 
tryman, James Butler, residing near the site of Driesbach's tavern, 
who advised him to make an Irish slide-car, as being better suited to 
traveling the Indian path, -for there was no road. Butler gave him a 
description of the article and he made one which was pronounced all 
right. Taking an early start, he got along very well until he reached 
James Rodman's distillery. Here he was treated to a little 
good whiskey, after which he went on to the mill, got his grist, load- 
ed up his slide-car and came back as far as Rodman's. Several more 
liberal potations of whiskey on an empty stomach rendered it expedient 
for him to take passage on the slide-car himself. After going about 
two miles he broke down. Being in no condition to place the grist 
on his horse, he concluded to leave it on the side of the path and 
make his way back to Rodman's and remain there all night. 
Repairing his car the following morning, he returned to his 
grist (jnly to find that meantime a drove of wild hogs had discovered 
it, torn the bags into shreds and eaten up the flour. How could he ex- 
plain the loss to his wife? A broken cog on the mill wheel was 
charged with the delay, and for a time the excuse passed muster; but 

1. Samuel Magee. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 257 

finally his wife and the neighbors got hold of the secret and Howey 
never heard the last of it. 

Williamsburgh contained at this time three frame buildings and 
several log houses, perhaps twelve in all, mostly built by Captain Wil- 
lianis<in. The inhabitants were Captain Starr, the tavern keeper, 
Samuel Ewin, John Ewart, William Harris. Green Smith, Thomas 
and William Lemen. distillers, and Matthias Lemen, a tanner and 
currier. "The first sermon we listened to after our arrival," says 
Samuel ]Magee, "was in what was known as Williamson's big barn at 
Hermitage, some two hundred feet long, say some of the early settlers, 
built to accommodate horses that came to the races, since owned and 
used by Judge Carroll. Rev. Samuel Mills preached to an attentive 
congregation." Here and there was an Indian who had come stealth- 
ily in and taken a seat as far as possible out of view, where he watch- 
ed the exercises with curious attention. Samuel Mills resided one 
mile south of Williamsburgh on the east bank of the Canasei'aga. 
His sons, all men grown and residing with him. were Samuel, Jr., 
Alexander, Lewis, Philo and William A. In the summer he held ser- 
vice in the Williamson barn, and in the winter at private houses. 

In 1797 the State took the road from Fort Schuyler to Geneva under 
its patronage. A lottery had been granted by the Legislature for 
opening and improving certain great highways of the State, and 
among the number was this road. The inhabitants on the line of the 
road voluntarily subscribed four thousand days' work to put it into- 
condition, and the commissioners "were enabled to complete the road. 

\ of near one hundred miles, opening it (>4 feet wide and paving 
I with logs and gravel the moist parts, * * * and what in the month 

/ of June 1797 was little better than an Indian path, was so far improv- 

/ ed that a stage started from Fort Schuyler on the 3()th of September 
and arrived at the hotel in Geneva in the afternoon of the third day 
with four passengers, "1 and stages then ran weekly from Canandaigua 
to Albany. The new road so quickened travel, that within the space 

of five weeks in the following winter five hundred sleighs with fami- 
lies pa.ssed through Geneva. 

In 1798 there was quite an addition to the population of Old Sparta 
from Pennsylvania, in the persons of James Rosebrugh. \Villiam Mc- 
Xair and his three sons James, Andrew and Robert, three other sons by 

I. Williamson's Letters. 



258 HISTORY OF LTVIXOSTOX COUNTY 

a former wife, John, Iluy;h and William R., the latter unmarried, and 
James and Samuel Culljertson and John Niblack. The next year came 
Jesse Collar and two sons, younj^ men, who settled at Collartown, now 
Scottsburj^. l'hili|) (Jilnian and a larj^e family of boys also arrived 
soon after and located near James Henderson's, within one mile of Collar- 
town and near the head of Conesus lake. The same year Charles Car- 
roll of Bellevue and his brother liaiiirl visited the Genesee country, 
•crossing the mountains on horseback, a servant accompanying them 
with a led pack mule with provisions. They spent several weeks in 
"reconnoitering the country, but my uncle thought the iirosjiect too dis- 
couraging," says Judge Carroll, "and they returned without i)urchas- 
ing." 

A weekly line of stages was established the same year between old 
Fort Schuyler and Geneva by John House and Thomas Pcnvell. ' 

At the election of Governor in May, 179S, Pittstown,- (ieneseo and 
other towns, constituting the present county, gave 5(>2 votes for Jay 
and 79 for Livingston. 

At this time the town of Sjjarta embraced the leriitory 
of the present towns of vSparta, West Sparta, (iroveland, Conesus 
and Springwater, and though the po]niIation was sparse, there 
were no less than eight grain distilleries in the town.* The means 
of transportation would not admit of sending grain to market 
in its natural condition, and as a barrel of whiskey occui)ied 
far less space this mode was resorted to. Rye was [irincipally used 
for stilling, which was generally done in the winter season when the 
still slops were fed to stock. It is not to be presumed that with such 
facilities for imbibing there could be much check upon ajipetites, and 
many are the incidents rclaling to the results of insobriety among the 
■early settlers. A pioneer who lived near the river would now and then 
(take a drop too much, to the great annoyance of his higli-spirited wife. 
She had tried several expedients to break him of the habit but without 

1. The geography of the new country was as yel imperfectly iinderstootl. The Albany Ga- 
zette, the best informed of the eastern papers, in referring to an advertisement in its cohinuis. 
says that "4000 acres of land is offered for sale in township 7, range 6 (in Steuben connt>-) adjoin- 
ing the settlement of Daniel Faulkner at Dansville, near U'illiaiiishurgh." 

2. Kichniond, Ontario County, from which Livonia was formed in iSoS, was then known a^ 
Pittstown. 

3. These distilleries were con<luctcd by Wm. I. emeu. Win. Magee. .-Mcxauder McDonald, 
ilector McKay. Nicholas Heach, John Uyland, James Kodman, and James Scotl. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 250 

effect. So one night as he was returning- late and much the worse 
for new whiskey, she stepped suddenly before hini in the road wrapped 
in a white sheet. This brought him to a full halt. "Who are ye, any 
way?" said he. The spectre gave no answer. "Who are ye?" Still 
there was no answer. ."If you're a good spirit you'll do ine no harm, 
so no fear on that score. If you're the devil, as I suspect, I've married 
into your family and as you're too much of a gentleman t" injure a 
relative, I fear no danger from that cjuarter, so I pass." The ghost 
retired discomfited, and the bibulous wayfarer trudged home. 

The first school house built in Old Sparta was a log hut of small size 
erected at Hermitage in the fall of 1798, and opened the following 
May with a man named Blanchard as teacher, and a dozen or fifteen 
scholars gathered fiom a long distance, Samuel Magee, then a lad, 
coming two and a half miles through a dense wilderness "As 
there were others who had quite as far to come," said he, "I did not 
complain. Ditworth's spelling book was then in use. In the 
winter the school was well attended. I have known many a young 
man and woman in the winter schools twenty-five years old and up- 
wards and very poor scholars at that." 

The residents of Hermitage did their trading at Geneseo, where the 
current price of a barrel of salt, all of which was brought by teams 
from the Onondaga salt works, was five dollars. Tea was so great a 
rarity that the wife of Judge Rosebrugh, on receiving a small quanti- 
ty as a present a few months after coming to Sparta, invited several 
of the settlers to her house to enjoy it with her family. The men 
left their plows and in their shirt sleeves, their coats on their arms, 
started on foot while their wives mounted horses and threaded their 
way over Indian trails to the hospitable roof. The story runs that the 
guests came near having the opportunity of testing the quality of the 
novel plant as an article uf food rather than of drink. Its [jrepara- 
tion having been left to a domestic better skilled in "greens" than in 
bohea, as "store tea" was then called, Mrs. Rosebrugh by accident 
overheard one of the children of the household asking the servant "why 
she put so much bohea into the kettle," and on looking found a good 
part of her treat ready for stewing. 

In the latter part of the summer of 1798, the Senecas got the im- 
pression that the government was not going to pay them the interest 
on the hundred thousand dollars received frnm Robert Morris. 



260 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Their chiefs earnestly besought the Indian agent and other leading 
whites to see to it that their people were not disappointed in obtaining 
their money. "We expect," said they, "that an annuity of $0,000 
will be ready for us at the falling of the leaves." General Chapin 
wrote the Secretary of War, "I hope, sir, this business may be attend- 
ed to, and that the money may be sent in dollars, as no other money 
can be divided among them to their satisfaction. To have it sent in 
silver dollars ma)- occasion more expense, yet such at the time the 
agreement was concluded was the understanding of all parties." 

The French Revolution caused much alarm am^ong the neighboring 
governments of Europe, and to none more than to England. In 1797 
there was great fear of an invasion, and the British Parliament in that 
year laid upon every estate the obligation of raising a certain number 
of fencibles. The Scottish Earl of Broadalbin, in carrying out this 
requisition, directed that every person on his broad earldom who had 
two sons must place one of them in the fencibles or leave his estates. 
The measure was unpopular in Scotland, and availing themselves of 
the alternative, a number of young men sailed from Greenock in March 
1798, and after a passage of six weeks landed at New York. Captain 
Williamson was apprised of the arrival of so desirable a party of colon- 
ists of his countrymen, and lost no time in inviting thetn to locate 
on his lands. They decided, however, to ha've a committee of their 
number examine the lands; a favorable report was made, and in 
March 1799 a party of twenty-three of them, one-third of whom were 
females, set out on foot from Johnstown, Montgomery county, for 
the present town of Caledonia. After a journey of ten days they 
reached their destination. The land was laid off into small farms 
which were assigned by casting lots. ^ The whole party set to work to 
build a log house for each family, and beyond a trifling expenditure 
for nails for the doors and for fastening the clapboards upon the ga- 

I. lu Willianisou's Letters he says, "The plan of this settlement occupies about lo.ooo acres, 
distributed in the following manner: 

For the Ministry loo acres. 

" Schools about 60 

Ten gentlemen, 500 acres each 5.000 

Ten farmers, 100 " " 1,000 

Forty " 78 " " 3.120 " 

For the village, 60 lots of 12 acres each, 720 

10,000 " 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 2(.l 

bles, their domiciles were completed without the use of money. All 
about them was wilderness, full of Indians and alive with deer, wolves 
and rattlesnakes. "A man." said John Mc\'ean, "might travel twen- 
ty miles north or south from the settlement and not see one house 
except an Indian hut." Fever and ague made its appearance, and one 
b}- one it attacked the new comers, but they soon recovered. 



262 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE PREOCCUPIED farmers of the new settlements found little 
leisure for politics. In the address of a committee of Federal- 
ists, of which Judge Porter was Secretary, to the people of the 
old county of Ontario, "It was regretted that the inhabitants of 
this county have in former elections betrayed so much remissness 
and neglect in giving their votes, that not more than one-third of the 
electors have voted," and so modest were candidates here that, says 
the address, "it is to be remarked that Members of Congress from the 
Western district (embracing the counties of Onondaga, Cayuga and 
others) have uniformly been elected from counties east of this."* 
A convention followed at Canandaigua in March, which nominated 
Thomas Morris for Congress and two Federal candidates for the As- 
sembly, of whom the latter were elected. 

In 1800 Charles Carroll, ^ of Bellevue. Maryland, induced his friends 
and neighbors. Colonel William Fitzhugh and Colonel Nathaniel Rocli- 
ester to join him in a visit to the Genesee country in quest of a town 
site contiguous to a water power. They came on horseback by way of 
Bath, over the Williamson road, accompanied by a servant and a led 
mule. Captain Williamson advised them to go to the Falls, as the 
present city of Rochester was then called, where they bought of Indian 
Allen one hundred acres embracing a mill site at the edge of the fall, 
and also a tract in the center of the present city, on the west side of 
the river, of the Pulteney estate. Returning up the valley, Carroll and 
Fitzhugh purchased 12,000 acres in Sparta and Groveland, on which 
they subsequently resided, and Rochester purchased seven hundred 
acres in the latter town. Their families had been intimate in Mary- 
land, and in this new country they proposed to continue this intimacy 

1. See .'Vlbauy Gazette of Feb. iSoo. 

2. Mr. Carroll was boru at CarroUsburg, Md. (uow in the city of Washiugtou), Nov. 7, 1767; he 
died in Groveland Oct. 28, 1823. His remains lie in the Williarasburgh cemetery. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 2f)3 

and friendship. They returned to Maryland and in 1807 sent mit an 
agent named Begole to take charge of their lands. ^ 

At the legislative session of ISOO an act was passed for improving 
the State road from Utica to Geneva and incorporating a turnpike road 
company. The capital stock was fixed at 2,200 shares at $50 per 
share. The Commissioners under the act were Charles Williamson, 
Benjamin Walker, Jedediah Sanger and Israel Chapin. Books were 
opened for subscriptions to the stock at Geneva, Canandaigua, Utica 
and Albany. The prospectus estimated that there could annually be 
drawn from Onondaga, Cayuga, Ontario and Steuben upward of 
500,0(11) bushels of wheat, with a due proportion of other produce, and 
it concluded as follows; "Travellers all agree that the settlement and 
improvement of these counties have been more rapid and prosperous 
than that of any other tract of country of the same surface was ever 
known to be. Spirit of emigration still in its infancy, owing to the 
extreme difficulty of passing to and from it, as the present state of the 
roads for nine months in the year renders it almost impracticable to 
travel it even on horseback." 

At the election for State Senator in 1800 Sparta gave 37 votes 
for Jedediah Sanger, Hartford (Avon), 71 for the same candidate, 
Pittstown (Livonia), 69; Charleston (Lima) gave 94 for Nathaniel 
King and 22 for Jedediah Sanger, and Geneseo gave 75 for Sanger. 

The fall of 1801 proved to be quite sickly. The weather was un- 
commonly wet and bilious fever was very prevalent, though not of a 
very fatal type. Indeed, agues and other bilious complaints were 
common prior to 1804. Maple sugar making was common among 
farmers at this period, many of them making from five hundred to one 
thousand pounds in a season. The soil produced abundantly and 
bountifid harvests rewarded the labors of the husbandman. 

At the State election in May 1801 the candidates for Governor 
were Stephen Van Rensselaer and George Clinton, and the vote in 
the towns embraced in the present limits of Livingston county stood 
as follows: Charleston gave Van Rensselaer 51 votes and Clinton 63; 
Sparta, 10 for Van Rensselaer and 29 for Clinton; Geneseo, 22 for Van 
Rensselaer, 63 for Clinton ; Pittstown, 81 for Van Rens.selaer, 27 for 
Clinton; Northampton, 78 for Van Rensselaer, 10 for. Clinton; Hart- 
ford. 41 for Van Rensselaer, 25 for Clinton; giving Stephen \'an 

1. Begole settled at Hermitage aud became the father of a large family. 



264 IIISTtmY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

Rensselaer a majority of GG in the county. Govcrnnr Clinton was 
elected, however, by a majority of 3,965. 

The census of Ontario county taken this year showed 1 ,(>')! electors 
possessing a freehold of 100 pounds value, 247 electors possessing a 
freehold of 20 pounds value and 923 electors who rented tenements of 
forty shillings annual value. Sixteen hundred and thirty-four free- 
holders was the ratio to one Senator, and 860 electors to one Member 
■oi Assembly. 

The Indians, who had now e.\perienced the advantages of machinery, 
Avere no longer content to hew the material for their houses with the 
axe, nor pound their corn and other grains in the mortar. They 
wanted saw mills and flouring mills. At a council held in May IHOl, 
after deciding to annex the property of Squakie Hill and Little 
Beardstown reservations to Buffalo Creek, and Big Tree to Tona- 
wanda, they authorized their head men to negotiate for the disposal of 
Canawaugus reservation to secure means to erect a grist and saw 
mill, in case the land would amount to their cost. Soon after this 
their chiefs began to advise them to dispose of the other reservations 
along the Genesee, remarking that "our great reason for this exchange 
is that there are bad Indians living on these lands, and by placing 
them more compact will be the means of keeping them in better 
order," and they applied directly to Captain AVilliamson and Thomas 
Morris to aid them in exchanging their lands for other property. 

The observation of the Indians had advanced them another step 
toward civilization. At a council held near Geneseo in November 
1801, at which the principal chiefs of the Senecas and representatives 
of the Onondagas, Cayugas and Delawares took part. Red Jacket, 
speaking for his people, said, "We have assembled at this time to re- 
ceive our annuities. We have been treated fairly, but we wish next 
year that fine broadcloths be omitted and coarser woolen cloths be 
sent in their place, that a small portion may be divided to all, for our 
old men, women and children are now looking to you for something to 
screen them from the cold winter blasts and snows At this season, 
too, our young men betake themselves to the forest to procure game. 
They want more powder and lead. We no longer find our game at 
our doors, but are obliged t<i go to a great distance for it. and even 
then find it scarce to what it used to be. The white people are scat- 
tered so thicklv over the countrv that the deer have almost fled from 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 265 

us, and we find our-;elves obliged to pursue some other mode of 
getting our living. vSo all our villages have determined to take to 
husbandry, and we have concluded to accept the proposition of Presi- 
dent Washington when he told us we must learn the customs of the 
W'hite people, and he would provide us oxen to plow the grf)und and 
relieve our women from digging; with cows which our girls could 
learn to milk, and to make butter and cheese, and with farming 
utensils and spinning wheels. He told us we must make use ot beef 
instead of moose and elk meat, swine instead of bears, sheep in place 
of deer. Brothers! we desire you to make known to the President, who 
is in the place of General Washington^ that we agree to accept his 
oiler, for we find ourselves in a situation which we believe our fore- 
fathers never thought of." 

A gentleman travelling through this region in June, 18(i2, writes 
to the Albany Gazette that "the spirit of improvement which pervades 
all parts of this State the present season has no example in our history. 
Turnpike roads are now progressing with spirit in all directions. A 
chain of them stretch the whole extent of the route from Schenectady 
to Canandaigua, a distance of 193 miles, which it is expected will be 
completed by the middle of October. " Writmg in the latter month 
on the subject the Gazette says, "On the great turnpike much work 
has been performed, and although not finished the road in its 
whole extent has received most valuable repairs." Proposals were 
also made to the energetic Commissioners to carry the turnpike to 
Presque Isle, Niagara Falls. 

In the same year James Wadswortli offered to set apart one thou- 
sand acres of land adjoining the rix'er to encourage an English settle- 
ment, and adds, "I am disposed to offer substantial encouragement 
to the first English families who remove into this town." 

At the Senatorial election in May, 1803, Ontario county gave 808 
votes for Hyde, the Democratic candidate, and 105') for Matthews, 
the Federal candidate, showing a large increase in tlie aggregate 
vote in the count} . 

In October of this year the Holland Land Company advertised 
three millions of acres of land for sale. By 1SU3 there were about thir- 
ty families settled in Geneseo. In April, of that year James Wadsworth 
had fixed the price of the bottom lands adjoining the river at $4 to 

1. John .Ad.Tiiis. 



2M. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

$5 per acre, according to quality aiul situation, ami offered five 
thousand acres of these lands for sale. 

In 1803 Ontario county elected three Federal Members of the 
Assembly, Nathaniel W. Howell, B. P. Wisner and Amos Hall, over 
their Democratic competitors, Daniel Chapin, John Swift and E. 
Patterson, by an average majority of 350. At the State election in 
!May, 1804, Ontario county gave 792 votes for Lewis for Governor, 
and 1178 for Aaron Burr. The number of votes for Assemblyman in 
^lay, 1S()4, ill Hartford (Avon) was 134; Geneseo, 118, Sparta, 95; 
Leicester, 81; Southampton, 114. 

The summer of 1804 proved to be one of great scarcitv. James 
"Wadsworth, writing on the 19th of July of that year, says, "So great 
a scarcity of provisions has never been experienced in this country." 
The growing crop, however, proved a good one, and in November 
of that year a wagon load of Genesee wheat was carried to Albany 
from Bloomfield, 220 miles. The quantity was one hundred busliels 
and was drawn by four yokes of o.xen. It w'as purchased at Bloomfield 
for five shillings per bushel, and sold in Albany for seven shillings and 
three pence, the net proceeds of the load being not less than $100. 
The journey, notwithstanding the condition of the roads at that season, 
was performed in twenty days. This was the first venture of the kind 
yet undertaken of transporting by land grain from so great a distance, 
and was only justified by the e.xceptionally high price then ruling in 
the Eastern market, l A team with an ordinary load could make the 
trip over the turnpike from the Genesee to Albany and return in a 
fortnight. 

The price ot unimproved lands in 1S04 east of the Genesee ranged 
from $2 to $4 per acre, and for farms of one hundred acres, of which 
twenty to thirty were improved, with log house and barn, would sell 
for from $6 to $20 per acre; west of the river the best unimproved land 
sold for $1.50 to $2.50 per acre. 

Among the annoyances to which the pioneer farmer was subjected, 
not the least was the depredations of the Indians. The misappropri- 
ation did not always arise, perhaps, from deliberate intent to commit 
a larceny, but it required some time for the native to become accus- 
tomed to the white man's notion of the rights of property. It was 
not an uncommon thing for a farmer to find an Indian astride a horse 

I. .■\lb.Tiiy Gazette, Nov. 22, 1804. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 267 

in search for which he had spent days, and the coolness with which 
the native would listen to the reprimand was often as provoking as 
the loss of time occasioned by the search. Saddles, hogs, meat and 
wearing apparel were not infrequently taken. It was no satisfaction 
to obtain a judgment for costs against an Indian, for the officer could 
seldom find anything to levy upon. Farmers, therefore, resorted to 
General Chapin, the Indian agent, who, at the annual payment of an- 
nuities, would deduct properly authenticated accounts against the In- 
dians, and thus compel their chiefs to put a check upon the lawlessness 
of their followers. '^ The case, however, had two sides. The policy 
of the government toward the Indians was not fully defined. Gen- 
eral Knnx, in writing to General Chapin, called it "helter-skelter 
conduct," and often the wrong doing was traceable to the practice of 
dealing out whiskey and rum to the Indians, often by direct order of 
the government agent;* and sometimes the misdeeds of the uncivil- 
ized red men were committed to retaliate for the thieving of the 
whites upon them. The latter class of petty evils was so serious that 
the Indian agent was supplied with an annual allowance for paying 
the Indians for articles taken from them by the whites. 

In January, 1805, the weather was exceedingly cold. On the 5th of 
that month John Kennedy, of Sparta, perished on the road as he was 
returning from mill. His team was near hini when found. Two 
men were frozen in Livonia and others died from the same cause. 

The year 1805 proved to be one of prosperity to this region. James 
Wadsworth says, "People here are very healthy, and everybody who 

1. Below is given specimens of these accounts: 

"Received of Isr'l Chapin Thirty Dollars in fnll of .Shirts, vest, etc. stolen from me in June last 
by the Indians of Squaka Hill. Wll. \VAD.SWORTH." 

Canandaigna, 3 Ap'l, iSoi. 

Israel Chapin. Esq., Indian Agent, "Gcuesco, 23d September, 1799. 

To John Bosley. Dr. 
For 650 (six hundred and fifty) pounds of Pork, being hogs killed by the Indians (of Sqnaka Hill> 
as acknowledged by them in the presence of Mr. Parrish and Capt. Jones. 
Dolls. 40 Cents 62," 
(This bill is receipted by James Bosley for S20. ) 

2. In the .Spring of 1792 Israel Chapin, Indian Agent at Canandaigna, supplied to Farmer's 
Brother and party, on their return from Philadelphia, 240 pounds of beef, 300 pounds of flour, 100 
pounds of pork and 10 gallons of whiskey. 

In October of the same year General Chapin delivered 4;<> gallons of whiskey for the purpose of 
enabling Red Jacket's family to build :i house. 



2US HISTORY f)F I.IVIXCSTOX COUNTY 

minds his business is j^rowing rich." Fanners had come in large 
numbers, but there was as yet much lacl< of persons of other occupa- 
tions. In September of this year James Wadsvvorth wrote, "There 
is not a good tanner within twenty-five miles of tiie (-lenesee river." 

In the month of January, 1805, the same gentleman was interesting 
himself in the establishment of postal facilities. On the 5lh of this 
month he wrote to Postmaster-General Granger on the subject, and 
said, there being then no post-office at Geneseo, "We at present some- 
times send our letters to Canandaigua, distance thirty miles, and some- 
times to Hartford, distance ten miles. As the postmaster at the latter 
place — Mr. Hosmer — is not a little careless we are subjected to many 
inconveniences. * * * * By establishing a P. O. at this place you 
will very much accommodate this and the neighboring towns. I 
imagine that the receipts of the office will more than pay the expense 
of transporting and returning the mail once a week from Hartford to 
this place." Mr. Wadsworthin early days, was in the habit of offering, 
to exchange new Genesee lands for old Connecticut and other eastern 
lands. On the 1st of August, 18U5, he writes Samuel Finley. "I am 
desirous of encouraging the most respectable settlement from Marl- 
borough to this town. I have determined to offer two important 
farms, together with a new farm of 100 acres, to three respectable 
families of Marlborough or the adjoining towns. You are therefore 
authorized to offer these three farms to three inhabitants of industry 
and established and approved principles in exchange for their farms, 
subject to this condition, that their farms shall be appraised by Esq. 
Joel Foote." Mr. "Wadsvvorth also authorized a friend to advance §1^ 
to each of two good men of Berkshire county, to come and view the 
Genesee country. He took great pains to diffuse accurate information 
as to climate, crops and lands, and also worked indefatigably to stim- 
ulate the growth and prosperity of the settlements. In August, 1805, 
Mr. Wadsworth writes, "I am resolved on making the experiment this 
fall of sending mule colts to the Genesee river," and ordered the 
purchase of one hundred. 

A feeling of prosperity was experienced by many of the settlers. Mr. 
Wadsworth wrote in August of this year, "I feel myself rich in Gen- 
esee lands, and rich in the faith that in a few years they will command 
|20 to $30 per acre." 

The fever common to the earlv settlers, known as the "CJenesee 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 269 

fever," still made its appearance, and nearly all the first settlers were 
attacked by it. It was of a low typhoid type and proved fatal in sev- 
eral instances. In others it left the constitution permanently impaired. 
Notwithstanding this, the currents were setting strong in the direc- 
tion of the GeiTesee country. Pittstown (Livonia) was receiving ac- 
cessions, from the prudent and industrious class of New England agri- 
culturists; indeed, all parts of the country were receiving additions. 
In December, 1805, yir. Waclsworth writes, "Such is the prodigious 
influ.x of settlers to the (ienesee river that provisions will be very 
scarce ne.xt summer." 

A total eclipse of the sun occurred near mid-day on ilonday, June 
16, 1806. The centre of the eclipse passed over Lake Erie, 
the Genesee country and Albany, and thence outward into 
the Atlantic t)cean to the southward of Nova Scotia. The at- 
mosphere during the forenoon had been perfectly clear, and the 
sun was very bright until fifty minutes past nine, when a little dark 
spot became visible about 45° to right of zenith. Shades increased, and 
at a cjuarter past ten o'clock stars were seen and the atmosphere began 
to assume a pale and gloomy hue. At a qiiarter after eleven the 
sun was wholly obscured. It now appeared like a black globe with a 
light behind. The darkness which equalled a deep twilight lasted 
three minutes. Business was suspended, fowls went to roost, birds 
were mute except the whip-poor-will, whose notes partially cheered the 
gloom, and an occasional bat flitted from its hiding place. The dew 
fell, the thermometer dropped a half dozen degrees, a certain chilli- 
ness was felt and nature everywhere seemed to have taken on a sober 
aspect. At about eighteen minutes past eleven o'clock a bright spot 
showed itself to the left of the sun's nadir similar to the f(jcus of a 
glass when refracting the sun's rays, and as this increased a change, 
how pleasing can scarcely be conceived, took place in the complexion 
of things, and at about forty minutes past twelve the sun again shone 
forth in full splendor. Such a spectacle is so rare that it is not a mat- 
ter of surprise that the Indians, who looked with peculiar horror up- 
on celestial phenomena, should have regarded so unusual an event an 
omen of fearful import. On this occasion they were filled with alarm. 
John Hunt, one of the pioneer settlers in the town of Groveland, says 
that Dan ^IcKay, an Indian trader residing in Geneseo, was at Canea- 
dea on the morning of the eclipse, and taking his watch out he told 



270 HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUXTV 

the Indians that at such an hour the sun would be totally obscured. 
As the sky was perfectly clear and their untutored minds knew noth- 
ing of science, they refused to credit his statement, and went so far as 
to wager ten dollars with him that the event he assumed to foretell 
would not come to pass. Having thus staked his money on the cer- 
taitity of the eclipse's occurring, he put out his horse and waited the 
event. As the hour approached and the sky became overcast, the 
■countenances of aWS poor Indians were also overcast, and there 
was depicted thereon the greatest anxiety and consternation, and they 
ran to and fro in the most abject terror. The eclipse, however, was 
soon over with, and as the sun again poured down its flood of light the 
spirits of the Indians rose, and they resumed their wonted composure. 
They paid their lost bet like men, and McKay started home ten dollars 
the richer for having possessed a little more education than his dusky 
customers. 

In 1806 three Clintonian Members of Assembly were elected by the 
counties of Ontario and Genesee, which then voted together. 

The spring of 1806 was one of famine. James Wadsworth, under 
date of May 23d, says: "There is literally a famine in this land of 
milk and honey. A severe drought last summer cut off about half the 
crop of corn. The farmers, they hardly knew how themselves, con- 
siuiK-d their hay by the month of March, and have been compelled to 
feed out their grain to keep their cattle alive during a long, backward 
spring. They now find themselves destitute of bread to support their 
families. Six or eight families of the town of Southampton have 
applied to the overseer of the poor for assistance. I am supporting 
three or four families and expect to be called on by more soon. My 
brother has been compelled to turn forty fat oxen from our stables, to 
preserve the grain they were consuming for ]ioor families who Tiave 
not the means of subsistence." 

A writer to a friend at the East, in May, 18U6, says: "On my ar- 
rival I found upwards of thirty families at Mount Morris ready 
to go to work. Some of them have handsome properties." The 
settlements were still sparse, however. Richard Osbon, who settled 
in Leicester in 1806, said there was then but one house between Tus- 
carora, afterward the residence of Major Spencer, and Caledonia 
Springs. Where now is Vermont street in Conesus there was then 
no road and no settler, nor was there for several vears thereafter. 



HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUXTY 271 

Reverend Andrew Gray, a pioneer clergyman of the Presbyterian 
church, was preaching in Sparta in 1SU6, tiiough he subsequently ac- 
cepted a missionary appointment among the Indians near Lewiston 
(Livonia), and did not return to Sparta until after Buffalo was burned. 
In 180() the road from Bath through Dansville and Williamsburgh to 
Avon, was by law declared a post road. In the fall of 1806 the Post- 
master-General, Gideon Granger, established a post-office at Geneseo 
and provided a mail to Avon once a fortnight, the whole service to 
cost $2<') a year, and, says a letter of that day, "it accommodates us 
perfectly." A gentleman writing from Geneseo this same fall, says, 
"You are mistaken in supposing that in coming to this country you 
come to a desert; you will find better roads here than in Haddam,' 
and you will find most of the people who have been here two or three 
years enjoying the comforts of civilized life." 

In June, 18(16, James Scutt left Northumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, with his family consisting of his wife and ten children,- in a 
large covered wagon drawn by four horses and a yoke of oxen, reach- 
ing Sparta on the 1st of July. From Dansville they were obliged to 
cut a r<3ad most of the way to their new home. They settled in the 
woods on the Swick farm. There was no wagon road in any direction, 
except the one they had just opened. An Indian path ran from Con- 
esus to Hemlock valley, and nothing more. To the eastward stretch- 
ed an unbroken wilderness to Xaples, a distance of eighteen miles. 
In the territory now constituting the town of Springwater there was 
not a stick cut nor line drawn. A good many Indians roamed through 
the woods, and bears, wolves and deer by the score made their pres- 
ence known, while , panthers were far more common than welcome. 
Two years before bringing his family, ]Mr. Scott, who was an Irishman 
by birth, and a soldier in our Revnlutionary army from love for his 
adopted C(5untry, had visited Sparta on horseback in company with 
his wife, for the purpose of prospecting. The country suited the 
couple and in the fall two sons and one daughter came out, erected a 
log cabin, cleared oft' a piece of ground and sowed it with wheat. 
The next summer another son came out with a cnw. All went back 

1. Coutiecticut. 

2. One of whom was the Hou. Win. Scott of Scottsburgh. The names of the other children 
were Matthew, Anna, James, John. Charles, Jane, Thomas, Isabella and Samuel. 



272 HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUNTY 

to Pennsylvania in the fall and returned with the family. "The Sab- 
bath following our arrival in Sparta, "said Esquire Scott, "my father, 
one of the girls and four of us boys attended meeting at the house of 
George ^litchell, a log domicile two and one-half miles south of Scotts- 
burgh, where Samuel Emmett, a Methodist minister, preached a ser- 
mon to a congregation of twenty-five or thirty persons, who had gath- 
ered from a circuit of two or three miles. His text was Ecclesiastes 
X, 1. I had heard the good man preach in Pennsylvania five years 
before, and seeing him here renewed agreeable associations. His 
voice was loud enough to lift the bark roof from the low-browed house, 
and he had all the earnestness of early Methodism. There was much 
shouting, and some of his hearers fell with 'the power,' as it was called. 
The doxology was sung but no benediction was said except 'meetin's 
over.' The season was one of great scarcity, especially of wheat. We 
had learned this before quitting Pennsylvania, and had brought suffi- 
cient to last until our ripening crop, and a bountiful one it proved to 
be, could be harvested. Four of us brothers, of whom I was youngest, 
went over to Groveland hill to help in harvest. We worked for the 
brothers Hugh, Abraham and John Harrison. William and Daniel 
Kelly, and Thomas Bailey, William Magee on the Canaseraga fiats, 
Jacob Snyder, who had a crop at Hermitage but had moved to Hen- 
derson's flats before it ripened, and Thomas Begole. agent for the 
^Maryland Company. > In the fall we all went to MountMorris fiats and 
husked corn for Captain William A. Mills. Each hand of us got two 
bushels of corn in the ear for a day's work, and a brother with the 
two horses and wagon got si.\ bushels a day. By this means we se- 
cured a supply of corn for the winter. There were then but few in- 
habitants in the village of Mount Morris or Allen's Hill. Captain 
Mills was keeping tavern in a log cabin, and there were perhaps a 
dozen other log houses, occupied by the widow Baldwin, Deacon Stan- 
ley, Adam Holtslander^ and Grice Holland. A Mr. Hampton lived 
in a log house that is now called the Colonel Fitzhugh place,-'' and 

1. The purchase of Charles Carroll, Win. Fitzhugh aud Col. Rochester was then so called. 

2. Mr. Holtslauder resided at Mount Morris uutil 1S49, when he removed to Michigan, and 
died at Mount Morris in that State Febuarj* 27, 1S72. 

3. Now the residence of James W. Wadsworth. junior, and called from the former owner of 
the site "Hampton. " 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 273 

Joseph Richardson kept a store and tavern at Williamsburgh. I recol- 
lect seeing two sons of Mary Jemison at ^Nlount Morris. There were 
but few inliabitants at Geneseo, then generall)' called Big Tree. I re- 
member the two Wadsworth brothers, who had a store there in charge 
of William H. Spencer, either as partner or clerk, Colonel Lawrence, 
a Mr. Coates, Charles Colt and John Pierce. I know of none now who 
lived there at that time. 

"At Dansville I recollect David Shull, owner of the Williamson Mill, 
Samuel Culbertson (with whom I learned my trade as cloth-dresser, 
a good man), Peter LaFlesh, Neal McCay, Jared Irvvin, the first post- 
master, Matthew Patterson. David, James and Matthew Porter, Peter 
and Jacob Welch, Jonathan Stout, John Metcalf, Amariah and Lazarus 
Hammond, Owen Wilkinson, William Perine and Isaac Vandeventer. 
The first town meeting we attended in Sparta was in 18U7, and was 
held in the present town of Groveland, then forming a part of Sparta, 
at the tavern of Christian Roup, a log house standing nearly a mile 
south of the Presbyterian church. I recollect seeing at the polls. 
Captain John Smith, Joseph Richardson, Robert Burns, John Hunt, 
Andrew Culbertson, William and Daniel Kelly, Samuel Stillwell, 
James Rosebrugh, William ^McCartney, Alexander FuUerton, James; 
/Scott, the McNair brothers, Thomas Begole and William Doty. It 
was an orderly gathering, but little of political excitement. " 

^h^ first settlements in this section, as in all new countries in early 
o^ys, were located near navigable streams; and the little produce that 
v^ foimd its way to market was either floated down the Susquehanna and 
Delaware rivers to Philadelphia and Baltimore (the latter then afford- 
ing the best market) in arks, during the short season of three or four 
weeks of high water in the Spring, or to Montreal by the Genesee 
and Lake Ontario. The latter was the shorter route, but was attend- 
ed with delays and expense of portage around the falls at Rochester and 
below. The cost of sending a barrel of potash from the mouth of 
the Genesee across the lake to Montreal, in 1807, was one dollar, a 
sum which, measured by the price of grains at the place of production, 
was several times in excess of the present rate. Though in 1807 
James Wadsworth says that the road from Geneseo to Canandaigua 
was excellent, the wagonways were impassable for loads in the spring 
and fall, and so imperfectly were they yet bridged and graded that, 
except in midwinter, transportation overland was quite out of the 



274 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTOX COUNTY . 

<luestion. It must be recollected that the streams a hundred years 
ago averaged twice their present size. The clearing of the lands has 
■greatly diminished their power of absorption, and aged Indians a few 
years ago pointed to tracts of farming lands which were known to 
them in their childhood as marshes and swamps. The Commissioners 
appointed by the vState to consider the feasibility of a canal from Lake 
■Ontario to tidewater, reported as late as 1816 that the cost of trans- 
porting a ton of merchandise from Buffalo to Albany was one hundred 
-dollars, and the time required twenty days. As experience has shown 
that wheat will not bear profitable carriage over ordinary highways 
Ijeyond two hundred and fifty miles, it was not until the completion 
•of the Erie canal, which at once reduced the cost of freightage to one- 
tenth, and subsequently to one-thirtieth of overland charges, that our 
agricultural interests were fully developed. To the ark, however, the 
pioneer farmers were greatly indebted for transporting their marketable 
products, and they of ten referred to it with satisfaction. It was invent- 
•ed by a Mr. Kayder, residing on the Juniata river. The high prices 
of both flour and lumber at Baltimore, and the plentifulness of both 
articles in the new settlements, induced him to try the experiment of 
preparing a long, fiat float of timber, such as he supposed would suit 
the purpose of city builders, to be broken up and sold for lumber 
after discharging cargo. A temporary house or covering was placed 
•over the cargo, which often consisted of five hundred barrels of flour. 
Four or five men could navigate it at the rate of eighty miles a day.l 

In 1807 Portage contained only two houses, both of logs. No one 
lived at Nunda at that time, but there was a store at Hunt's Hollow 
kept by Mr. Hunt; the settlement also contained three dwelling 
houses. 

In April, 1807, Ontario and Genesee elected one Federal and two 
■Clintonian Members of the Assembly, and the vote on Governor in 
Ontario county stood, Lewis, 1462, Tompkins, 1240. The votes of the 
town of Avon were rejected in consequence of the inspectors having 
held the election for four days. The cavass showed 156 votes for Lewis 

1. Ill speakiug of markets at Bath iu 179.S, Captain Williamson gives the following prices: 

Wheat per bushel $1.00 Oxen, per yoke $ 70.00 

Rye " " ; 75 Cows, each 15.03 

•Oats and Com per bushel .-io An ox cart 30.00 

Parley per bushel 70 A log house, 20 x 20 50.00 

" " " of 2 rooms 100.00 



^ 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 275 

and 42 for Tompkins. Taking the whole of what is now Livingston 
county together, the votes were divided almost equally between Tomp- 
kins and Lewis. 

The months of January and February, 1807, were remarkably hard 
ones. The snow was very deep and steady cold weather prevailed. 
The smaller streams were frozen and the inhabitants of Sparta were 
compelled to go long distances to mill. The mill at Hermitage had 
been neglected and the water had frozen up. Samuel Magee was 
started to Bosley's mill with an o.\ sled with a grist for his father, one 
for Robert Burns and- one or two others. Starting long before day- 
light on a Monday morning, he found the weather bitter cold. Rid- 
ing and walking by turns, he reached the mill and was informed by 
Mr. Bosley that the water was frozen up hard and had been for several 
days, and the latter added, "I have more grain in the mill waiting 
its turn than I could grind in a month if I could begin to-morrow." 
"The building, as I saw for myself," says Mr. Magee, "was full up- 
stairs and down, and with no prospect of a thaw, so I started for 
home." Reaching Moses Gibson's tavern at the foot of Conesus lake, 
Gibson advised him to go to Henderson's mill, on the outlet of Hone- 
oye lake, seventeen miles distant. He remained over night, and 
starting early the next morning reached the mill without meeting a 
single team, and passing but two houses in the whole distance. He 
found a large number of grists ahead of him, but had the promise of 
getting his grinding done in the night time. But his grist was not 
reached until Saturday night, and he started for home early Sunday 
morning by way of the foot of Hemlock lake. On. reaching Scotts- 
burg the snow had left him, and he carried his grist on the hind 
wheels of Jacob Collar's wagon, reaching his home at ten o'clock 
Sunday night, having spent eight days in securing a single grist. 

In ISOS the Tuscarora lands, as they were then called, but later 
known as Major Spencer's farm, were occupied by squatters who 
gave great annoyance to land owners. The locality soon acquired a 
name more expressive than classical, "Buggarsburgh, " and was held 
in dread by neighboring farmers. The denizens of this unthrifty 
neighborhood so frequently visited the sheep folds on Wadsworth's 
flats, that the path thitherward became well trodden and was used 
for years afterwards, while their visits were always sure to subtract a 
unit from the sum of the fine flocks kept there. The squatters were 



27f. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

dreaded by the whole surrounding counlrv, hut finally a Phila- 
delphian named Jacobs bought the land and succeeded in clearing it 
of its lawless occupants. Among the number ^vas a former stage 
driver who had a worn-out horse whose legs were ill-mated, and 
when it dropped its foot seemed U> step clear over back on its fet- 
locks. Being at Genesee on some public day, his horse became the 
butt of the crowd. After a good deal of fun at his expense, he offered 
to bet a hundred dollars that Dobbin could travel one hundred miles 
in twenty four successive hours. The wager was taken, and it was 
agreed that he should go five miles north on the road to Avon and 
return, making ten miles each round trip, and make ten trips. The 
owner toed the mark when time was called, and actually made nine 
trips, or ninety miles, with two hours an:l a half to spare, when the 
parties who had taken the bet were glad to buy off. 

The election of 18U8 brought out a larger vote than usual, and re- 
sulted in 383 votes being cast for the Federal candidate for Senator 
and 47U for the Democratic candidate. ^ The vote of Lima, however, 
was rejected, owing to the fact that the returns, while declaring that 
"the poll was closed according to law," and giving the number of 
votes for each candidate, did not designate the office. 

A division of the great territory of Ontario county was early agi- 
tated by the settlers along the river, who found it irksome to attend 
the courts and examine the records at Canandaigua. In February, 
1808, a project was started to erect a new county, with the count)- 
seat at Avon, and a subscription paper was circulated to raise money 
to build a court house at that place. It had the countenance of Gen- 
eseo and the surrounding country, but was successfully opposed by 
Canandaigua. 

The credit system in business transactions prevailed to a verj^ 
large extent in the new settlements, and was productive, as it always 
is, of great evils. In August 1808 Mr. Wadsworth wrote to Major 

I. The vote stood as follows: Federal. Democratic. 

Sparta — . 18 126 

Avou ilS 38 

I^ivonia, 32 22 

Lima 82 69 

Oeiieseo 88 76 

Caledonia, 19 42 

Leicester 26 97 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 277 

Spencer that he Avas trusting a great deal and urged him to restrict 
his credits more. 

At the election of ISO') the town of Sparta cast V>S votes for Assem- 
blyman, of which the Democratic candidates each received 168 and 
the Federal candidates 30. Avon gave the Federal candidates 139 
and the Democratic 60; Livonia gave the Federalists 76 and the 
Democrats 50; 'Lima cast 103 votes for the Federalists and 19 for the 
Democrats; Geneseo gave the Federalists 89 and the Democrats 73; 
Caledonia gave 45 votes for the Federalists and 106 for the Demo- 
crats; and Leicester cast 27 votes for the Federalists and 21 for the 
Democrats. In 1809 Ontario count)' gave a Federal majority of 107. 
The previous year it gave 470 Democratic majority. 

A writer for an Eastern paper in May 1809 says "we have had 
a very severe winter. The oldest Indian does not recollect a winter 
equally severe. " 

In the summer of 1809 Asa Nowlen was advised to come to the 
Genesee country and open a blacksmith's shop. He was assured that 
a shop could be built for him in ten days. Iron he was told was easily 
procurable from Pennsylvania eighty miles distant. Nowlen had heard 
that the new country was unhealthy, but James Wadsworth assured 
him that "there was just as much foundation and no more for hang- 
ing witches in Boston a hundred years before as there is now for the 
report that our water is bad and that the inhabitants are all subject to 
the fever and ague." 

In March of this year ^Ir. Wadsworth made the following interest- 
ing announcement: 

"NOTICE TO NEW SETTLERS." 

"The subscriber offers for sale the following townships and tracts 
of land, in the counties of Ontario, Genesee, and Allegany, in the 
State of New York. 

"A tract containing upwards of 60,000 acres, situated within si.x 
miles of the landing in Falltown, on the west side of the Genesee 
River — this tract is divided into lots of about 100 acres. In order to 
encourage and accommodate industrious and enterprising settlers one- 
half of the land, consisting of every other three hundred acres 
throughout the tract, wilTbe sold for wheat, pork and neat cattle; the 



278 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

wheat and pork to be delivered at Falltown Landinjj;. The very- 
flourishing settlements of West Pulteney, Braddock's Bay and Fairfield 
are within this tract. The inhabitants in these settlements have been 
remarkably healthy. Vessels of 200 tons sail from Lake Ontario up 
the Genesee River to the lower falls; this place is called Falltown 
Landing and is only six miles from the tract now offered for sale. 
A barrel of flour can now be sent from Falltown Landing to Montreal 
for one dollar, and a barrel of pot-ashes for one dollar and a half ; 
these prices will be reduced as the business of transportation increases. 
Most articles of American produce command as high prices at Mon- 
treal as at New York. 

"The intervals and swales in this tract are timbered with elm, 
butternut, white and black ash, walnut, etc., the uplands with sugar 
maple, beech, basswood, hickory, wild cherry, white oak, black oak, 
chestnut, etc. There are a number of groves of excellent white pine 
timber. There are no mountains or ledges, and scarcely one hundred 
acres of waste land in the tract. Some of the intervals or flats will 
produce, if well cultivated, 80 bushels of corn, 800 weight of hemp, or 
2,000 weight of tobacco on an acre, and other crops in proportion. 

"Also the Township of Troupton, situated eighteen miles south of 
the village of Geneseo and adjoining the village of Dansville. This 
tract is within twelve miles of Arkport, a landing place on the west 
branch of the Susquehanna river; a barrel of flour may be trans- 
ported from Arkport to Baltimore for a dollar and a half and other 
articles of produce in proportion; the situation of this township is 
considered very healthy, the lands are fertile and well watered. 

"Also the town of Henrietta being township No. 12 in the seventh 
range on the west side of Genesee river; this tract is within eight 
miles of Falltown landing, and adjoins the flourishing towns of Hart- 
ford (now Avon) and Northfield; the lands in Henrietta are excellent 
and the settlement very flourishing; the lots adjoining the Genesee 
river containing handsome portions of timbered flats, are put at five 
dollars per acre, the back lots at four dollars per acre. 

"Also a number of lots in a tract of land, usually known by liie 
name of Allen's Flats, or the Mt. ^lorris tract, situated in the 
forks of the Genesee river, fifteen miles south of the great State 
Road to Niagara and four miles from the village of Geneseo. 
The tract contains about 10,000 acres, 3,000 acres of which are flats or 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 279 

interval. It has lately been surveyed into lots of convenient size; the 
village lots contain from one to forty acres, and the farm lots about 
one hundred acres each. The village is situated on elevated ground 
timbered with oak, and bids fair to be a very healthful situation. 
The subscriber will sell the upland and lease the flats, or will sell both 
upland and flats, as applicants prefer. 

"It is fully ascertained that the flats or intervals on the Genesee 
river are perfectly adapted to the cultivation of hemp. Mr. Stephen 
Colton, from Long Meadow, raised ten hundred weight of excellent 
hemp the last season on one acre of flats in Genesee. One hundred 
and si.x bushels of Indian corn have been raised on one acre in Allen's, 
flats, 

"Hemp may be transported by water from the mouth of the Gen- 
esee river to Montreal; or it may be sent from Arkport down the 
Susquehanna river, in arks to Baltimore, or it may be sent by land 
to Albany. 

"The price at which lots in the above tract are put, is from two to 
five dollars per acre. The subscriber usually requires the purchase 
money to be paid in four equal installments to be made in two, three, 
four and five years from the time of purchase, with one year free of 
interest; in some of the tracts he gives a credit of six and eight years. 

"Liberal encouragement will be given in different settlements to 
carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, millwrights and other trades- 
men. 

"The subscriber, in order to encourage the settlement of substan- 
tial New England farmers, will exchange a few lots for improved 
farms. 

"The tract of country in which the above described townships are 
situated, tho' north of New Jersey, resembles that state in the mild- 
ness of its climate. Peaches, apricots and nectarines grow to great 
perfection on the Genesee river. 

"A valuable salt spring is discovered in Braddock's Bay township. 
Salt can now be afforded at this spring at one dollar per bushel; when 
the works are extended salt will probably be afforded at fifty cents a 
bushel, the same price at which it is sold at the Onondaga salt works. 

"A turnpike road IS completed from Albany to Canandaigua; and 
from Canandaigua to Geneseo, and thence to the above mentioned 
settlements there are excellent wagon roads. 



280 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The subscriber has still for sale a number of reserved and other lots 
of land, in the midst of fiourishing settlements, in the towns of Gen- 
eseo, Hartford, Bloomfield and Pittstown; some of these lots contain 
handsome improvements. 

"JAMES WADSWORTII. 

"Genesee, (Ontario county) March. IS(i')." 

In the fall of 18U'>, General William Wadsworth visited Chancellor 
Livingston at his residence at Claremont on the Hudson, with a view 
to making himself acquainted with the tjualities of the Merino breed 
of sheep, and the best manner of rearing them. He also ordered 
fruit trees from Prince's Garden on Long Island for his orchard. 

In 1810 Colonel Nathaniel Rochester of Hagarstown, Maryland, 
came to Dansville with a view of locating. He had visited the place 
ten years before in company with Charles Carroll and Colonel William 
Fitzhugh. He purchased a mil! site and a residence of Jacob Opp,and 
in 1811 brought his family, consisting of his wife and several children. 
He erected a paper mill, which he sold in 1814 to the Rev. Dr. 
Endress. Robert Marr of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, was em- 
ployed as foreman. Under his contract Marr was to commence on 
the 1st of October, ISKi. ' After remaining in Dansville two or three 
years. Colonel Rochester purchased a farm in Bloomfield and moved 
thither; here he remained until 1817, when he went to Rochester. 

In 1810 the Democrats carried the election in Ontario county which 
elected five Democrats to the Assembly ; and Genesee county, which 
then sent but one member, also elected a Democrat. These two 
counties embraced the territory of this county. Peter B. Porter, a 
Democrat, was elected to Congress from the district composed of 
Ontario and Genesee counties. The same year the vote for Governor 
in the towns comprising the present county stood 343 for Tompkins 
and 32C) for Piatt. In the previous year, at the election for State Sen- 
ator, the vote of the county was equally divided between Phelps and 
Swift, the opposing candidates. 

Enterprise marked the progress of the settlements. The farmers 
had as vet formed no agricultural societies, but they never met with- 

I. Marr brought wiUi him from Chamhersburg, Pa., Horace Hil\ ami another man named 
Dugan, who were the first paper makers employed in the mill. Thomas H. Rochester, aged l.^. 
John Ward and Wm. Street were apprentices.— (Letter of Thomas H. Kochestcr t j the Hon. Wni. 
Scott.) 



HISTORY OF l.IVINGSTON COUNTY 281 

out comparing views and exchanging suggestions. "Agriculture 
might be rendered doubly productive," writes a farmer from this re- 
gion in ISli). ''We want some prominent character to give it a new 
direction, to lead into new channels. But who shall do it? Our great 
men have other fish to fry. Our papers are filled with comments on 
European politics, on orders in council and royal decrees, which our 
farmers do not nor will thev ever understand, and it would be no ser- 
vice to them if they did." This impatience was generally felt, and 
prompted farmers to improvement in their stock and to better modes 
of planting. In that year a dairyman was brought from Orange coun- 
ty and placed on Wadsworth's home farm, fruit trees were ordered 
from Long Island, and experiments were made with different grains 
and utensils. 

The dirt roads, owing to the character of the soil and the imper- 
fect manner in which they were laid out and worked, were always an 
impediment. AVhen the ground was soft the wagon way was sure to 
be cut up and rendered next to impassable by the narrow tired wheels 
in common use. To remedy this, the great Western Turnpike Com- 
pany in the summer of 1810 determined "that all wagons passing 
over their road, the wheel tires of which are six inches broad or up- 
wards, shall be exempted from paying toll at any of its gates for the 
period of two years. "^ Every teamster was thus prompted to pro- 
vide himself with broad tired wagons. John White, of Groveland, had 
seen ten horses on a wide tire wagon which would exactly track with 
the narrow tire wheels, and would completely fill up and smooth over 
the ruts made by the ordinary vehicle. 

The months of January and February, 1812, were exceedingly cold. 
"a tremendous winter," as a letter dated the latter part of March of 
that year says. "The ground is now covered with snow and we are 
obliged to give out grain. The wintering of our stock will cost us 
half as much as it is worth, and my brother has had the blues for six 
months." The winter had set in with unusual severity and proved to 
be the coldest of any then experienced. A month later the same writ- 
er says; "Our section of the country is very flourishing. Wheat and 
all kinds of produce command money, and settlers are flocking 
to the Genesee river from all quarters. The embargo renders busi- 
ness dull, but almost any tradesman, with or without a family, would 

I. Albany Oazette, July g, iSio, 



282 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

find constant employmfnt in our little village (Geneseo). A good! 
shoe and boot maker and tailor would make property fast. Farm 
hands command from ten to twelve dollars per month." Merchandise 
had uniformly been brought up the vSusquehanna and thence over- 
land from Elmira to DansviUe. But in the fall of 1812 (Jeorge Smith 
brought the last load of goods by that route in a covered wagon drawn 
by six horses. 

The year 1812 added little to the population of this region, notwith- 
standing the promise of the early season. "The war is a complete 
damper to all sales of new land. I have not filled out a dozen land 
contracts this season," says the principal land owner of this section, 
"indeed, more settlers have gone out than have come into the Gen- 
esee country. " 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 28.^ 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE WAR of 1812, though favored by the great body of the 
people, embracing the Democratic party and many of the op- 
position, was nevertheless opposed by an influential though 
small minority of the Federals. The Eastern States, with the 
e.xception of Vermont and a large part of New York and New Jersey, 
were op[)osed to it. Pennsylvania and the South and Southwest favor- 
ed it. 

The district comprising the county of Livingston was largely Dem- 
ocratic, and gave the war a cordial support. Major General William 
AVadsworth, commanding the militia of the division which embraced 
the county, promptly offered his services and they were as promptly 
accepted. Colonel Lawrence, of Geneseo, also volunteered and was fol- 
lowed by a large part of his command. 

War was declared on the 18th of June, 1812, and on the 
morning of the 13th of October of the same year about 230 men, 
under command of Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, crossed the 
Niagara river from Lewiston to drive the British from Queens- 
town Heights. Colonel Van Rensselaer was severely wounded be- 
fore the little force moved from the Canada shore. Though 
General Wadsworth was charged with the duty of superintend- 
ing the moving of the troops and was entitled by his rank to com- 
mand the force, he promptly requested Captains Wool and Ogilvie, offi- 
cers of the regular army who had seen service, to direct the move- 
ments; and they resolutely pushed up the hill, assaulted the intrench- 
ments and drove the enemy out. As the Americans entered the works, 
General Brock came up from the direction of Fort George with a 
force double their number, and attempted to drive them out. The 
battery that had just been taken by our troops was so efficiently 
worked, however, tliat the British were driven back in confusion, and 
General Brock, among others, was killed. Reinforcements were at 
once ordered from Lewiston. but the reluctance of the undisciplined 



284 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

militia, tullv l,5ii(i in luunbcr. to cross the river and talce part in de- 
fending the heights on the plea that they had volunteered to 
defend the "lines" and not to invade foreign territory, so delayed 
the work of preparation that an additional force of regular soldiers of 
the enemy sent from Fort George under General Sheaffe arrived, 
and the Indians also collected from Chippewa, and by the middle of 
the afternoon, after an obstinate fight, retook the intrenchments 
and either killed or made prisoners all who had so gallantly and success- 
fully stormed the heights in the morning. Had our forces been sus- 
tained, as they should have been, by their companions who stood pas- 
sive on the opposite side of the river, they might have held the advan- 
tage so brilliantly won. General Van Rensselaer who had crossed to the 
American side to urge the militia to cross, on finding that they would 
not do so, despatched a letter to General Wadsworth, then in com- 
mand, informing him of the predicament, and leaving the course to 
be pursued to his judgment, assuring him that if he thought best to 
retreat boats would be furnished and fire opened on the pursuers; in- 
deed, every measure would be taken to render the retreat as safe as 
possible. The note, however, reached General Wadsworth too late. 
He was already engaged with General Sheaffe when the despatch was 
placed in his hands.' 

The indisposition of the militia to respond to the call of their officers 
so displeased General Van Rensselaer that he quit the service and re- 
turned to Albany. He was succeeded by General Ale.vander Smyth, 
who "took command of the American forces on the frontier. " The 
surrender at Oueenstown had depressed the spirits of the army as well 
as of the whole country . On taking command General vSmyth plan- 
ned a descent upon Canada. Many of the New York militia had 
shown an unwillingness to cross the Niagara river, and, to stimulate 
their patriotism and encourage enlistments for a "month's duty," he 
issued on the 10th of November, 1812, a flaming proclamation from his 
"Camp near Buffalo." In view of the utter failure of this enterprise 

I. General Van Rensselaer says of General Wadsworth, in his account of the battle of Queens- 
town, "General Wadsworth, a brave and merilorious officer, was requested to superintend the 
moving of the troops," and in his letter of resignation he ineutious as distinguished in this battle 
General Wadsworth and his aid, Major Speucer. 

In the battleof Queenstown. when his aninnniition ran low. Major Spencer (Win. H. Spencer) 
serving as aid to General Wadsworth, got olf his hoi"se, ran along among the wounded and dead, 
gathered the cartridges from their pouches into his hat, and distributed them to the adv.Tucing 
soldiers with the incouraging injunction, "Here, hoys, are more balls. Now give it to 'etn! " 




Major General William Wadsworth, 
From Portrait in Possession of Major William A. Wadsworth. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON' COUNTY 285 

and of his total want of military skill, the manifesto reads like the 
vaporing's of a master of comedy. The call, addressed "To the Men of 
New York," opens with a brief review of military operations, followed 
by a sharp criticism of the course of his predecessors in command. It 
continued thus: "In a few days the troops under my command will 
plant the American standard in Canada. They are men accustomed 
to obedience, silence and steadiness. They will conquer or they will 
die." Referring to the "ruthless deeds" of the officers of the British 
King, he proceeds, "Where I command, the vanquished and the peace- 
ful man, the child, the maid, and the matron, shall be secure from 
wrong. The present is the hour of renown. * * * » * 

You desire your share of fame? Then seize the present moment. 
If you do not you will regret it. Advance then to our aid. I will 
wait for you a few days. Come in companies, half companies, pairs, 
or singly. I will organize you for a short tour. Ride to this place 
if the distance is far, and send back your horses." 

This call was promptly responded to in Western New York. A 
company of about thirty was raised in the village of Dansville, under 
command of William B. Rochester as Captain. Sparta and Groveland 
united in raising a company of about the same number. James Rose- 
brugh was Captain and Timothy Kennedy Lieutenant. When they 
were ready to march the weather was cold and the frozen ground was 
covered with snow. The volunteers marched on foot to Buffalo, where 
they were at once mustered in as infantry. Soon after, -on a cold win- 
ter night, the army was marched down to the river at Black Rock and 
placed in boats, which lay in large numbers under the shore. After 
some hours' delay, expecting any moment to receive orders to move 
across and support the advance force that had already been sent over, 
the sound of a bugle was heard from the Canada side of the river, fol- 
lowed soon after by the announcement that the expedition, of which so 
much had been promised, had been abandoned. Smyth himself remain- 
ed on the American side. Orders shortly came that the volunteers 
should return to their homes and the regulars to winter quarters. 
General Porter, who strenuously urged that the army should cross 
over, published Smyth as a coward. The army was indignant, and 
the country felt disgraced. Smyth, who was promptly relieved of his 
command by the Government without trial and excluded from the 
regular army, made his way to his home in Virginia on horseback 



286 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

accompanied by his aid, to escape being mobbed b)' the soldiers 
and populace. An officer who had served with him met him on the 

road near Geneseo and says, "Smyth looked as if the d 1 had 

sent his compliments to the braggart. He travelled under the con- 
stant apprehension of being attacked." In passing the Benway farm 
in Groveland, he sighted a hawk on a tree several rods from the road, 
and pulling a pistol from its holster brought down the game without 
slopping his horse. He spent the night at Stout's tavern in Dans- 
ville, where he had an opportunity to observe many a silent evidence 
of the popular prejudice against him. 

These two failures caused much depression of spirits throughout 
the country, and also a long and bitter discussion. The militia were 
much blamed by some for not promptly crossing the river and aiding 
General Wadsworth in the battle of Oueenstown. But while some 
condemned them without measure, others justified their course. 
General Wadsworth himself, though blaming them for not performing 
their duty, was prompt to defend them against the wholesale aspersions 
of Eastern journals. In a letter to General Van Rensselaer he wrote, 
"I do not now say where the regulars or militia were who were not 
there to be counted off and afterward surrendered. It is clear they 
were not where they ought to have been. It is Major Spencer's, as it 
is my opinion, that the whole force surrendered by me, or, rather, 
which was embodied, did not exceed, including officers, 400 men. I am 
conscious that on the 13th and on every other day during the campaign 
I did, or endeavored to do, my duty. With this I shall rest satisfied, 
however editors may estimate my services. I am aware the niilitia 
have faults, but they have merit too, and of that merit they ought 
not to be deprived unless it is intended to render them useless in 
future."' 

General Wadsworth was made jirisoner at Oueenstown and placed 
on parole. He went to (ieneseo, and while there and before his ex- 
change General Smyth's fiasco occurred. He was impatient to re- 

I. AccompauyiiiK the letter were certificates from Colonel (Winfield) Scott ami Lietiteuant 
Israel TArner, 13th U. S. Inf. The fonner certifies that the number of troops under his command, 
formed in two divisions in the 13th, did not exceed 130, exclusive of (17) officers, at the time the 
letreat was ordered. There were 253 militia infantry and rifles embodied. These certif- 
icates General Wadsworth requested General Van Rensselaer not to publish, adding, "Too much 
has already been published. We diii not lug politics into the camp, and I do not see why we 
should he lugged into the political discussions of the day." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 287 

turn to the service. He writes in December, while still on parole, 
that "the epidemic which originated on the lines has spread through 
the country by the returning volunteers, and is proving fatal to many 
•of the inhabitants. I am not well and not without apprehension that 
the epidemic may lay claim to me, but not, I hope until I am e.\- 
■changed and can see General Smyth punished for his impudence and 
folly." 

Turner, in his "Phelps and Gorham Purchase," says: "All the long 
•delay of action, all the waste of time and neglect of opportunities that 
the militia had witnessed; and lastly, the errors of the commanding 
General in reference to the crossing place, and the inadequate prepar- 
ations for crossing did not dampen the ardur or patriotism of 
the men of Western New York. In fact, we have it upon the 
authority of General Van Rensselaer himself that he brought 
on the conflict because the temper of these men would not firook further 
delay. * * * * They soon realized the fatal omission to 
supply boats for crossing, and this, in itself, was a most untoward be- 
ginning of the day's work." And after graphically portraying the 
scenes of that attempt to cross the river under a heavy fire, he says: 
■"It is amid the clash, the smoke, the excitement of battle, that cour- 
age rises and enervates; it sinks even with the brave, when they are 
surrounded by the dead and the dying, and are in the state of in- 
action. Still the militia pressed forward and endeavored to cross. 
When they refused to do si^ it was under the deliberate conviction, m- 
duced by all they had seen of that fatal morning's work, that all was 
lost; that with the vastly inadequate means of crossing a sufficient 
force could not be landed at one time, to insure a conquest, and only 
enough for successive sacrifices. In no case, in all the annals of 
battles, have undisciplined militia continued to stand firm, and press 
on when there was so much to discourage; so little to hope for. 
* * * * Too long have the surviving men of Western New 
York, and the memories of the dead, been allowed to rest under cen- 
sures mainly undeserved." * * * Those of them who crossed 
the river and bravely fought, and gallantly strived for laurels in 
a conflict so illy arranged and povided for, have had but little credit 
for it." 

From about the 1st of December, 1812, to the middle of March, 
1813, a disease spoken of by General Wadsworth in the letter just 



288 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

quoted and known to physicians as tj'phoid pneumonia, prevailed in 
Western New York as an epidemic and malignant in form. Dr. 
Lyman X. Cook, of Dansville, who had good opportunity profession- 
ally for judging of its severity, says: "I doubt its ever having been 
more malignant or fatal at any time or place. The cold chill, which 
suddenly came on, was of such severity and duration that it was gen- 
erally denominated the 'cold plague," and many cases terminated 
fatally without reaction being restored. The fatality was about the 
same as in cholera — one in three — but as fatal cases leave a stronger 
and more lasting impression on the mind than cases of recovery, I pre- 
sume the rate of mortality is generally believed to have been greater." 
Such, indeed, is the impression. The pioneers refer to the "epi- 
demic" as usually jiroving fatal. There is scarcely a burying ground 
in the country that is not strewn with the graves of its victims. The 
disease originated in the British army in Canada, and passed into the 
American army in camp on the Niagara frontier. Hospital accom- 
modations were then so poor that where patients were in a condition 
to be removed they were allowed to return to their homes, and while 
the medical profession did not hold that the disease was contagious, 
yet, as it broke out in the settlements so soon after its appearance in 
the army and the return of the sick soldiers, the conviction fastened 
itself upon the minds of the pioneers that it was communicated in 
this way, which is probably true. It rapidly spread over the United 
States arriving in Florida in about three years. This disease, which 
"has repeatedly prevailed in different portions of the United States, 
as an epidemic, often of wide extent, and in its earlier visitations 
producing an amount of mortality truly appalling," is described as "a 
state of congestion or inflammation, more or less intense, of the lungs, 
accompanied by that impairment of the sensorial powers and morbid 
condition of the circulation and of the organism generally, which 
characterize the more grave forms of typhus fever. Instances are 
known in which the patient was found dead, or died within three or 
four hours after being apparently well."' Of the cough, which 
usually came on within the first twenty-four hours, and the "remark- 
able ])ink-colorcd suffusion of the whole face," an early set- 
tler says: "Swollen-faced, rose-colored patients would be found 

1. Watsou's Lectures ou the Principles .iu<I Practice of Physic, p, 602. Prof. -Samuel Henry 
I>icksoii calls the disease, Pneumonia T\-phoides. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 289 • 

barking in every house throughout the settlement, calomel 
and hemlock for sweating, the usual remedies, were in con- 
stant demand. Some got well, but many died. Though long 
years have passed away since the horrors of the epidemic were a pres- 
ent thing, yet the general features of the disease are so clearly fixed 
in my recollection that I feel safe in asserting that the spotted fever, 
which has so recently prevailed in this region, is identical with epi- 
demic or cold plague." In this view some medical authorities concur, 
though it is authoritatively held that the two diseases are totally 
different. One is inflammation of the lungs, the other inflammation 
of the covering of the brain and spinal cord, the only resemblance 
being that both are epidemical. 

(^n the 27th of May, 1813, Fort George, which stood on the Canada 
side of the Niagara river opposite Fort Niagara, was taken by the 
Americans. On the night of the 6th of June following the British fell 
upon the American camp, but were repulsed. At this time the army 
was 6,000 strong, under command of Generals Lewis, Chandler, Boyd 
and Winder, who were with their brigades, and Colonels Scott and 
McComb with their regiments, while Commodore Chauncey, Captain 
Perry and other naval officers were present. The capture of Fort 
(leorge was the first e.xtensive military operation of the war. 

After the capture of Fort George General Dearborn, commanding 
the American army, landed and the next day ordered the British 
General Vincent and his flying troops to be pursued, when it was too 
late. Generals Winder and Chandler were sent in pursuit, but were 
assaulted at Forty ^Mile Creek on the 3d of June by Lieutenant Colo- 
nel Harvey and both Generals were taken. As soon as Dearborn was 
informed of this disaster, he sent forward General Morgan Lewis with 
more troops to join Colonel James Burn and bring Vincent to action, 
which Lewis was well disposed to do. Delays ensued and at last, on 
the 23d of June, the final mishap of our campaign in Canada that 
summer occurred. Colonel Charles Boerstler, then lately promoted 
to the command of the 14th Regiment of Infantry, was permitted 
to take 600 men to a considerable distance, contrary to obvious in- 
junctions of prudence, — 600 men out of reach of support — to destroy a 
British lodgment. On the 24th of June he arrived at a point a short 
distance from the Beaver Dams, and seventeen miles from Dearborn at 
Fort George, when, as he was about to attack a stone house in which 



290 HISTORY OF T.IVIXGSTON COUNTY 

Colonel Bishop was intrciicht-d, he was suddenly beset by between 
500 and 600 Indians on one side and a small party of English under 
Lieutenant Fitz Gibbon on the other. After a long fight, Boerstler, 
alarmed by the threats of the savages and deluded by offers of capitu- 
lation, out of reach of succor and with only a hopeless struggle before 
him, surrendered his whole command with tears in his eyes. 

Congress had been in session a month when this event occurred, the 
climax of continual tidings of mismanagement. Such was the feeling 
of impatience aroused by these disasters, that a committtee of Con- 
gress waited on President Madison with the request that General 
Dearborn be removed from a command which so far had been most 
unfortunate. The President assented to this request, and another 
general was appointed to the command of the American forces. 

In September, 1813, the Independent Artillery Company of Gene- 
seo, under command of Captain John Pierce, about ()0 strong, vol- 
unteered for three months' service. When the order came to move, 
private John Haynes of Lakeville was engaged in clearing a piece of 
new ground; the other members were likewise engaged in their ordi- 
nary vocations. They were sent to Lewiston Heights and there 
assigned to guard duty in Major (Jeneral "Wadsworth's division. 
They took out a brass six-pounder. All the members save one, who 
■came from Groveland, were from the village and town of Genesee. 
Their Lieutenant was John Gray. Their first term of service was 
■without special incident, save that in common with other militiamen 
they refused to cross the Niagara river. Captain Pierce had been 
placed in charge of a battalion and the men, after the end of their 
term, without being formally mustered out, returned to their homes. 

In September, 1814, the company again volunteered as minute men 
and were ordered to the Canada frontier and there detailed for garri- 
son duty at Fort George, near Lewiston. When the British crossed 
the river to retake Fort Niagara, a band of Indians and a company of 
British regulars attempted to capture this company. Unable to 
withstand the attack of this force, which proved to be much greater 
than their own, the men were ordered to save themselves. Each 
therefore made his best speed. Looking around soon after starting, 
private Haynes saw the enemy close upon their rear and the men 
striking back with their swords. A private soldier named Jones and 
.another named Hubbard were never heard of after this retreat. In 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 291 

the same melee private Timnthy Ortnn was killed by the roadside, a 
hundred yards east of Lewiston village. Mr. Haynes had been 
ordered by the Lieutenant commanding to get away as best he could, 
but encumbered with knapsack, sword and musket he could not 
readily mount his horse. "Hand me your musket," said the officer. 
This done, Haynes mounted, and as he did so the cannon passed him, 
the horses being pushed to the top of their speed. In crossing a ditch 
one of the horses stumbled and a few feet further along being forced up 
the steep bank, they both fell. Some one called out, "For God's 
sake go, they are coming!" He looked back and saw the enemy in 
full force close upon them; so severing the traces he left the cannon 
and brought off the horses. 

A few days after Orton's death his father and Esquire Fay went out 
after his remains. He had been buried, but the man who performed 
this act at once pointed out the grave, for he immediately recognized 
a strong family likeness between father and son, and he had also re- 
marked a conspicuous scar on the face of the corpse made by the kick 
of a horse, thus leaving no doubt as to its identity. The remains were 
reinterred near Lakeville^ a fortnight after the death, in presence of 
hundreds of sympathizing friends and neighbors. 

The company took part in the battles of Lundy's Lane and Bridge- 
water, and fifty who were ordered to Fort Erie participated in the 
battle of Chippewa in the sortie at Fort Erie — one of the most 
splendid achievements of the war — and in the action that preceded 
tlie blowing up of that fort. On the evening preceding the sortie. 
General Porter came into the fort to obtain reinforcements for the 
party about to storm the enemy's works which were situated in the 
swamp near at hand. A muster of the garrison was accordingly 
ordered. Of the company about SO were present. Stirring speeches 
were made and the Generals said that the British ititrenchments were 
soon to be .stormed and they were short of men to carry muskets. All 
who had nerve enough for the duty were, therefore, asked to volun- 
teer. Although the dragoons were not required to carry muskets, 
21 of the company stepped forward. Dr. D. H. Bissell, late of 
Geneseo, and Judge Gilles were among the first to do so; and in the 
•order of march these two men continued on the right of the line up 

1. He lies in the buri.Tl ground on llie hill, beside the highway leading from Geneseo. The 
Sfrave is marked by a stone with this simple inscription : "Timothy Orton, Died Dec. 19, 1813." 



2<J2 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

to the enemy's breastworks. The force marched from the fort to a 
large oak tree and there halted a moment. One of the generals here 
asked if any one present had a full canteen of spirits. Dr. Bissel offered 
his. Each general and staff officer took a drink and returned it 
nearly empty. Five minutes later they were engaged in a deadly 
conflict with the enemy. 

In December, 1813, General Lewis, having replaced General Dear- 
born as commander of the American forces, left Colonel vScott in 
charge of Fort George, at that time our only foothold in that part of 
Canada after nearly two years' fighting. Eager to share the honors 
of the capture of Montreal, Scott left the fort under the command of 
General !McClure of the New York militia and joined the force organ- 
izing for the Montreal campaign. After Scott's departure, the British 
Lieutenant-General, Drummond, resolved with 1,200 men to retake 
Fort George. McClure proved no match for Drummond in spirit, if 
in force, or for Colonel Murray, who brought on the English advance. 
After a vaporing proclamation to the Canadians, as if they were a 
conquered people, the General, on the defeat of one of his scouting 
parties, called a council of war, which resolved to abandon the fort as 
untenable, although Scott left it well provided with artillery and am- 
munition, with open communication to one side of the river and 
complete for resistance. The fort was abandoned and dismantled 
and McClure, not satisfied with simply abandoning a good position, 
set fire to the flourishing village of Newark, destroying one hundred 
and fifty houses and turning more than four hundred women and chil- 
dren out of doors. On crossing the river he saw from Fort 'Niagara 
these people taking shelter from the wintry blasts at Oueenstown, 
opposite and fired red-hot shot at that place to deprive them of shelter 
there also. 

This barbarous conduct inllanied the enemy and gathered a force 
of British and Indians, after making due preparations they attacked 
Fort Niagara, which, after a feeble resistance of the garrison, surrend- 
ered at discretion. Thenceforward until the close of the war the 
British held this fort. After capturing it, on the 19th of De- 
cember, 1813, and in retaliation fi)r the burning of Newark, 
they laid Youngstown, Lewiston, ^lanchester (now Niagara Falls) 
and the Tuscarora Indian village in ashes. On the 3(ith of December 
the little villages of Black Rock and Buffalo were destroyed in like 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 293 

manner. I With Fort Niagara the British captured 300 men, an im- 
mense quantity of commissariat stores, 3,(11)0 stands of arms, several 
pieces of ordmance and a large number of riHes. Sixtv-five of our men 
were put to death with the ba)-onet, and the British had reason to feel 
that they had amply revenged McClure's cruel course. 

Turner, in speaking of this event, says: "The citizens commenced 
their flight soon after the first repulse of our troops at Black Rock; 
but few lingered until after daylight. After putting in requisition 
all the available means of conveyance — even to the last yoke of oxen 
and sled — many of the women and children were under the necessity 
of fleeing on foot, wading in the snow at an inclement season, illy 
prepared for the vicissitudes they encountered. In all the distance 
from Buffalo to Batavia during the day there was upon the road an al- 
most unbroken procession of citizens and panic stricken soldiers pressing 
on in the retreat as if they were hotly pursued; and the wounded and 
sick, in sleighs or upon litters. Other avenues of flight, especially the 
south road, through what is now Aurora, Sheldon, Warsaw, etc. to 
the Genesee river, presented similar scenes. The taverns were soon ex- 
hausted of their means of feeding the hungry throng and pri i^ate houses 
) ielded to-the importunities of the famishing stinted supplies of pro- 
visions that had been stored for the winter's use. From the start 
upon the frontier, the first and second day, the throngs were con- 
stantly increasing by the addition of families along the roads that 
would hastily pile a few of their houeshold goods upon sleighs, horse 
or hand sleds, and join in the flight. After the first day"s flight, those 
who were considerate enough to realize that they were out of danger 
would take quiet possession of deserted houses without the formality of 
a lease. Upon the old Buffalo road Batavia was the first stopping 
place, and the small village was soon filled to overflowing; private 
houses, offices, out-houses, were thrown open to shelter the wearied 
and suffering who had been driven from the frontier. As a measure 
of precaution, the books and papers of the Holland Land Company's 

I. When the news that Buffalo was bnrueil reached Couesiis. through Captain Tyler of Livouia 
(who was killed in the war), two brothers, Joseph Richardsou, a cripple, andjonathau Richardson, 
resolved to take their teams aud convey soldiers to the lines. Joseph was killed at Black Rock by 
a ball, which passed through his heart. The friends sent to Buffalo for his remains and they were 
buried in Livonia. Jonathan was taken prisoner, carried to aioutreal and Halifax, and after si,\ 
mouths reached home. On his way to Montreal he was urged forward on the march at the point 
of the bayonet. While in prison he was nearly starved to tleath. Joseph Richardson, Jr.. son of 
the Joseph named above, made his escape before Buffalo was taken. 



2'M HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Office were removed over the river to Lima. * * * * West 
of a north and south line that would pass through the village of Le- 
Roy more than one-half of the entire population had been driven 
from their homes by the enemy, or had left them in fear of extended 
invasion. Entire backwoods neighborhoods were deserted, hundreds 
of log cabins were desolate, and the signs and sounds of life were 
mostly the deserted cattle and sheep, lowing and bleating, famishing 
for the lack of fodder there were none left to deal out to them. Be- 
tween the boundary that has been named and the Genesee river there 
had been less of flight ; the tide flowing eastward had been partially 
arrested; many wishing to stop as near their deserted homes as their 
ideas of safety would allow found friendly shelter for the winter 
among those who remained undisturbed. The largest portion of the 
refugees, however, were hospitably provided for east of the Genesee 
river. " 

In the spring of 1814, Captain Enos Stone of Rochester, Lieutenant 
Claudius V. Boughton of Pittsford and Abell Parkhurst of Lima, 
Ensign, raised a company of cavalry for short service. Governor 
Tompkins had received permission from President Madison to organ- 
ize a few thousand six-months men, and this company was accepted 
under that authority. The enlistment roll was opened in March and 
the company was full in April. The men were drawn mainly from 
Lima, Bloomfield and Pittsford, with a few from Leicester. They 
rendezvoused at Rochester and were there mustered into Porter's 
Volunteer Dragoons. This force was ordered to the mouth of the 
Genesee river, where a command of 2,5i)0 men was collected and 
stationed along the side hill facing the lake, to prevent the British 
troops from moving up the river, as they were then threatening to do. 
Scarcely had the dragoons reached Charlotte before several of the 
enemy's vessels entered the harbor and commenced throwing shot and 
shell into our lines. Temporary earth works were thrown up and fire 
opened on the ships which soon hauled away. 

Soon after this aftair General Porter and several of his officers, 
among whom -was Dr. Bissell, took a trip on horseback through 
Ontario arid Cayuga counties for the sake of drill and to encourage en- 
listments. At Aurora, General Porter, Colonel Stone and Captain 
Boughton plunged into the lake, and the company officers rode in 
after them and mischieveously crowded them further from shore, to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY - 295 

the great merriment of the male spectators, but to the annoyance of 
their superiors and the consternation of the ladies who had 
assembled. 

Captain Stone, soon after entering the service, was promoted to 
a colonelcy, and Lieutenant Houghton took command of the com- 
pany. Colonel Stone was afterwards suspended from command for 
permitting, as officer of the day, his soldiers to burn the village of 
St. Davis, opposite Lewiston, in settlement of some animosities be- 
tween them and the Canadians. He was indignantly disarmed by the 
commanding officer and discharged, and while on his way home from 
the army died at LeRoy of a broken heart. He felt that he had been 
greatly wronged and doubtless was innocent of any intentional im- 
propriety. The burning of this village occurred just after the battle 
of Chippewa had been won. and while General Brown was resting in 
doubt whether to attack Fort George or to follow up and attack 
Riall. It was the only wrong of the campaign and was promptly 
punished, though a worthy officer suffered disgrace thereby. 

Captain Boughton afterward resided in Victor, Ontario county, and 
represented that county in the Assembly. Lieutenant Parkhurst died 
at Lima about the year 1832. 

The company entered the service 162 strong and when mustered 
out numbered only 48 men. The others had either been killed in 
battle, died of wounds or camp disease, or were taken prisoners. But 
very few had deserted. 

On the 15th of July, 1814, General Porter with his brigade of 
volunteers. Major Wood of the Engineers and Captain Ritchie with 
two pieces of artillery, drove in the British pickets at Fort George 
and formed the brigade within a mile of the fort, in full view of the 
enemy, with little opposition. Colonel Wilcocke with his American 
Canadians, Captains Hall, Harding and Freeman, of the New York 
Volunteers, and a company of Indian warriors, advanced under cover 
of a copse of trees to within musket shot of the fort and gave Major 
Wiiod, with hardly any loss, an opportunity to examine the works; 
a few of Captain Houghton's New York Cavalry were surprised 
and captured. 

After the battle of Lundy's Lane, on the 25th of July, in which 
(General Druminond was so badly worsted, a whole week elapsed 
before he was able to move forward. On the 3d of August 



2'»f, HIST(^RY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY 

he stationed 4,000 troops two miles east of P'ort Erie with 
a wood between the fort and his encampment. Finding the fort 
too strong for assault he determined to besiege it. The following 
day he made an unsuccessful attempt on the American magazines, 
which General Brown had transferred to Buffalo, prudently guarded 
by Major Morgan with part of the rifle regiment taken from Fort 
Erie. 

During several days Drummond was busy with preparations to 
take Fort Erie, while Gaines, who had command of the fort, was 
equally active in preparations for defense. Both sides were rein- 
forced and at sunrise of August 13th, Druminond's arrangements 
lieing completed, the engagement commenced with a severe cannon- 
ading. About sunset of the 14th a British shell burst in the magazine 
of the battery commanded by Captain Williams and blew it up with 
a tremendous explosion, but without doing any material damage. 

At two o'clock on the morning of the 15th, the British troops in 
three columns of about 1,500 men each moved in obscurity and 
silence to the assault. Their watchword was "steel," and General 
Drummond's written orders of attack recommended a free use of the 
bayonet. Afterward, when the two armies were in deadly conflict, 
his voice was often heard shouting, with profane brutality, to give 
the "damned Yankees no quarter." Several instances of revolting 
cruelty on the part of the British soldiers occurred. To repulse 
Drummond's attack the American forces had been well disposed. 
General Gaines' position was on the margin of the lake, where the 
Niagara river empties into it. The ground was a level plain, a few 
feet above the water, and was strengthened by breastworks in frcmt. 
intrenchments and batteries. Fort Erie, small and unfinished, was 
defended by Captain Williams, supported by Major Trimble's infantrjv 
General Porter, with his brigade of New York and Pennsylvania 
volunteers, occupied the center. The left was defended by Major 
McRae, with the 9th Regiment under Captain Foster, and New 
York and Pennsylvania volunteers uniler Captains Bbughton and 
Harding. The fight continued until nearly dawn, when the enemy fled 
in complete disorder and dismay, and our victory was a decided and 
glorious one. 

During the month following this engagement very little was done 
bv either armv. At the end of that time (General Brown, who had 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 297 

again assumed command of the American forces, determined upon a 
sortie from Fort Erie. The British Army, consisting of three in- 
fantry brigades of l,20(l or l,5(i(> men each besides artillery, was 
encamped in a field surrounded by woods, nearly two miles from its 
batteries and intrenchments, in order to avoid the American fire. A 
brigade of infantry attended the artillerists when at work. Two bat- 
teries were completed and a third was in rapid course of construction. 
all mounted with heavy guns, one of them a 68 pounder and all well 
supplied with ammuniticjn. These works (leneral Brown determined 
to attack. For seven days preceding the sortie there was a continual 
equinoctial storm of rain, which did not, however, prevent frequent 
skirmishes, and favored many desertinns from the English camp. 
General Brown decided to attack the enemy's works by da)% as being 
then least guarded, and an attack least expected. He had carefully 
made himself acquainted vvith the topography of the vicinity, and 
had had his soldiers cut roads through the woods, unperceived, close 
to the enemy. Colonel Jessup with the 25th Regiment remained 
in charge of the fort, and soon after noon of the 17th of September the 
men were paraded and got ready for the attack. The left column, 
destined for Drummond's right, was placed under General Porter, to 
pePiCtrate circuitously between the British batteries and camp, thus to 
surprise and overpower the one-third at work before the other two- 
thirds off duty in camp should come to their help. Of Porter's three 
columns. Colonel Gibson with two hundred of his rifle regiment and 
some Indians led the advance. Lieutenant Colonel Wood, with 400 
infantry headed by INIajor Brooke of the 23d, and with the 1st regi- 
ment, had the right, supported by 50i) militia of the regiments of 
Colonels Dobbin, JNIcBurney and Fleming, which force was to attack 
the batteries. The rain fell in torrents, hence the free use of fireams 
was rendered impossible. Porter led his column close up to the 
enemy's intrenchments, turned their right without being perceived 
by their pickets and soon carried by storm battery No. 3, together 
with a strung blockhouse. 

In half an hour after the first shot the three batteries and two block- 
houses were taken, the magazine blown up, all the guns rendered use- 
less and every object of the sortie accomplished, with considerable 
loss, indeed, Init with a success l)eyond (Teneral Brown's most san- 
guine e.xpectations. 



29S HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY 

The Americans retired wiih .^SS prisoners, many of them officers, 
and the total British loss was reckoned at 1,000. (leneral Brown's loss 
was about half that number. 0\vin.t; to the rain, which prevented 
the free use of rifles and muskets, the most of the battle was fought 
hand to hand. 

This sortie was by far the most splendid achievement of the cam- 
paii^ii, whether we consider the boldness of the conception, the excel- 
lence of the plan or the ability with which it was executed. To (Jen- 
eral Brown the whole credit is due, although he had the enthusiastic 
support of Porter and several of the younger field officers. Brown 
was advised not to make the sortie, and at a council of officers held the 
evening before they decided against it, but he did not give up. In 
his emphatic manner he said, "As sure as there is a God in heaven, the 
enemy shall be attacked in his works, and beaten too, so soon as all the 
volunteers shall have passed over." 

General Izard joined Brown and Gaines in October 1814. At Wash- 
ington and everywhere the belief prevailed that Izard would capture 
Drummond. On the ISth of October ')()(J men of Izard's second bri- 
gade under Colonel Bissell, the 5th Infantry under Colonel Pickney, a 
battalion of the 14th under Major Barnard, the 15th under Major 
(iriedage,the 16th under Colonel Pearce,with rifle companies command- 
ed by Captains Irvin and Darman and a small l)ody of dragoons, were 
sent to Cook's mill, twelve miles north of Chippewa, to capture some 
flour there. The next day the Marquis of Tweedale, with a select 
corps of 1,20'J men from the British intrenchtnents, attacked Bissell, 
who defeated and put them to preci[)itate flight in great confusion. 

The Americans abandoned and destroyed Fort Erie November 5, 
1814, and crossing the river went into winter quarters at Buffalo, Black 
Rock and Batavia. On the 15th of February, 1815, the war ended, 
and the settlers were once more permitted to lay down their arms and 
return to their homes and the peaceful vocations of their rural life. 

No attempt has been made, in this cha[)ter, to give a detailed account 
of this struggle, and nothing has been said of the operations of our ar- 
mies in other parts of the country than the Niagara frontier, the writer's 
aim being simply to give some accoinit of those military operations in 
which the settlers c)f the Genesee country were directly interested, and 
in which they participated. The complete history of the war has al- 
ready been written by historians with nhose wnrks the reader is pre- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 299 

sumably familiar, and it is neither the province of this work 
nor the desire of the writer to review it. Conscious that the details of 
this disjointed narrative are very meager, enough has been told 
to show that the early settlers of this region responded readily when 
their country was in danger, as they and their fathers had done in the 
Revolutionary war; and it is seen that the service they were called 
upon to perform was of the most arduous and dangerous character. 
In it some gave their lives, while others returned to their 
homes, to enjoy for many years the fruits of their dearly bought vic- 
tory. And some until a few years since we still had with us, aged 
but honored and useful citizens, to whom it was a pleasure to listen as 
they recounted the trials and sufferings, the reverses and victories of 
this second war with CJreat Britain. 

The result of this struggle was highly beneficial to the Genesee 
country. Many of the difficulties with which the early settlers had to 
contend were removed, and life and property became more secure. The 
jurisdictional limits of Great Britain were defined and established, and 
thenceforth there was no interference with the progress of the settle- 
ments, as there had been previously with ,Sodus and other places. 

Little mention has been made here of individual settlers who partici- 
pated in the war, but the names of others will appear in the town 
sketches. Livingston furnished her full quota of troops when men were 
needed, and her record is one of which we have just reason to be proud. 
It is said that one town alone (Avon) lost more men in defense of the 
frontier than the entire county of Niagara, Of the patriotic devotion 
of the early settlers no more need be said than this. 

After the close of the war. the tide of emigration set strongly in 
the direction of the Genesee country and the growth of the settle- 
ments was exceedingly rapid. The "cold summer" of 1816 acted as 
a check for a time, but subsequent favorable seasons with their abun- 
dant crops gave a new impulse to emigration, and in spite of the great 
drawback of a lack of markets for their surplus grain settlers came in 
a steady stream. The wild forests disappeared, well tilled fields be- 
gan to dot the landscape, and flourishing villages sprang up here and 
there, where a few years before only dense forests, with the red men 
as their only inhabitants, had existed. 

About the 1st of October, 1814, Jerediah Horsford settled in Mount 
Morris. This good man was born in the town of Charlotte, Chit- 



300 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON CCR'NTY 

tendeii county, Vernnjin, on the Stli of March, 17'»1. His parents 
lived in a sparsely settled part of the State, and all about them was 
a dense forest. At the age of six years he was sent to the district 
school, two miles distant. The following winter a school was opened 
about si.\ty rods from his father's house, but it was not intended by 
his parents that he should attend, and probably it had not occurred 
to them that he could go during the winter season when the ground 
was covered with snow, as he had not up t<") that period of his life 
known the hi.xury of shoes. But he urged his parents to allow him to 
attend school, and he actual!}' did so for several winters 
barefooted. His method of surmounting this difficulty was both orig- 
inal and ingenious. Procuring a thick pine board large enough for him 
to place both feet upon he heated it thoroughly before the, fire. 
Taking this in his hand he would start at the top of his speed through 
the snow, until his feet began to suffer from cold. He would then st(jp, 
stand upon the board until his feet were warmed and then start again, 
and after two or three such stoppages would reach the coveted goal.-* 
It maybe imagined that one who evinced such zeal and determination 
in his efforts to acquire an education, would make the most of his op- 
portunites. This was true of young Horsforcl, who, although working on 
his father's farm every summer and often in winter being required to 
assist in chopping and preparing the year's supply of wood, kept up his 
studies and made such good progress that at the age of eighteen he was 
employed at ten dollars a month to teach a district school, a vocation 
he [lursued for four winters consecutively. With the opening of his 
first school he united with a dozen young men in his native village in 
the formation of a debating society, which for several years held meet- 
ings regularly and proved an eflicient aid to Horsford in his intellect- 
ual advancement. 

In the spring of 1.S14 Mr. Horsford resolved to seek his fortune in a 
new country at the West. With this object in view lie gathered his 
little property, consisting of an old horse and a very cheap lumber 
wagon and single harness, all worth about S7o, and §2tH) in cash, and 
on the 2','th of March started for the Genesee X'allcy. He located at 
Mount Morris and commenced farming, a pursuit he followed until 
late in life. In 1S16 he was married to Maria C. Norton, daughter of 
Ebeuezer Norton of Goshen, Connecticut. Soon after settling here 
he was honored by Governor DcWitt Clinton with a lieutenant's com- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 301 

mission in tiie militia. This was soon followed by a captain's com- 
mission, which he held for six years, when he was promoted to a colon- 
elcy. Holding this commission for two years he asked for and obtain- 
ed an honorable discharge. 

In the spring of 1S17 Mr. Horsford removed to Moscow, where he 
opened a public house. This business he followed for twelve years 
using and dealing in into.xicating liquors, as was the universal custom 
in those days. Mature reflection upon the subject, however, convinc- 
ed him that the traffic in alcoholic drinks was immoral in tendency, 
productive of a vast amount of suffering in the community and, in 
fact, wrong. He therefore abandoned the liquor business, but kept 
his house open for a few months until, finding that he could not make 
any profit except by selling liquor, he took down his sign fully deter- 
mined never thereafter to engage in business which cotdd not be car- 
ried on without the aid of intoxicating drinks. 

"When I ccmimenced business in Moscow," said Mr. Horsford, "the 
travel on the east and west road through the place had become very 
considerable, especially in the winter season when emigrants from the 
east were in great numbers passing to the west and southwest." At 
this time there were three public houses in Moscow, each of which 
was doing a fair business. "In those days it was the cus- 
tom, and the practice was almost universal with families that 
were moving, to take their own beds and provisions along with them, 
cook and eat at public houses as they could and spread their beds, 
which were not always any too clean, on the floor at night, when they 
usually seemed to rest quite soundly. This practice was by no means 
confined to low life. I will cite one instance of the opposite extreme. 
At the close of the administration of Hon. Quincy Adams, Peter B. 
Porter, his Secretary-(.)f-War, on retiring from office at Washington 
came across the country from Philadelphia on his way home in a 
heavy lumber wagon, described at that time as a 'Pennsylvania wag- 
on,' drawn by two heavy horses. Mr. Porter, his wife, children, ser- 
vant girl and teamster all passed a night at my house. At the usual 
hour for retiring beds were brought in from the wagon and spread on 
the floor for Mrs. Porter, the children and domestic. Mrs. Porter, in 
consequence of her position, was asked and even urged to let the young- 
er portion of the family occupy the beds on the floor, and herself 
retire with her husband. This proposition she very respectfully de- 



302 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

•clin^. saying she had slept on the floor every night since leaving 
Washington and preferred to do so until she should reach her own home 
at Black Rock. It was not unusual to have four or five beds spread on 
the floor at the same time, and occupied by families moving." 

During the winter of 1814-15 Mr. Horsford taught the district school 
at Hunt's Corners, in the town of Groveland; in the summer of 1815 
the district school at Mount Morris, and during the winter of 1815-lC) 
he taught an Indian school at vSquakie Hill, under an engagement with 
the Synod of Geneva. At this time the number of Indians young and 
old residing at this place was about eighty. 

The "cold summer" of 1816, before alluded to, was a time of great 
calamity. Save for thfe loss of life. Turner says it was as severe in 
Its effects as the war. He says, "June frosts almost entirely destroyed 
the summer crops; in the forepart of the month pools of water were 
covered with ice. Upon one occasion, especially, in a forenoon, 
after the sun had dissipated the frosts, the fields and gardens looked 
like prairies that have been scorched by fire. Summer crops, other 
than the hardier grains, were crisped and blackened ; the hopes and 
■dependence of the people were destroyed. The wheat harvest was 
mostly delayed until September, previous to which in all the more re- 
cently settled towns and neighborhoods there was much suffering for 
food. Wheat was from $2 to §3 per bushel before harvest, and in the 
absence of summer crops the price but slightly declined after harvest. 
The inhabitants of nearly the whole of the Holland Purchase, and all 
of Allegany, depended upon the older settlements in Ontario for bread. 
The Indians upon the Genesee river had a sinall surplus of corn of the 
crop of 1815, which the white inhabitants bought, paying as high as 
$2 per bushel. In the new settlements wheat and rye were shelled out 
while in the milk, and boiled and eaten as a substitute for bread, while 
in many instances, the occupants of log cabins in the wilderness sub- 
sisted for weeks and months upon wild roots, herbs and milk. The 
season of 1816 was the climax of cold seasons; that of 1817 the com- 
mencement of a series of fruitful ones; of plenty, and would have been 
•of prosperity if there had been remunerating markets for produce. 

The condition of W'estern New York in 1S17 is well described by 
Franklin Cowdery, in the Cuylerville Telegraph of March 18, 1848, 
of which journal he was then the publisher, in an article entitled 
""Forty Years a Typo." He says: "Western New York, in 1S17, was 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(JSTOX COUxXTY 303 

verdant and woody, and roads and bridges not much for accomtnt.ida- 
tion. The ice in the winter and a rope ferry in the summer were the 
substitutes for a bridge over the Genesee river between Moscow and 
Geneseo. The only paper mill was Dr. James Faulkner's at Dans- 
ville, a place of hardly tenements enough to entitle it to the naine of a 
village. Mount Morris had a tavern, a few mechanics, and a small 
store kept by Allen Ayrault. Himi. John H. Jones, of Leicester, kept 
an inn and was first Judge of Genesee County. 

"Moscow square, covered with bushes, had been just laid out and 
a few small frame erections put up, and two or three tenements re- 
moved there from Leicester about a mile, standing. An academy, 
in a rough looking cabin of two rooms, male and female departments, 
with perhaps a dozen or fifteen students in all, was kept by Ogden M. 
Willey and Miss Sarah H. Raymond, of Connecticut. A low brick 
school room, at the east end of the square, was the meeting house on 
Sundays. A blacksmith shop, a tavern, a store, and a printing office, 
made up the rest of the village. Deputy Sherifi: Jenkins kept the inn, 
N. Ayrault, P. ^L, the store, and Richard Stevens was the blacksmith. 
There was a Dr. Palmer, lawyer Baldwin, and a justice '.vho had been 
a minister. Rev. Silas Hubbard; and there was a hatter, H'Mner Sher- 
wood, and a tanner and shoemaker, Abijah Warren.'" In a subsqeuent 
article Mr. Cowdery adds: "There were other inhabitants at the be- 
ginning of Moscow, not in mind at the setting up of our preceding 
chapter, namely, Benjamin Ferry, tanner and shoemaker, successor to 
A. Warren; Moses Ball, cabinet maker; Theodore Thompson, grocer; 
Levi Street, stage proprietor and eventually inn-keeper; Peter Palmer, 
Sen., a cooper and natural poet, and Widow Dutton, one of whose 
daughters is the lady of Dr. Bissell, Canal Commissioner. " ' 

The printing (jffice referred to by Mr. Cowdery, belonged to Heze- 
kiah Ripley, who had in January, 1817, established the first paper pub- 

1. Colouel I.ymau gave the foUowiug as the prevailing prices for fariu products and mauti- 
factured articles in 1817: 

Wheat, per bii., 31 cents. Butter, per pouud, 6 cents. 

Corn, per bu., 18 cents Eggs, per dozen, 6 cents. 

Oats, per bu., 12?^. 
Horses and cattle were ver^' cheap. 

Satinet, per yard, 28 shillings. Molasses, per gallon, 10 shillings. 

Cotton Shirting, per yard, iS cents. Whiskey, per gallon, 1 shilling. 

Nails, per pound, iS cents. 
Wedding suits for men were made of the best satinet, and the usual marriage fee was oue 
dollar, payable in cash, produce or deer's tallow. 



:,04 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

lished in the county, and two or three weeks later employed Cowdery 
as a "typo." It seems incredible now that the thinly settled Genesee 
country at that time could have had any need of a public journal, or 
the ability to support one. yet this newspaper venture in the wilder- 
ness seems to have at least maintained its existence, thmigh subscrib- 
ers must have been few and far between, and advertisers even more 
rare phenomena. 

On the 15th of July. ISl'i, William Burbank advertised in the 
".Moscow Advertiser" that he had taken the stand at the river, be- 
tween Geneseo and Moscow, "which he is fitting up for the accommo- 
dation of travellers. * * * He also assures travellers that no exer- 
tions shall be wanting to give them a safe and expeditious conveyance 
across the river. A new boat will be immediately built, when he will 
be able to ferry any teams that shall travel our roads."' 

In the same paper as the above, in the issue of March 11, ISl'l, under 
the head of "Assembly Proceedings," it is stated that "the bill to di- 
vide the towns of Livonia and (Tfoveland, in the county of Ontario, was 
rejected in committee of the whole, for want of sufficient notice of the 
application." 

Another notice in the same number of this pioneer journal serves 
to show where the early settlers found their most remunerative mar- 
ket. William H. Spencer announces that "any person living the west 
side of the Genesee river, who contemplates sending pork, flour or 
ashes, to the Montreal market the present or ensuing season, can be ac- 
commodated with storage, and have their property forwarded if de- 
sired. Warehouse Point is about four miles below Moscow. The 
advantages of the place for .storing property is, that it saves 12 or 15 
miles boating, that would be required, was the landing to be at the 
Ferryplace, between Geneseo and Moscow." 

A large share of the advertising patronage of this paper was from 
those who offered "one cent reward and no charges paid, "for run- 
away indentured apprentices, and those who advertised thefts and tres- 
passes on their wood lands. 

In August, 1810, the "Advertiser" announced that a new post-office 
had been established at York, and ]\Ioses Hayden, Esq., appointed post- 

I. Ala term of Court held at Balavi.i in November 1S05, a license was granted to James 
Barnes to ferry across the Genesee river at Leicester. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 305 

master. "This office is on the new inail-rnute from this village to 
Rochester. " 

At an early day the staple product of the Genesee valley was wheat 
and the principal income was that derived from its sale for shipment 
to Baltimore or Montreal. In 1820 eight or ten boats were employed 
on the river in transporting the crops of the county purchased at Gen- 
eseo, Mount Morris and Canawaugus. A portion of the crops of the 
valley was sent to Arkport, and thence in arks or flat boats to Balti- 
more, which afforded a good market. Produce intended for the Mon- 
treal market was sent down the river to Rochester. The large farm- 
ers sometimes marketed their own wheat, a course not unattended 
with expense. One of them relates that his wheat was ground at 
Wadsworth's mill near (jeneseo; he then drew it to Avon; paid stor- 
age there; paid freight down the river and storage above the falls at 
Rochester; freight to Carthage (below Rochester) and storage there; 
freight to Ogdensburg and storage there ; freight to Montreal and 
storage there; commission for selling, and "cooperage everywhere" 
on the line. After paying for a draft on New York, he had eigh- 
teen pence per bushel left for his wheat, without counting the cost and 
labor of transportation to Wadsworth's mill and thence to Avon 
bridge. 1 

Such were some of the difficulties which the early settlers had to 
meet, but after years brought the canals, the network of railroads 
and shipping facilities such as these pioneers never imagined possible, 
^ime has worked wonders, and the busy, wealthy and prosperous 
county bears little resemblance to the sparsely settled and isolated 
Genesee country of eighty years ago. 

I. On the 1st day of November, 1S03, the foUowiug uotice was published iti relation to the 
bridge mentioned in the text : 

"Genesee bridge proposals will be received by Commissioners .\sher Sexton and Benjamin Elli- 
cott for building a bridge over the Genesee between the towns of Hartford and Southampton in 
the connties of Ontario and Genesee." 



306 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE COUNTY of Livingston was erected from parts of the 
counties of Ontario and Genesee, by act of the Legislature, 
on the 23d of February, 182L It is now divided into seventeen 
towns, Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo, Groveland, Leicester, 
Lima, Livonia, Mount Morris, North Dansville, Nunda, Ossian, 
Portage, Sparta, Springwater, West Sparta and York. 

It is situated between the parallels of -42° 33' and 43° 0' north lati- 
tude; and 0° 37' and 1° 8' of longitude west of Washington. Gene- 
seo, its capital town located near the center, is two hundred and ten 
miles in a direct line west of Albany, and sixty-one miles east of 
Buffalo, twenty-eight miles south of Rochester, and si.xty-three miles 
north of the Pennsylvania border. It is the third county in the niid- 
•dle range east of Lake Erie. Its extreme length from north to south 
is thirty-seven miles; and its greatest width east and west is thirty 
miles. It is bounded on the north by the county of Monroe, on the 
■east by Ontario and Steuben, on the south by Steuben and Allegany, 
and on the west by Genesee and Wyoming. Its general form is that 
of an imperfect square. Its area is 655 square miles, or 419,200 acres. 
Its population at the census of 1900 was 37,059; when organized in 
1821 it had a population of about 19,800. Its greatest popula- 
tion according to the census was in 1840, at which time by including 
the town of Ossian since then annexed, it numbered 43,43(> inhabi- 
tants. 

When erected the county contained twelve towns. Of these 
eight, Avon, Freeport (Conesus), Geneseo, Groveland, Lima, Livonia, 
Sparta and Springwater, embracing about two-thirds of the territory 
and a like share of the population, were taken from Ontario; and 
four, Caledonia, Leicester, Mount Morris and York, embracing the 
remaining third of the area and population, were taken from Gene- 
:see. In February, 1822. the northwest part of the town of Dansville, 
in Steuben county, was annexed to Sparta. In March, 1S25. Freeport 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 307 

■was changed in name to Bowersville, and in April of the same j-ear 
the latter was changed to Conesus, which it still retains. In May, 
1846, the towns of Nunda and Portage were added from Allegany; 
and in March, 1857, Ossian was annexed from the same county. In 
February, 1846, Sparta was divided, and three towns, Sparta, West 
Sparta and North Dansville, erected therefrom. 

The county originated in the conviction that such a change would 
essentially forward the administration of justice and otherwise pro- 
mote the convenience of the body of the people. The boundaries of 
the counties of Ontario and Genesee at the time of the division em- 
braced an area of not less than thirty-seven hundred square miles, an 
extent of country nearly three times as great as the whole state of 
Rhode Island. The same territory now forms the counties of Ontario, 
Genesee, Monroe, Livingston, Yates, Orleans, Wyoming and part of 
Wayne. Nor were the two old counties unimportant in point of popu- 
lation or wealth. One hundred and si.Kty thousand souls, or more than 
a tenth of the whole population of the State at that time, had already 
made their homes there, and immigration was daily adding to their 
numbers; while the valuation of their real and personal estate was 
fifteen and one-half millions of dollars, or one seventieth. of the aggre- 
gate valuation of the Commonwealth. 

The movement for division was sharply contested from the outset, 
for, though the active opposition to the measure was in a minority, it 
was a minority of no little strength. Favoring division, however, was 
a party of more than equal zeal, who appealed to the daily experience 
of the pioneers, and cited the benefits that had resulted from subdi- 
viding the original counties. Indeed, there were those among the 
population, men by no means advanced in years, who could remember 
all the subdivisions that had occurred. The original counties of the 
province of New York were formed, as it will be remembered, in 1683, 
and for nearly a century the old county of Albany embraced all the 
vast territory of the present State lying north of Ulster county and 
west of the Hudson river, including of course the whole of the Gene- 
see country. But the progress of settlement at length broke in on 
those long established boundaries, and in 1772 Tryon county, named 
after one of the British governors, was taken from Albany. It in- 
cluded all of the then province of New York lying west of the Scho- 
harie creek. In 1784 Tryon was changed in name to Montgomery, 



308 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

in honor of the heroic general who fell at Quebec. Montgomery had 
five subdivisions, one of which, Kingsland, covered most of the west- 
ern settlements. Ontario was taken from Montgomery in 1789, and 
included the whole area to which the pre-emptive right had been 
ceded to Massachusetts, and most of which, being afterwards 
sold by that State to Phelps and Gorham, passed into the possession 
of the Holland Land Company and the Pulteney estate. Hence, 
Ontario county, when organized, covered the whole territory em- 
braced within the bounds of the vState west of the pre-emptive line,' 
and which now forms twelve counties and part of a thirteenth. ^ Thus 
at successive periods, as will be observed, the county of Livingston 
has been a part of Albany, Tryon, Montgomery, Ontario and (iene- 
see, and portions of it of Steuben and Allegany counties. 

The large territory of the two counties of Ontario and Genesee im- 
posed unequal burthens on the towns. The more distant ones were 
put to an undue share of expense and loss of time in the transaction 
of business at the respective county seats. The, rapid -growth of the 
Genesee country, then regarded as next to incredible, rendered fre- 
quent transfers of land necessary, and a more ready access to the 
county records became each day a matter of greater moment. Liti- 
gation, of which all new countries have their full share, compelled the 
frequent attendance of jurors and witnesses as well as suitors. These 
were drawn from their distant fields and workshops and compelled to 
submit to the tedious delays attending over-crowded courts, at serious 
cost of time and money. 

We of this age of turnpikes and railroads, of daily mails and pro.x- 
imity of records of land titles, and especially of adequate court facili- 
ties, are little likely to realize the extent of the evils experienced half 
a century ago. Then highways newly laid out and indifferent at best, 

1. The pre-emptive line was situated a mile east of Geueva. 

2. The territory theu formiug Ontario County was commouly kuowu as the "Genesee Coun- 
try." From Ontario have been formed the following counties: Steuben (1796); Genesee (1802); 
Allegany (l8o6); Cattaraugus (1808); Chautauqua (180S); Niagara 11S08); Erie (1821): Monroe (1821); 
Livingston (1821); Yates (1823); Orleans (1824); Wyoming (1S41I: Wayne, in part (lS23>; in all, thir- 
teen counties, excepting a part of one. Oliver Phelps was appointed First Judge, on the organi- 
zation of the county in 1789, and General Vincent Matthews was the first lawyer admitted in the 
court which theu held jurisdiction over that vast region. The Genesee river became the boundary 
line between Ontario and Genesee on the erection of the latter county, and so continued until 
the erection of Monroe and Livingston counties. The ground now covered by the city of Roches- 
ter, lying on both sides of the river, was theu divided between two counties until the erection of 
Monroe. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 309 

were next to impassable in seasons of mud and ruts; ^ the temporarj' 
bridges, and indeed there were few others, were often carried away 
by floods, while the snows frequently laid an embargo on winter 
travel. Instead of thirty-nine post-offices within the bounds of this 
county, there were then but ten. The mails, infrequent, for even 
Avon boasted of but three a week and transported principally in 
sulkies and on horseback, were tardy and irregular. Where at pres- 
ent a business visit to the county seat is the work of part of a day, 
then from portions of the old counties it was the labor of three or 
four days. Now, as the population has become fixed and suitably pro- 
vided with courts, the transaction of legal business is a matter of 
some certainty; then, as court facilities did not keep pace with the 
fast increasing causes, business fell into arrears and all was involved 
in uncertainty, save the certainty of heavy expenses and constant de- 
lays; and further, as Canandaigua and Batavia, the shire-towns, 
were not the natural centres of business of the territory embraced 
within this county, the people were not attracted thither for trade, 
nor did the principal avenues of traffic always lead toward those 
towns, hence they were forced away from the points where they were 
in the habit of transacting business. 

Although the subject of a division of the county had been much dis- 
cussed, it was not until 1820 that it came formally before the Legisla- 
ture. At the session of that year the standing committee on the erec- 
tion of towns and counties in the Assembly, to whom a large number 
of petitions for the new county were referred, advised, since "the 
various interests should be better understood and the opinions of the 
inhabitants be more definitely expressed before the Legislature could 
act intelligently upon the subject, and as little injury could be produced 
thereby, that the question be postponed until a future session," add- 
ing, "we are sensible that some of the towns are at an inconvenient 
distance from the seat of justice, and have claims upon the Legisla- 
ture for better accommodations." To this the Assembly agreed. 

Through the summer of 1820 the matter was much canvassed. 
Meetings were held and petitions were circulated by the multitude, 
increasing, it is said, "with fearful rapidity." In December, 1820, a 

I. Col. I.yman said that he ouce had a team goue three niontli.s to .\lbaii3-, and at cue place 
the teamster said he did his best to get on for three days, stayiu^ three uights at the same place, 
"ludeed between Canaudaigna and Geneva, I have seen forty horses to one heavy wagon, who did 
their best but could not move it but a few rods at a pnll." 



310 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

notice appeared in the Moscow Advertiser, and also in the Albany 
Argus, stating that the subscribers, Charles Colt, William Finley, 
John Pierce, Dav-id Warner and their associates, intended to apply to- 
the Legislature at its next session for the erection of a new county, 
to comprise the towns subsequently erected into Livingston. The 
friends of the proposed county of Monroe were also moving. 

The majority of the people along the river and those residing in 
towns contiguous to it favored this division, while the northern part 
of Livonia, East Avon and Lima objected, and the more distant sec- 
tions vehemently opposed any change. A remonstrance from LeRoy, 
Batavia and the western parts of Genesee, signed by six hundred and 
fifty persons, opposed division on the ground that "no county ought 
to be erected composed of territory lying on both sides of the Genesee 
river, as it would subject half the inhabitants to great inconvenience 
and expense; and that the division would only promote the interests 
of a few lawyers, merchants and tavern keepers residing at the new 
county seats." Three hundred remonstrants, inhabitants of Canan- 
daigua, Gorham and Naples, objected to any division of Ontario- 
county, alleging that the "arguments advanced by the advocates of 
the several petitions, being, in our opinion, alike fanciful and falla- 
cious, it is equal matter of surprise that there should be one as that 
there are seven applications for new counties," as was really the case. 
Division, they held, would destroy the symmetry c)t the old county 
and uselessly multiply offices and expenses. "At present," say they, 
"county charges fall lightly on individuals and the times, financially, 
are unpropitious." More than this, they insisted that the effects of 
the Erie canal were "yet to be experienced, and the results of this 
great work might easily render a division unwise." They also urged 
that the extensive range from which to select men of integrity and 
talents, which division would circumscribe, secured able men on the 
bench, in the Legislature and for other public stations. This argu- 
ment was most pertinent just then, for John C. Spencer, the distin- 
guished statesman, and Myron Holly, scarcely less honored, as well as 
other men of no little note, were at that time members of the Assem- 
bly from that county or occupying other places of trust. 
1; The period was one of great pecuniary distress. The war of 1812, 
but five years closed, had caused a suspension of the banks and com- 
pletely deranged the business of the country. The debt it had ere- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 311 

ated, together with the unpaid liabilities of the Revolution, the debt 
contracted for the purchase of Louisiana and other items of interna- 
tional obligation, brought the public debt up to over ninety millions 
of dollars, a sum then deemed so formidable as to raise a doubt of the 
nation's ability to pay it. At the same time "the whole paper sys- 
tem, after a vast expansion, suddenly collapsed, spreading desolation 
over the land, and carrying ruin to debtors. The years 1819 and '20 
were a period of gloom and agony. No money, either gold or silver; 
no paper convertible into specie; no measure or standard or value left 
remaining. The local banks (all but those of New England), after a 
brief resumption of specie payments again sunk into a state of suspen- 
sion. * * No price for property or produce. No sales but those 
of the Sheriff and the Marshal. No purchasers at execution sales. 
No sale for the product of the farm — ^no sound of the hammer, but 
that of the auctioneer, knocking down property. Stop laws — property 
laws — replevin laws — stay laws — loan office laws — the intervention of 
the Legislature between the creditor and the debtor; this was the busi- 
ness of the legislation in three-fourths of the States of the Union — of 
all South and west of New England. No medium of exchange but 
depreciated paper; no change even, but little bits of foul paper, 
marked so many cents, and signed by some tradesman, barber or inn- 
keeper; exchanges deranged to the extent of fifty or one hundred per- 
cent. Distress, the universal cry of the people. Relief, the universal 
demand thundered at the doors of all legislatures, state and federal."'- 
The people in this section, mainly engaged in agriculture and still 
largely in debt for their farms, experienced the full weight of these 
evils. Their lands, as yet but partially cleared, were but measurably 
productive, and as they had been contracted for in more favorable 
times at prices ranging from five to ten dollars an acre, the large 
arrearages of purchase money, now- excessive, were bearing heavily, 
indeed ruinously, upon purchasers. Hence, in many instances they 
were driven to the alternative of obtaining a reduction or of giving up 
their "betterments," as their improvements were called, and commenc- 
ing anew. In Conesus a committee consisting of Elder Hudson and 
Ruel Blake were sent, with this object in view, to confer with the 
agents of the Pulteney estate of whom the lands in that town were prin- 
cipally obtained. They were met in proper spirit by Robert Throup, 

I. Benton's "Thirty Years in the United States Senate." 



312 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the agent of thai great property, and such was the influence of these 
good men and the wisdom of the agent that the contract price on 
many lots was reduced one half, while at the same time the price of 
grain in payment of obligations was increased one half. 

A few prices of those times will serve to give an idea of the prevail- 
ing market rates. Wheat delivered at what is now Littleville was 
sold at thirty one cents a bushel to pay taxes. Oats were worth less 
than a shilling a bushel, and butter six cents a pound. Instead of 
trading by the use of money, the people were obliged to resort to bar- 
ter. Eight bushels of wheat would buy but a barrel of salt or a pair 
of cowhide boots, while under this mode of exchange a good cow was 
valued at ten dollars, a yoke of working .oxen at thirty dollars, a 
horse fifty, pork two dollars the hundred, while Indian corn seems to 
have had no market value whatever. And yet the people were clam- 
orous for a new county, although it involved a large expense for the 
erection of county buildings and the salaries of officers. That such, 
under the circumstances, was their desire is sufficient proof of the 
necessity of the measure. 

The advocates of division were met by an opposition but little in- 
ferior to themselves in earnestness, which did not stop with remon- 
strating, but sought to remove the causes of complaint. Every facil- 
ity was to be afforded by courts and county clerks. An instance may 
be given in the action of Judge Howell of Ontario county, then recent- 
ly appointed, who opened his first term by sunrise ai>d continued the 
sessions day after day until late in the night, giving'scarcelv time for 
meals or sleep. "He ran his court by steam." The calendar was 

exhausted; it could not be otherwise. JPlte people of Canandaigua 

were in raptures. They boasted that a week's term was sufficient to 
dispose of all business before the court, and insisted that the evils 
complained of were but temporary. The remedy, however, came too 
late. The people were determined to have a new county, and the only 
question that now remained was as to the manner of division. Here 
differences of opinion prevailed. Three plans, zeahuihly urged by 
their respective friends, were proposed. 

The first was the Avon or "long county" project, designed to em- 
brace in one substantially i>oth Monroe and T^ivin.nston, with the 
county seat at Avon. Its friends are represented in the petition de- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 313 

posited in the State Library by eight hundred and fifty names, main- 
Iv from Avon, Caled(jnia and York. 

A second plan, strongly urged from the south, proposed two coun- 
ties, omitting from the southerly one the towns of Sparta, Ossian, 
Nunda and Portage, giving the whole of Caledonia to Monroe, and 
embracing Castile, Perry and Covington on the south. This would 
have brought the then thriving village of Moscow at the centre, with 
the avowed object of making that the county seat. A prominent 
citizen of Moscow was sent to Albany for the purpose of urging this 
view upon the Legislature. 

The third and successful plan was to form the two counties, Monroe 
and Livingston, from territory depending chiefly upon the river for 
a market, and to make Rochester, then a small village, one of the 
county seats; and a majority of those endorsing this plan favored Gen- 
eseo as the other. The friends of this mode of division were represent- 
ed at Albany by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester and Judge Carroll, wht), 
as well as their constituents, acted in harmony throughout. 

The subject was now transferred to Albany. The numerous peti- 
tions and remonstrances were referred, on Friday, the 20th of January, 
1821, to a select committee of the Senate, of which Senator Charles E. 
Dudley, a name for all time to be associated with the prog- 
res's of astronomic science, was chairman. In due tune the committee 
reported "that the convenience and interest of the inhabitants of 
those portions of the counties of Ontario and Genesee included in the 
application, will be much advanced by the erection of a new county.'' 
Leave being given, Mr. Dudley brought in a bill entitled "An act to 
erect a new county by the name of Livingston, out of parts of the 
counties of Ontario and Genesee, and for other purposes," and it was 
read twice by unanimous consent. On the third of February the bill 
was examined in committee of the whole, Senator Bouck, at a later 
day Governor, in the chair. It passed the Senate two days afterward, 
and on the 21st the Assembly concurred without opposition. The bill 
then went to the Council of Revision, which body on the 23d of Feb- 
ruary 18^1, "resolved that it does not appear iniproper to the 
Council that this bill should become a law of the State." To this, in 
the Volume of original laws deposited in the State Department, is 
affi.xed the signature of Governor De Witt Clinton. It stands as 



314 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

chapter fifty-eighl of the laws of that year, and immediately preced- 
ing it is the act erecting the county of ^lonroe. 

The county was appropriately named in honor of Chancellor Robert 
R. Livingston, the most useful as he was the most consjjicuous of the 
early friends of agriculture in tliis country. Eminent as a jurist and a 
statesman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the devoted 
friend and [jatron of Robert Fulton, a man who faithfully loved and 
served his country in its period of suiireme peril, he was, in a word, a 
type of that best [Product of the human race, a patriot statesman of the 
Revolutionary period. 

For more than two hundred years the Livingstons filled the highest 
offices in vScotland. As is well known, James Livingston was appoint- 
ed to the Regency of the Kingdom during the minority of King Jatnes 
1. The proud title of Earl was borne by many of the family. The 
fair and unfortunate !Mary Queen of Scots was born in Linlithgow 
Castle, of which Lord Livingston was hereditary governor, and dur- 
ing the invasion of that country by Somerset, Mary was again placed 
under his protetion. 

Five days after the erection of the coimty, the Council of Api)oint- 
ment issued general commissions to Gideon T. Jenkins as Sheriff, 
James Ganson as Clerk, James Rosebrugh as Surrogate and George 
liosmer as District Attorney. A month later Moses Hayden was 
commissioned as First Judge. 

The act designated three commissioners. Dr. Gamaliel H. Barstow, 
afterwards State Treasurer, Archibald^S. Clark, and Nathaniel Gar- 
row, to designate the place and fix the site for the court.house and 
jail. They were directed to meet at the public house of James Gan- 
son, in Avon, thence to proceed to [)erform the imposed duty. 

It IS easy to believe that an advantage so tempting to a new town as 
the county seat was not to be gained without rivalry, and such was 
the case. Several candidates for the honor now appeared. ^ViIliams- 
burgh, the pioneer settlement, urged its claim. Avon, too, agaifi en- 
tered the lists, although too far one side. But the latter objeqtion 
was sought to be counteracted by the prejudice, amounting almost to 
gross injustice, then existing against the southern part of the county, 
whose resources, from being settled later than the northern portion^ 
were as yet imperfectly developed and less understood. The people on 
the line of the great State Road leading from Albany, by way of Can- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 315 

andaigua, to Buffalo, then the principal thoroughfare for emigrants, 
affecte<l to regard the south towns as still a wild, even a sterile region, 
more suitable for hunting than for tillage. At a meeting in Lima, a 
leading member of the county bar in advocating the claims of Avon 
urged that although the latter village was not the centre of the terri- 
tory it was the center of the new county's wealth. Said he: "The 
county seat should be here, as we shall now be required to pay all the 
taxes, for the southern towns are so poor that they produce nothing 
but buckwheat and pine shingles." This sneer was not forgotten ; 
the name "Buckwheat" clung to the speaker to the end of his days. 
A Lima gentleman, at the same meeting, said they" might set it down 
as a settled question that the people of Lima would never agree to go 
one step south and be compelled to associate with the buckwheat 
growers and shingle makers of Sparta and Springwater. " 

Next to (ieneseo in point of general favor for the location of the 
shire town, stood, perhaps, the little hamlet of Lower Lakeville. At 
a public meeting held there about this time, a majority of the leading 
men present, representing Lima, Groveland, Conesus and other towns, 
favored its selection for this purpcjse. But other influences finally pre- 
vailed. The Commissioners in due time decided in favor of Geneseo, 
and not without good reason. The village was situated near the geo- 

\ graphical centre of the county and was the place of the largest com- 
\mercial resort. The surplus produce of an extensive district here 
y found an outlet by way of the river. Indeed, this village soon became 

/ a point at which more wheat was sold than at any other inland mar- 
ket in the State, and at prices rangmg as high and sometimes even 
higher than at Rochester. In population it then numbered fully five 
hundred, and far and near by way of eminence it was usually called 
"the village," and familiarly spoken of as "Big Tree." 

At the time of 'which we write the teeming mart of Dansville, 
although an enterprising town, had not attained its present leading 
relative position; nor had the fair village of Mount Morris then de- 
veloped to any considerable extent its importance as a commercial 
centre; neither did Lima, then boasting of but half a dozen houses, 
give promise of reaching the eminence it has since acquired as a seat 
of learning. Had any one of these facts been otherwise the manner 
of territorial division might have been essentially different. Indeed, 
the weight of influence since, at different times, brought to bear 



3U, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

frum some of these quarters, and especially from the southerly por- 
tion of the county, for effecting a removal of the county seat or to 
establish a half shire, has been very great; and on several occasions 
one of these objects has nearly been effected. 

The law required that liefore the site became fixed a suitable lot for 
the court house and jail should be duly conveyed to the supervisors. 
Prisoners were to be confined at Canandaigua until, in the opinion of 
the Sheriff, the proposed jail was so far completed as to be safe to 
receive them, and in the cautious language of the day the act de- 
clared that when the prisoners should then be brought to Geneseo, 
"such removal shall not be considered an escape." The supervisors 
were required to determine at their first annual meeting what sum 
it was proper to raise for providing a court house. 

The act also appointed General William AVadsworth, Daniel H. 
Fitzhugh, and William Markham, Commissioners to superintend the 
construction of the public buildings, with ample authority to that 
end. These gentlemen duly qualified and entered upon their duties 
with characteristic energy. 

Until the court house should be ready, it was provided that the 
courts should be held in the brick academy building in Geneseo, a 
two story edifice then standing on the present site of the district 
school-house on Center street. 

The county was entitled to elect one member of Assembly. The 
privilege of electing two was conferred in 1822. George Smith was 
the first Member of Assembly. 

By a supplemental act, passed also at the session of 1S21, the super- 
visors and county treasurers of the counties of Ontario and Genesee 
and the supervisors and county clerks of Monroe and Livingston 
were required to equitalily apportion all debts and effects as well as 
moneys belonging to the former counties among the several counties. 

After Geneseo was decided upon as the shire town, two sites were 
proposed for the county buildings. One of these was the public square 
t)r park at the south end of the village; the other, where the buildings 
now stand.' The land, about four acres and a quarter, was given by 
William and James Wadswi^rth and duly conveyed to the supervisors 

I. Deed iu trust from William and James Wadsworth to Supervisors of I.iviugstou Couuty, 
dated July 14, 1821, recorded July 15th in book I of deeds, at page 6l. Consideration, one dollar. 
Conveys 2 47-100 acres to be used as a public square and promenade; also I 79-100 acres for a site 
for court house and jail. See appendix No. 13 for copy of this deed. 




Cobblestone District School House in Geneseo, on site of Academy Building where Livingston 
County Courts were first held. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 317 

to be used as a public square or promenade and for a site for the court 
house and jail. In this they but carried out a purpose previously- 
formed by them, which was to give a lot for the public buildings 
whether they should be located in Geneseo or Avon. 

The first annual meeting of the Supervisors was held in October, 
1821. The board was composed of members who would do honor to 
any legislative body. They were: From Avon, Thomas Wiard ; Cale- 
donia, Robert McKay; Freeport, Davenport Alger; Geneseo, William 
H. Spencer; Groveland, William Fitzhugh; Leicester, Jellis Clute; 
Lima, Manassah Leach; Livonia, Ichabod A. Holden; Mount Morris, 
\VilIiam A. !Mills; Sparta, William McCartney; Springwater, Alvah 
Southworth; York, Titus Goodman. 

William Fitzhugh of Groveland was chosen Chairman, and Ogden 
M. Willey of Geneseo was made Clerk. • Orlando Hastings was elect- 
ed County Treasurer. 

Among the first resolutions adopted was one authorizing a bounty 
of five dollars a head for the destruction of wolves, and two dollars a 
head for each wolf's whelp killed during the ensuing year. Leicester, 
it was voted, should be permitted to pay a bounty of one dollar for the 
destruction of each wildcat. What would be thought now of the 
necessity for such resolutions ? 

The bill for the personal expenses and services of the Commissioners 
to locate the site of the county buildings was presented and ordered 
paid.- 

On the subject of the public buildings, the Board determined that 
nine thousand dollars should "be raised and levied on the freeholders 
and inhabitants of the county for the purpose of erecting and finish- 
ing a court house and jail." Of this sum three thousand dollars was 
ordered raised the ensuing year. 3 

In December the Board formally expressed the opinion that the 
public buildings "should be of a size calculated for a county whose 
population was fast increasing, that they should be of the best mate- 
rial, and be constructed in the most faithful manner," and as the first 

1. This model officer and good citizeu held the position of clerk of the Supervisors for thirty 
years, to the general acceptance of the public. 

2. Amounting to $174.00. 

3. The valuation of the real and personal estate of the county in i)S2i was $2,177,901.25, as ap- 
pears by a table compiled from assessors' returns that year. 



318 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

sum named was found to be insufficient, they resolved to ask the Leg- 
islature for authority to raise two thousand dollars more the ensuing 
year. This was accordingly done, the power was granted, the further 
sum raised and the buildings completed. 

In February, 1822, Major Spencer and Orlando Hastings were 
appointed to e.xamine the accounts opened under the act by the 
treasurers of (Ontario and Genessee with Livingston, and to do what- 
ever was necessary to effect a settlement. The matter was afterward 
placed wholly in the hands of Mr. Hastings. The journals of the 
Biiard appear to furnish no record of the final adjustment of these 
accounts. ' 

The court house was ready for the courts in May, 1823. ^ In Oc- 
tober the bonds executed by the Commissioners for superintending the 
building of the court house and jail were ordered to be delivered up, 
and "the thanks of the Board were presented to the Commissioners 
for their faithful services rendered the county in erecting the public 
buildings."^ 

It was now formally resolved "that the keys of the court house be 
delivered to Chauncey Morse, and that he have liberty to open it for 
public worship and to show the interior to any gentleman who may 
wish to view it; and that he deliver the keys to the Sheriff to open 
the house for county purposes." A committee was appointed to 
deliver the keys and a copy of the foregoing resolution. 

I, From the book of supervisor's records of Genesee county, the following: transcript has 
been obtained: 
**i822, Januar>' 15. 

Resolved, that the moneys now iu the hands of the treasurer of the County of Ontario be ap- 
portioned as follows: 

Aggregate Aggregate of 

valuation. money divided. 

To the County of Monroe, $1,098,127 $ .348-7S 

do Livingston 1.375.469 436.S6 

do Ontario 6,304,185 2,002.31 



$S.777,7Sl $2,787.95" 

2. Homer Sherwood, of Geneseo, had the contract for building the court house. 

3. The official record says: "The Board of Supervisors at a meeting held Feb. 19, 1824, adopt- 
ed the following resolution: Whereas, The Hoard ol Snper\'isors of I^ivingstou County believe that 
General Win. Wadsworth for his gratuitous exertions in superintending the erection and finishing 
of the public buildings of the County, merits their individual approbation, Therefore, 

Resolved, rnanimously, that the thanks of this board, in behalf of the county, be rendered him 
for those exertions." 




Old Livingston County Court House; Clerlt's Office at riglit and Jail at left 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ?,V) 

With equal formality was it resolved that the Sheriff be requested 
to "take charge of the irons belonging to the county and keep the 
same subject to the order of the Board." 

The first Court of General Sessions, indeed the first court of record 
held in the county, convened at the Brick Academy, a two story build- 
ing standing exactly on the site of the cobblestone school-house on 
Centre street, on the last Tuesday of May, 1821. There were present 
Moses Hayden, First Judge, ^latthew Warner, Jeremiah Riggs and 
Leman Gibbs, Judges. After prayer by the Rev. Mr. Bull, the court 
was opened by the usual proclamation. The following grand jurors 
were then sworn: William Janes, foreman, Robert McKay, James 
Smith, Asa Nowlen, Josiah Watrous, Francis Stevens, William 
Warner, Ichabod A. Holden. Ruel Blake, William A. ^lills, Ebenezer 
DaiTion, P. P. Peck, Joseph A. T^awrence, William Crossett, William 
Carnahan, James McNair, John Culver, Erastus Wilcox, John Flunt, 
Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Thomas Sherwood, Ebenezer Rogers and Gad 
Chamberlin. 

The first indictment for trial was the case of The People vs. Mary 
DeGraw, for assault and battery with intent to murder. On the trial 
of the case the jury returned a verdict of guilty of an assault and 
battery, antl not guilty of the rest of the charges in the indictment. 

The lirst commitment appears to have been that of ^lay Brown, 
convicted at this term and sentenced to the Ontario county jail for 
thirty days. 

The first term of the Court of Common Pleas was also held on the 
last Tuesday of May, 1821. Among the attorneys who presented 
licenses and were admitted to practice in this court at the time, were 
Samuel Miles Hopkins, George Hosmer, Felix Tracy, John Dickson, 
Orlando Hastings, Charles H. Carroll, Willard H. Smith, Augustus A. 
/Bennett, Ogden M. Willey, Hezekiah D. Mason, and Melancthon W. 
/ Brown. On motion ^lark H. Sibley was also admittted to practice. 
The first trial held in this court was the case of Alfred Birge, appel- 
lee, vs. Joel Bardwell, appellant. O. Hastings appeared as attorney 
for the appellee, and A. A. Bennett as attorney for the appellant. 
The jury was composed of the following members: James Richmond, 
LeRoy Buckley, Federal Blakesley, Roger Wattles, T. H. Gilbert, 
Joseph White, Jehiel Kelsey, John Salmon, Geo. Whitmore, Dav-id A. 
Miller, Riley Scc^ville, Andrew Stilwell. 



320 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

During the Judge's maiden address to the grand jury the door op- 
posite the bench opened and a distinguished member of the bar, 
"standing six feet eight and well proportioned," entered the room. 
Though his bearing wimld have done credit to a Bayard, yet he could 
not resist a mischievous wink to the Judge. The latter could not help 
seeing it, as it was intended for him alone, and it was too much for 
him under the novel circumstances. He hesitated a moment, broke, 
and was forced to abruptly descend from the heights of his eloquence. 
But right keenly did he scold the wicked joker for the prank he had 
played him, after the ermine was put off for the day. 

In 1823 the May term of the Common Pleas, Charles li. Carroll, First 
Judge presiding, having opened in due form, adjourned to the new 
courthouse.^ Here, after being duly convened, the first term was 
opened by a court as dignified, surrounded by a bar as able and ac- 
complished and by jurors as honest and intelligent, as any new coim- 
ty, scarcely twenty years emerged from the wilderness, ever boasted. 

The county was now fully provided with the necessary buildings 
and machinery, and it has since fully maintained its standing among 
the other divisions of the State. 

Anecdotes connected with its organization have been preserved. 
Among these was one in reference to the design for the county seal. 
As it ran the dominant party at that time was called the "Bucktail." 
The first county clerk was of that [jarty, and in ordering the seal he 
chose for the design a buck with large horns and a long, bushy tail, 
longer than the law of nature justified. This caudal grace was long 
ago curtailed, however; indeed, the design itself was soon superseded 
the seal now bearing simply the name of the county between a larger 
and a smaller circle. 

1. On couveuing iu the uew court house George Hosmer was appointed District Attorney and 
Samuel Stevens, Crier. The first trial held in the new building was the suit of Driesbach and 
Scholl, Executors, Appellees, vs. Samuel Culbertson. .Appellant. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 321 



CHAPTER XIV, ' 

THE GROWING cdinmnnities with their rapidly increasing bus- 
iness transactions felt very seriously the want of banking facili- 
ties, and as early as 1823 an attempt was made to establish a 
bank at Geneseo. A petition was presented to the Legislature March 
4th of that year for the privilege of opening a bank at that place,, 
which was signed by the judges and supervisors of the county. It 
was referred to the committee on banking of the Assembly and, ap- 
parently, was never reported by that committee, for in the Living- 
ston Register of March 2d, 1S25, the following notice appears: 

"Notice is hereby given that an application will be made to the 
next Legislature of the State of New York, for an act of incorporation 
for a bank, with the usual privileges of banking by the name and 
style of the Livingston County Bank, with a capital of one hundred 
thousand dollars, to be located in the village of Geneseo." 

The notice is signed by William H. Spencer and Homer Sherwood 
and is dated December 20th, 1824. This movement was probably also 
unsuccessful, for a simibr notice subsequently appeared in the Register 
dated November 15. 1825, and signed by John H. Jones, Moses Hayden, 
Edward Bissell and Philo C. Fuller. It asked for a charter for a bank 
with a capital of $250,000, "and with liberty to increase the stock to 
$400,000." All these efforts however, proved alike futile and it was 
not until 1830, as will subsequently appear, that the citizens of the 
county succeeded in securing the measure they so much desired. 

In 1823 P. R. Bowman was running a line of stages from Canandai- 
gua to Warsaw by way of Moscow. In the Livingston Gazette of July 
3d of that year he gave notice that thereafter he "would continue his 
line once in each week. He will leave Moscow on Saturday afternoon 
immediately after his arrival from Canandaigua, and return from 
Warsaw on Monday evening, and on Tuesday morning start again for 
Canandaigua." Between Moscow and Canandaigua the stages were 
run twice.each week, passing through Geneseo, Livonia, Richmond 
and Bristol. In connection with this line stages were run from Can- 



322 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

andaigiia to Palmyra and (via Geneva) to Lyons, connecting with the 
Erie canal. 

The same paper contains the notice of Jedediah Richardson, Hiram 
Jones and Nehemiah Westbrook, announcing that their new boat 
"Independence" would commence running on the river, between Bab- 
cock's Ferry and Rochester, and make regular trips once in two 
weeks, carrying freight down or up "on the most reasonable terms." 

Notwithstanding such enterprises, the greatest drawback to the 
growth and prosperity of the county, as of nearly all Western New- 
York, was the lack of prompt, reliable and cheap transportation for 
the products of its rich fields. The nearest remunerative mar- 
kets were Baltimore and Montreal, and from this county the 
only routes were navigable streams and the broad e.xpanse of 
Lake Ontario; the former tortuous ways, full of impediments, sub- 
ject to floods and drouth, and incapable of being navigated e.xccpt bv 
flat boats and rafts, floating with the current if passing down, labor- 
iously poled' along if passing up the streams. Added to these dif- 
ficulties were numerous portages or carrying places, to avoid water- 
falls and rapids or in [)assing from one stream to another. The open- 
ing of the Erie canal somewhat improved this state of affairs, as it 
brought nearer the markets of Albany and New York, yet it only did 
so to a moderate degree, for the nearest point on that great artificial 
waterway was comparatively a King distance from the tarming com- 
inunities of Livingston. It can be readily imagineil, therefore, that 
transportation charges were excessively great, and that the produce of 
the fertile lands of the settlers found a slow and unremunerative mar- 
ket. Some prices have already been given in this work, and instances 
showing the result of attempts to carry the surplus grain to market, 
attempts which generally left the margin on the wrong side of the 
ledger. The attention of the people was thus early directed toward 
measures for improving communication with the eastern markets, 
and the Erie canal ha\-ing just been completed, and having already 
given promise of fulfilling the highest anticipations of its wise projec- 

I. Not very many years ago a colored man named Schuyler occupied a cabin on Uie east bank 
of the riverjust below the Markham homestead, at Avon. He had a large swelling or bunch ou 
the side of his neck caused by polling. The jjrocess consisted in the use of long i)oles, one end 
resting against the bank or bottom of the stream the other against the breast or shoulder of the 
boatman: thus fixed the poller would walk from bow tt> stern of the boat forcing it upstream. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 323 

tors, it was natural that a similar work should be proposed to meet 
the necessities of commerce in this and adjoining counties. 

A call appeared in the Livingston Register of June 15, 1825, for a 
public meeting to be held at the house of Col. John Pierce, in the 
village of Geneseo, on the 2Sth of June, of the citizens of Monroe, 
Livingston, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Steuben counties "who feel 
interested in the formation of a canal from Rochester along the valley 
of the Genesee and Canaseraga, and of a canal from Genesee river to 
some point of the Allegany river. " The meeting was "for the pur- 
pose of devising means to collect and convey to the Canal Commission- 
ers and to the State government the necessary information as ti) the 
practicability and vast importance of the above canal routes." The 
call was signed by Philip Church, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, William H. 
Spencer, Ira West, Jonathan Child and Ilenian Norton. 

At this meeting a committee was appointed "to obtain information 
respecting the practicability of making a canal" as proposed; and sub- 
sequently this committee was notified to meet at Geneseo on the first 
Tuesday of September, to commence the active discharge of its duties. 
A bill had been introduced in the Assembly the previous spring, auth- 
orizing a survey for this proposed canal, but it failed to become a law. 
Five years later the question was still being agitated by the people of 
the valley, their efforts thus far having met with but little success. A 
large and enthusiastic meeting of citizens of Sparta and adjoining 
towns, friendly to the Genesee Valley Canal, was held in Dansville 
July 24th, 1S30. Resolutions were adopted claiming that the region 
through which it was proposed to run the canal was "equal if not su- 
perior to any which for a length of time have been presented to the 
public, and especially so as it has been satisfactorily ascertained that 
by a canal connecting the waters of the Allegany river with the great 
Erie canal, a complete water communication will be effected between 
the two great commercial cities of New York and New Oi"leans." A 
meeting of like character had been previously held at Angelica, and 
subsequently, on the 26th of August, 1830, a delegate convention of 
conspicuous men from all the counties affected by the proposed meas- 
ure was held at Geneseo for the purpose of securing a survey of the 
route. Again, in 1833 we find a eall for a meeting to be held in Gen- 
eseo November 20th, of "the inhabitants of the counties more directly 
interested in the construction of a canal from Rochester to Olean, with 



324 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

a liranch to Dansville village, * * fur the purpose of takinij 
into consideration the proper measures to be adopted in rehition to 
that object." The call was signed by H. D. Mason, William Finley, 
Allen Ayrault, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Robert Dixon, D. H. Bissell, Rus- 
sell Austin, S. G. Grover, John Cutler, Donald McDonald, Charles 
Colt, Leman Gibbs, James Wadsworth, P. C. Fuller, J. Young, William 
H. Stanley, Donald Fraser, Jr., William A. Mills, James McCurdy, 
Tabor Ward, Jotham Clark, E. Hill, C. R. Bond and James S. Wads- 
worth. 

Other meetings were held in various places, but it was not until 1834 
that the preliminary surveys for the canal were made, although the 
subject was constantly discussed in the public prints and by individ- 
uals. Meanwhile the necessity of some better means of transportation 
had yearly become greater, and the people were clamorous for this 
improvement. The trade with Rochester, which had become thus 
early an important commercial center, was carried on principally by 
the river. Lumber was floated down during the spring and fall fresh- 
ets, and the passage was considered short if made in two days. The 
merchants brought their goods by the same channel, the trij) up 
requiring from four to five days. Such means of transportation, while 
answering the needs of the country when first settled, were wholly 
inadequate to the then present demands of their inland commerce, and 
no effort was spared to enforce this fact upon the attention of the 
Canal Commissioners and the Legislature. This demand of the people 
of the valley was, at length heeded and a survey made, as stated, 
in 1834. 

The total cost of the canal, as estimated by the chief engineer, F. C. 
Mills, after making this survey, was $2,002,285. Subsequent surveys 
and examinations, together with a change in the plans of many of the 
structures, increased this estimate to $4,750,125.7'), and reviewing this 
estimate again, he made it $4,900,122.44, but included in this was 
$197,099 for reservoirs for supplying the summit level with water. Its 
actual cost when completed, however, was about $6,000,000, or more 
than three times the first estimate of the engineer. 

So expeditiously was the project pushed, after the preliminary steps 
had been taken by the State authorities, that about 30 miles of the 
line had been put under contract in 1837, and 50 miles in 1838. The 
remainder of the work was let in the following year. It was originally 




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Program o! Celebration at Nunda In 1838 on Account of Progress In 
Canal Construction. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 325 

intended to be 123 miles long, including "navigable and unnavigable 
feeders," but the canal itself was only 118 miles in length. Its gener- 
al course was a southwesterly one from Rochester, through Monroe, 
Livingston, AVyoming, Allegany and Cattaraugus counties (passing 
through the towns of York, Leicester, Mount Morris, Nunda and Port- 
age), following the valley of the Genesee river to Squakie Hill, at 
Mount Morris, where it crossed the river and followed the Cashaqua 
valley to a point beyond Nunda, when it again sought the river, 
which it recrossed at Portageville. Thence it descended to Olean. 
The peculiar character of some parts of the country traversed by this 
artificial waterway necessitated some very expensive work. The plans 
first proposed included 115 locks besides several guard locks, one 
tunnel of 1082 feet in length near Portageville, 15 aqueducts, 8 dams, 
134 culverts, 103 highway bridges, several towpath bridges, 130 farm 
bridges and a number of bulkheads, wasteweirs, etc. Alterations 
in the plans changed these figures somewhat, but not materially, ex- 
cept in the abandonment of the tunnel project. 

The greatest engineering difficulties were encountered, and the 
heaviest proportionate expense was incurred on that portion between 
Nunda and Portageville. Here there was a cutting through the ridge 
dividing the valley of the Cashaqua from the Genesee valley 73 feet 
deep, and a series of locks, about 17 in number, which were required 
to reach the summit level 982 feet above the level of the Erie canal. 
Besides these extensive works the highest skill of the engineers was 
needed to carry the canal around the high, mountainous hills over- 
hanginsj; the river, and the attempt to do this seemed several times 
a futile one. The canal, having been brought from the deep cut across 
the Cashaqua ridge almost to the verge of the perpendicular cliffs im- 
pending over the river, took thence the ascending course of the stream. 
Approaching to within about two miles of Portageville, the mountain 
increased rapidly in height, and the excavation becarne very deep, in 
some places 50 or M) feet through solid rock. Here it was proposed 
to cut a tunnel through the mountain, and work was commenced upon 
it and continued until the most stupendous difficulties compelled the 
engineers to abandon it. The length of the tunnel was to have been 
l,tlS2 feet, its height 27 feet, and width 20 feet, piercing the towering 
mountain from side to side. This work was deemed necessary on 
account of the treacherous character of the sliding shelves of the hill, 



326 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

but the same cause which led to the tunneling of the hill finally forced 
the engineers to abandon this project and construct the canal around 
the side of the hill. A writer on an Eastern paper' who visited the 
work while it was in progress describes it as follows: "Great embar- 
rassment has already been experienced and heavy expenses incurred 
inconsequence of these slides, both above and below the tunnel;" and, 
speaking of the tunnel itself, "since the excavation h as been com- 
menced, such is the character of the rock, thrown together apparent- 
ly by Nature in loose masses and blocks, that it now appears that the 
entire roof and sides of the tunnel will require arching with solid ma- 
son work. Indeed, temporary arches of wood have been found nec- 
essary during the progress of almost every successive yard of the work. 
It is by far the greatest undertakmgof the kind that has been attempt- 
ed in our country." Of the engineering he says: "If he shall at last 
accomplish the work of pinning, as it were, the canal to the slippery 
shelf of sand which overhangs the gult, we shall have something 
worth while to show to engineers of the old world." 

After nearly a quarter of a million of dollars had been expended on 
the tunnel it was abandoned. It can be seen in passing 
over the line of the canal, a dark, half ruined cavern in the 
crumbling rock, and the lasting depository of the people's money, 
squandered in a vain struggle with Nature. But though baffled 
here, the engineer did succeed in pinning the canal to the treacherous 
side of the towering mountain, and his work was well worth a long 
visit to see. The hill rises quite abruptly to the height of several 
hundred feet. A long distance below, in a chasm with almost perpen- 
dicular sides, is the Genesee encircling the base of the hill and hurry- 
ing along over the rapids or madly leaping down the upper and middle 
falls. Half way up the preci])itous side of the mountain was the canal 
cut into its side and overhanging the raging torrent below. A narrow 
strip of land alone served as a towpath, from which the descent was 
almost perpendicular to the river. The canal wound around the hill 
in this manner, passed under the famous Portage Bridge and a short 
distance above crossed the river by means of a wooden aiiueduct. 
Work upon the canal was prosecuted vigorously, except on the upper 
sections, and in 1840 thirty-seven miles, from Rochester to Mount 
Morris, were completed.- The line from Mount Morris to the Shaker 

1. William L. Stone. 

2. (See uote on following page.) 




4RB4\«EIIE1T$ 

«ciic!iiec Valley Caiiial 
CKi^KIBKATIOH, 

Scpfembir l«l, 18-40. 



Tho plarr of mecfiiif; will be nl IIk* juiirlioDof the 

Cannl nnd IhcSliilo Komi IritJins throiifcli A%oii (u t'lilnlitiiin. 

BnniM will be provided for rarrjiii? the Mililiir^ ('um])i>iiicK nnil Raadn of 
Mii^lc (Vco of c\i»cns<". 

Mnjor DilihtII'n Compniiy of Artlllrry, Willi llu'lr Onltinnre, nil! Itc at ihr 
plar4' of me^llnc on tlir cvrnlne prcrrdhii;. prepared to (ire a NHlioiml Sa!ut« 
at Muririvron tlie morn In;; of tlic ility oreeleltnition, niiil Mitlutrit will l>e flred 
at HiinrfHT «nd minM-t on Hint liny, nt Ihr promlneul pointK on the line of the 
Canal, from Koi-lie«(er (o Oleun. 

The other >|jlt(arv C'ompiinles, willi their Mu^ie, will be nl the place of 
tncetini: at ft oVkiek in themornliiKofthe dav of eelelirntlon, where lliey will 
bcmel livtJen. SleTriiH. ^liirohiil tif the djy' with til<< AiiUand llenuly Mar- 
■hal«. 

nnitf«i prnviileil lorr;irrvin; lhi-<'iti>^eii*i •;eiierallV'. will leave Roc-healer at 
«oVl.«L. A.M.onlhddiiy.aiiil loiirliin: »l Sciitto ille, ami other inlerinedl- 
atc plaees to reeeive |M-r'«oii<4 on hoiiril. « ill nrri* e at the |»Iii<e of meettni; at 
l« o'eloek, M.; and liiiau provlileil fur Ihe H:iiiif piirpo'^e will leave Mount 
Morrio, Ctiy ler, l.i\ liic<<ton <ilv. nt wieh lioiirH iis to ciiHiire their e\arl arrival 
•I the pl^ire of nieelin^ at I'i.eelmk, M- Mie line of llaato frntn eaeh dirco 
UontoheneeompanUdnlth fall llan.U ot Mnxie. iiinl eaeh Rnal Ii> hear the 
Nfttloia.l Fhv^'. .;;Tlie Ladie> Ihr.MiElio.il ilie«hole tine oftlie <-aiial and ila 
*lrlnll>, aiere»peethdlv invlud to alleiid and join in lhef.-^li*itie^ of the dav. 
tnmu-es »lll lie hi rendineo^iit thi' pliiee ol nuHIn- to lake the l.ailie^^aiid 
thoHe iKTWHiH who do not wl«h to join Kn- pi-iHe^Hian, to Ihe \ ill i-e «.l 1VeK» 
Avon lmmedi:itel.vaftrrtIienieetiucofUMll.,!U, and Ihe interehan-. oi -'reel* 
iD^mdaalotatlouMlM-lneen the iNoilhand the Month. 

h, fc.'"r"°"°° ""I "" " !"• '"'""-l un,l. r l[, " ,i„V, Iir 1,, M..^K 1 J 

hi. Ikpull,^ ,„d „„„,, , I III ,„",;"' ''"'".''" "f <l"- Marvhiil nnd 



Announcement of celebr&tlon of completion oi canal to Mount Morris. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 327 

settlement, four miles, and the Dansville branch, eleven miles, was 
completed in 1841; from the Shakers to Oramel, thirty-six miles, in 
1851; from Oramel to Belfast, two miles, in 1853; from Belfast to 
Rockville, three miles, in 1854; and frnm Rockville to Olean basin, 
twenty-four miles, in 1856. 

The completion of the canal to Mount Morris in 184(1 and to 
Dansville in 1841, was hailed with demonstrations of the greatest joy 
by the people of the valley. Early in the summer of 1840 a meeting 
was held in Rochester to make arrangements for a suitable celebration, 
and in the fall of that year, in accordance with the previous arrange- 
ments, the letting of the water into the canal was observed with ap- 
I)ropriate ceremonies. In 1841, when the canal was opened to Dans- 
ville, the State scow went through from Rochester with a numerous 
delegation on board, and a six pounder cannon from which a salute 
was fired at every village on the route. 

In 1857 the Legislature authorized the extension of the Genesee 
Valley canal from Olean to Mill Grove pond (which connects with the 
Allegheny river), a distance of six and one-half miles. The engineer's 
estimate of the cost of this work was $88,500. 

The canal was not the only measure of relief proposed by 
the people of the valley. Other plans for providing suitable means of 
transportation were suggested, the most important of which was the im- 
provement of the Genesee river. There were those who believed this 
a better plan than that of constructing a canal, and until the latter 
measure was sanctioned by the Legislature and work upon it com- 
\ menced they urged their views with great zeal and pertinacity. In 
\ 183f> "the inhabitants of Livingston county friendly to improving the 
linavigation of the Genessee river from Rochester to Geneseo or to 
/ jsome point above, as may be found practicable," were invited to meet 
■^ at the Court House in Geneseo on the 16th of December. "A general 
attendance is requested," said the call, "as it is wished to have an in- 
terchange of views in relation to applying to the Legislature for a mod- 
ification of the law for constructing the Genesee Valley canal, so far 
as to leave it discretionary with the Canal Commissioners to substitute 

2. Work on these sectious was suspended by act of the Legislature March 29, 1842, but was 
subsequently resumed. The enormous cost of the canal above the original estimates of the 
engineer proved a great hindrance to the rapid progress of the work, and there is reason to sup- 
pose that had the State known how great the cost was really to be, it would never have authorized 
the construction of the canal. 



328 HIST(mY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the river in place of a canal along its banks." The mcetinu; was held 
and was largely attended by citizens of York, Avon and Geneseo, the 
southern towns being evidently opposed to the measure. Curtiss Haw- 
ley of Avon was made chairman, and Benjamin F. Angel of Geneseo 
secretary. George Hosmer presented a series of resolutions, which, after 
approving speeches by those present, were adopted. These resolutions 
commended the wise policy which had for years characterized State 
counsels, by which the benefits of legislation had been extended to 
all parts of the State, and especially the aid which had been given in 
opening avenues of trade and commerce, "a policy which had ad- 
vanced us to a proud and commanding eminence among our sister con- 
federates, and justly entitled Xew York to the appellation of the Em- 
pire State." It was also declared that those composing this gather- 
ing were in favor of a water communication between the Allegheny 
river and the Erie canal at Rochester, and that they were friendly 
to the proposed canal, but that they at the same time believed that if 
a portion of the Genesee river could be improved and used advantage- 
ously as a canal, "at a saving of more than a quarter of a million of 
dollars to the State, and at the same time render greater facilities to 
trade at a period of interrupted navigation in the spring and fall, when 
a canal, supplied with water from the summit level of the (ienesee 
Valley canal, would be locked with ice," it should command the ser- 
ious and candid consideration of the public. The resolutions concluded 
by urging a modification of the act authorizing the construction of 
the canal so as to allow the Canal Commissioners to inquire into the 
expediency of substituting such portions of the river as might prove 
desirable, in place of the canal, and a committee consisting of Calvin 
H. Bryan, George Hosmer, Allen Ayrault, Charles Colt, Joseph B. 
Bloss and Elias Clark was appointed to present these views to the 
Legislature. 

The project, however, does not seem to ha\-e had the su|)porl of the 
public, or at least of the people inhabiting the towns south of Geneseo 
on the proposed route of the canal. Hence the movers in the enter- 
prise were unsuccessful, and it was early abandoned, i 

About this time also the question of im])roving the Allegheny river 

I. At this early period railways were too much in their iufancy to be regar(le<l with much 
favor, but at this meetiug Mr. Bryan and Mr. Hosmer. in their addresses, suggested that the time 
might come when a railway along the valley of the Oenesee would supercede any other mode of 
transportatiou. 






iicii^'ice lalley line. 






i^' Tin- I..uri' niid Com-iurl^.jM ■ ' ■ t Bo.ilti 

I'KESI ICTAIDmi tliRlAl 



t 



I |',.M..,i-.r% .„, .).. iir... ..- \otl.. t-»..Hl. I..l«.il. I(-li.-l.. ...I.I .M.. II....". Ivf S 

% C.-.pt. J. L. Ct-r\.'".K, 

I I ,, rtidnya. '■' '•■ 

...tlU-(lfl7H,i'l> 



( 



CapL H. B. SHACKLETON, 



For Freight or Passage. 

-. , \nv 4 I M It III M, Mr 'I ..-k; ... ii' 

.f -, ii>.»M. . '. If ... »....- 

• ^, .. fe . t: «;tt ^- ■.ci.r.r row : 

Time-table of Genesee Valley Canal, 1849. 



HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 32'» 

from Ulean to Pittsburg was seriously discussed, the object being to 
make a continuous water connection, by way of the Genesee \'alley 
canal and the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, between the Erie canal at 
Rochester and the river towns on the Mississippi. A number of 
meetings in behalf of this object were held in the county and the 
subject was urged upon the attention of Congress. 

In 1857 the Legislature authorized the extension of the canal to Mill 
Grove pond, about six miles beyond Olean, and a small amount of work 
was done on this improvement, when the work was suspended. In 
1858 a new project was broached, that of extending the canal beyond 
the Allegheny river to certain creeks flowing through rich iron and 
coal regions. The estimated cost of this improvement was $110,000, 
while incalculable benefits were expected to be derived from it. It 
was an unfavorable time, however, to urge the State to engage in 
any new enterprises of this character, and when it had re- 
covered sufficiently from the financial crisis of 1857 to warrant it in 
making any such vast expenditure of public funds as this and other con- 
templated measures for internal improvement would have demanded, 
the war came on and monopolized its energies and resources. 

With the advent of the railroad the canal had survived its useful- 
ness, and could not reasonably be sustained in navigable order. 
While the tolls received never paid the cost of the ordinary repairs 
and running expenses, much less any interest on the cost of its con- 
struction, yet it had been of inestimable value to the whole valley 
which it traversed, and paid indirectly many times its cost. It is 
scarcely possible to overestimate the influence it had in developing 
the resources of this part of the State, and it cannot be denied that 
to a very large degree our remarkable growth and prosperity are due 
to the facilities afforded by the Genesee Valley canal, and that the 
State was wise in constructing it. It was officially abandoned in 
September 1878. On the fifth day of November 1880 the State con- 
veyed to the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad Company all its right, 
title and interest in the canal property from Rochester to Mill Grove, 
with certain reservations, for a consideration of $11,400 (being at the 
rate of $100 per mile), in pursuance of the provisions of Chapter 32() of 
the Laws of 1880, the deed reciting that the grantee had given a bond 
in the sum of $700,000 conditioned for the construction of a railroad 
along the canal line, as required by the act. 



330 HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTON COUNTY 

In 1S2<>, aftttr an exciting contest, William H. Spencer and James 
Faulkner were chosen Assemblymen by large majorities, while Ethan 
B. Allen was elected Senator. Levi Hovey having been elected 
County Clerk, John H. Jones, who had recently held the same office 
in Genesee county, was recommended by the Republicans to fill the 
vacancy as Judge of the courts of Livingston county. The appoint- 
ment, however, was given to Willard H. Smith of Caledonia, who 
served in this capacity with great acceptability until 1832. 

On the evening of the 30th of May, 1826, a meeting of a number of 
the prominent citizens of the county was held at the Court House in 
the village of Geneseo, to take steps for the establishment of a school 
on the monitorial plan, "sufficiently extensive to teach 600 scholars, 
particularly in the higher branches of science " Articles of association, 
previously drawn up, were adopted, and a comtiiittee consisting of 
George Hosmer, Charles H. Carroll, James Faulkner and Philo C. 
Fuller was appointed to solicit subscriptions in aid of this project. I 
August of the same year a committee advertised for proposals for th 
erection of buildings for the "Livingston County High School." The 
specifications called for an academic building of brick, 65 by 33 feet, 
three stories high, and a brick or frame boarding-house of about the 
same proportions. These buildings were completed in due season, and 
constitute the property of the old Geneseo Academy, yet standing and 
owned by Abram Goodwin, Esq. In 1827 the Legislature incorporated 
the Livingston County High School Association, with the following 
corporate members: William Wadsworth, James Wadsworth, Willia 
Fitzhugh, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, John H. Jones, Charles IL Carroll, 
George Hosmer, James Faulkner, William H. vSpencer, Philo C. Fu 
ler, Charles Colt, Henry P. North, Leman Gibbs, Orlando Hastings, 
Augustus A. Bennett, William Finley, Moses Hayden and Jeremiah 
Briggs. The school remained under the control of a stock association 
until 1849, when it passed to the Synod of Buffalo and became a school 
under Presbyterian control, but not especially a sectarian institution. 
For nearly half a century it remained one of the most useful and pros- 
perous, as it was one of the oldest, academies of the State. Its .grad- 
uates have been numbered by thousands, and students from every 
clime have laid the foundations of their education within its walls. 
It is a source of deep regret that in 1875 the Academy was finally 
closed. 





Livingston County Bi^h School 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 331 

The post-rider in early days was an important personage. His 
visits were eagerly watched for and none were more warmly received 
in the settlements than he, whose coming brought tidings from absent 
friends or new-s of the great world's doings. Besides delivering the 
letters and papers coming through the mails, he made it a part of his 
business to supply newspapers to the people on his route, in much the 
same manner as the business is done by newsdealers at the present 
dav, buying his papers of the publishers and furnishing them to regu- 
lar customers at a certain rate per annum. As in more modern times, 
payments were not always made with as much promptness as they 
should have been, and the post-rider w'as often compelled to issue 
touching appeals to the debnq\ient customers to pay him. William 
Hutchins gives notice, over date of Dec. 10, 1823, "to all those w^ho 
have received of him the Livingston Gazette, printed at Moscow, that 
a collection must be made in order to enable him to pay the printer." 
He very kindly offers, how-ever, to receive grain in payment for news- 
papers, if delivered by the 15th of January at Gainesville. China, 
Springville, Collins or at Walnut Creek ^lills. 

In the fall of 1824 the mail stage between Geneseo and Rochester 
ran three times a week each way, leaving the former place Sundays, 
Tuesdays and Thursdays at half past six o'clock in the morning. In 
April 1825 E. Fisk advertises that the "Rochester stage will in future 
leave Geneseo every morning at half past five o'clock," and the com- 
mon wagons before in use were exchanged for "elegant coaches." In 
December of the same year the stage was advertised to leave Geneseo 
for Dansville, Bath and Olean Sundays and Wednesdays, on the arriv- 
al of the Rochester stage. The line to Rochester intersected the east 
and west line at Avon, thus giving a daily communication with Roch- 
ester, Canandaigua and Batavia, and points farther east and west. 
"For this accommodation," says a contemporary account, "the public 
are indebted to the enterprise of Mr. E. Fisk. whose perseverance 
has, from the use of a common wagon, which lately passed between 
this place and Rochester once a week, established a daily line of ele- 
gant coaches." 

As early as January 8th, 1S24, formal application was made to the 
Legislature by residents of Xunda,"That si.x milesof the north part" of 
that town in the county of Allegany might be erected into a separate 



332 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

town and annexed to the county of Livingston. Some years later this 
prayer of the people of Nunda was substantially granted. 

The people of the young and growing county were not allowed to 
suffer for the want of amusements. Travelling shows early found 
the way hither, and the public journals contained frequent flaming 
announcements. The Register of June 17, 1824, advertised a new 
museum of wax figures as "now open at the house of C. Watson in 
Moscow for a few days only." The collection embraced noted person- 
ages, the "Sleeping Beauty," and views of celebrated places. "The 
decorations and dresses are made in that style of elegance that will 
insure gratification to the observer. The museum will be open from 
y o'clock in the morning till 10 o'clock in the evening. ..Music on an 
elegant organ!" U^nless the making of wax figures has since become 
a lost art, and the specimens to-day but inferior imitations of those 
then shown to the public, it is not to be presumed that the exhibition 
was a very meritorious one. Perhaps as fascinating, at least far more 
disastrous in its consequences was the show of the snake charmer, who 
about this time visited Geneseo and surrounding towns. Allowing the 
repulsive reptiles to crawl freely about his person, he attracted curious 
crowds wherever he went. He was frequently warned of the danger he 
ran in allowing the reptiles to touch his person, but he only laughed at 
the fears of his spectators. One unlucky day, however, while exhibiting 
his snakes in Conesus one of the reptiles in crawling across his face 
bit him on the lip. Everything was done by the kind hearted people 
that was possible, but he was soon beyond human aid and died in the 
most terrible agony. 

There were very few Indians within the limits of the new county at 
the time of its erection. An informant states that there could not 
have been more than eighty or a hundred at this time, including 
young and old, male and female, remnants of the vSenecas. The resi- 
dence of these people was at vSquakie Hill. Soon after the sale of their 
lands in 1825 they began to leave, going to the western reservafions, 
and in a few years none were left. The Indians of Allen's Hill, Lit- 
tle Beardstown and other villages had gone some years before. Civil- 
ization had done but little for these dusky natives. With rare excep- 
tions they continued to live in their old huts, with fires in the centre, 
and nothing but skins and blankets for beds. The women also con- 
tinued to the last the laborers of the tribe, while the men spent their 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 333 

time in hunting, fishing and the idle amusements of their villages. 

On the 28th of January, 1824, a meeting of inhabitants of the 
county was held at the court house in Geneseo, for the purpose of 
forming a county Bible Society, auxiliary to the American Bible So- 
ciety. The history of one of the oldest and most useful organi- 
zations of Livingston county dates from this meeting. The meeting 
was well attended, and an organization effected. As officers for the 
ensuing year, the following were chosen; President, James AVads- 
worth; Vice Presidents, Charles H. Carroll and Jeremiah Riggs; 
Treasurer, Orlando Hastings; Corresponding Secretary, Rev. Norris 
Bull; Recording Secretary, Augustus A. Bennet; Directors, Willard 
H. Smith, Caledonia; George Hosmer, Avon; Orrin Gilbert, Lima; 
William Janes, York; Eben E. Buell, Geneseo; Leman Gibbs, Livonia; 
Dr. Asa R.' Palmer, Leicester; James Rosebrugh, Groveland ; Samuel 
Chapin, Jr., Freeport (Conesus); Jonathan Beach, Mount Morris; 
William McCartney, Sparta; Alva Southworth, Springwater. The 
society had an organized and active existence until the meeting held 
February 20th, 1886; at this meeting the officers were A. J. Abbott, 
President; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. F. De W^ Ward ; Recording 
Secretary, Lockwood R Doty ; Executive Committee, William J. ^lilne, 
John Rorbach, L. J. Ames, Dr. W. E. Lauderdale and Rev. K. B. 
Nettleton. While the Society retains a nominal standing and has a 
depository in Geneseo at present, but very little local interest has been 
manifested in its affairs since the date last mentioned. This circum- 
stance is probably due to the fact that the activities of the Society 
in the past have placed in practically all of the homes of the county, 
not otherwise furnished, copies of the Bible, and it must be said that 
in its peculiar field, no organization had done greater or more efficient 
work. The bibles distributed by it are numbered by thousands, and 
repeatedly the whole county has been canvassed, and a copy of this 
precious book placed in every home where one was found wanting, 
often without money and without price. 

The cause of the Greeks in 1824 excited the liveliest interest in Liv- 
mgston county, as it did throughout the country, and our liberty lov- 
ing^eople were not slow in showing their sympathy and extending 
substantial aid to the struggling Greeks. For this purpose a county 
meeting was held at Geneseo on New Year's day, 1824, at which 
Judg& Jones of Leicester presided. A series of resolutions expressive 



334 HISTORY OF LIVIXCSTON COUNTY 

of the sentiments of the citizens were submitted by William H. Spen- 
cer, Calvin H. Bryan and Orlando Hastings, which were heartily en- 
dorsed. A committee was also appointed to receive and forward to 
New York such contribulinns as might be placed in their hanils. while 
committees to solicit and receive contributions were apjiointed for 
each town in the county In this way liberal contributions were 
secured, and substantial aid given to the cause in which the Greeks 
were engaged. 

A local paper announces as "commercial enterjirise, " under date of 
May 27, 1824, the passage by Geneseo, on the river, of the canal boat 
"Hazard" from Nunda on her way to Albany, loaded with pine lum- 
ber, ashes, etc. The boat was owned by Sanford Hunt of the former 
place. Shipments were often made in this way down the river until 
the completion of the Genesee \'alley canal. At one time an attempt 
was made to introduce steamboats on the river and steamboat navi- 
gation companies were organized, but the attem])t was not successful, 
although trips were made during several seasons by small steamboats. 
The following announcement appears in the Livingston Journal of July 
28th, 1824: "We can congratulate the public upon the arrival of the 
steamboat 'Erie Canal,' Captain Bottle, at our village last evening. 
A more welcome arrival and one which throws the smiles of a bland 
and heartv cheerfulness among our villagers could not well have 
happened. " 

The same paper contains a communication from Avon commencing 
as follows: 

"Cheer up you lusty gallants. 
With music sound the drum, 
For we've descry 'd a steamboat 
On the Genesee hath come." 

The writer follows this rhyming effusion with a detailed account of 
the arrival of the boat at Avon on the 26th from Utica. "This 
being the first time the river has been navigated by steam drew to- 
gether a numerous multitude all eager to catch a glimpse of the novel 
stranger who had come in such a questionable manner among us." A 
company of gentlemen immediately assembled on board the boat "to 
honor its arrival and greet the commander with a cordial welcome. " 
Toasts were drunk, acc<impanied with music on board and the roar of 



GENESEE LANDS 
For Sale. 



THE subscriber offers for sale, in LoU to suit purchasers, the Estate on llie 
Genesee River, on which Mr. Harris resides, al>oiit one half mile froni Gcncseo, 
in the county of Livingston. There are about 30(K) acres of upland and ItXX) acres 
of River Flats; of which one half is in Tiuiodiy and Clover. The upland is first 
rate wheat laud, and die flats of the best quality. The upland is <livided into farms 
of various sizes, many of them improved : others in Timber. — The pioprietoi- living 
at a distance, the prices will be low, and a liberal credit given for a great part of 
the purchase money, payable by installments. Apply at Gencsco, to 

JNO. S. BRLNTON. 

May, 1824. 

C MoMsa k Co. PaiNxtas. UrKF^fi 

Notice of Sale of Lands, 1824. 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(^STOX COUNTY 335 

cannon on shore. The genius of Fulton, the steamboat itself, its gal- 
lant captain, the Genesee and the beautiful scenery on its shores, the 
arrival of tiie boat and the great promise of the future dating from 
this opening of steam navigation, all received due attention from the 
toasters, and each sentiment was lustily cheered by the multitude who 
had gathered to see the wonderful sight. "As the last gun was fired, 
the boat was gotten under way, and moved up the river toward Gen- 
eseo, the place of her destination, at the rate of about six miles per 
hour." 

At Geneseo the boat met with much the same greeting. On the 
dav following her arrival a large company of ladies and gentlemen 
went on board and Captain Bottle gave them an e.xcursion up the 
river, returning in the evening. The boat was about 77 feet long with 
a breadth of beam equal to that of the largest canal packet and drew 
about 11 inches of water, exclusive of her keel. Where no obstruc- 
tions existed the boat made about four miles per hour up stream. 
Captain Bottle stated at that time that successful steamboat naviga- 
tion might be prosecuted from Rochester to Geneseo, and even a few- 
miles above, if the obstructions impeding the passage were removed. 
The channel vvas in some places filled w-ith fallen trees and snags, 
which often detained the boat for hours. The editor of the Register 
concurred with Captain Bottle in the opinion "that nothing is want- 
ing but an alteration in the feeder at Rochester and a cleaning out of 
the rubbish in the river, to make this one of the most easily navigable 
streams in the State," and favored an approjjriation by the Legislature 
to effect this object. 

The next attempt at steam navigation on the river was b)' the 
"Genesee," a rear-wheel steamboat owned by a stock company. Major 
W. H. vSpencer and other citizens of the county being interested in 
the enterprise. It plied between Rochester and (Jeneseo, its landing at 
Rochester being at the head of the feeder, and at Geneseo a little 
below North's mill. Its carrying capacity was not very great. It was 
intended for passengers and for towing river boats, of which it could 
tow about three at a time. The speed of the "Genesee" was greater 
than that of its predecessor, being at times ten or eleven miles 
an hour. It would leave the Geneseo landing at 5 o'clock in the morn- 
ing and reach Rochester by 10 or 11 o'clock that forenoon. Return- 
ing, it would leave Rochester at 4 o'clock P. M., reaching Geneseo at 



336 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

10 or 11 o'clock in the evening, — distance by the river 65 miles. If 
it brought up a tow it might be detained two or three hours or more. 
There were berths for the hands but none ftir passengers. The "Gen- 
esee," however, was not a success, and after running twu seasons the 
enterprise was abandoned. During the first season the boat was com- 
manded by Captain William W. Weed; Captain John Dallson was in 
charge the second season. 

An old resident, writing to the Avt)n Herald in 1887 of the difficul- 
ties of early navigation of the river, says: "I have seen six or eight 
men strujigle nearly all a hut afternoon to get a barge up the little 
rapids in the river just below the bridge, — -getting a rope out to the 
abutments of the bridge to aid tiiem in their efforts. All the large 
boats had pollers.' When the water was very low the current was 
quite swift and, to afford a better depth of water, the principle of 
Ead's jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi had been put in practice, 
— the stones on the bed of the river had been piled in rdws from the 
shores towards the middle of the river, trending with the current. 

The remains of these rude jetties may still be seen at low water. 
They served, with the aid of a lo^k at York, to keep the river navi- 
gable nearly all summer to Geneseo. It was only in the spring and fall 
that boats could go to Mount Morris, and even then the journey was 
a disheartening one, — thirty-si.\ miles by river to make six miles by 
land : 

"Of the barges which once floated upon the bosom of the placid Gen- 
esee, I have no distinct memory except of the old 'Northumberland,' 
whose size and carrying capacity, were a perpetual source of wonder- 
ing comment among 'us boys.' It was in the fall of 183') or the spring 
of 184(1 tliat she went down the river for the last time, carrying, it was 
said, the enormous cargo of <),()ll(l bushels of wheat and 200 bbls. of 
flour. She was too large to go through the locks of the Erie canal at 
that time, and some years after in going by packet from Rochester to 
Albion, I could scarcely repress a sigh as we passed this glorious cham- 
pion of the waters of the Genesee degraded to the service of a wood 
boat on the 'long level' between Rochester and Lockport." 

On the 12th of August, 1825, as a Mr. Adams of the village of Gen- 
eseo was opening a drain to conduct the water from the marshy spot 
on which the two springs are located, which formerly supplied the vil- 
lage with water, "he came iii contact with a substance between two 



i 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 337 

and three feet below the surface of the earth, so peculiar in its appear- 
ance and delicate in texture that he was induced to make a critical 
examination of it, and found it to be a bony substance very much 
resembling- ivory in appearance. After removing the earth he 
found it to be of a spiral form, measuring five feet in length and seven 
inches in diameter at its base, gradually diminishing in size to an ob. 
tuse point. The figure of the substance so nearly resembled the tusk 
of at) elephant that he concluded it must have its fellow, so he renewed 
the search and soon found it situated about three feet from the first, 
and precisely resembling it in every respect, their points lying in 
opposite directions.' He also found eight of the teeth, proceeds the 
newspaper account, "four of which were evidently the back teeth of 
each side of the jaws, they being fitted to each other, and two belong- 
ing to the upper and two to the lower jaw, all precisely alike as to fig- 
ure and dimensions, their transverse diameter being three inches and 
their horizontal diameter six inches, one of which weighed three and 
a half pounds without the process that enters the jaw, that being total- 
ly destroyed in all of them. These teeth were marked upon their 
grinding surface by four rows of studded, blunt points elevated an 
inch. The four remaining teeth were of less size, and their grinding 
surface perfectly smooth. The enamel of all the teeth was sound and 
perfect," 

The discovery of these mastodon remains caused no little excite- 
ment in the village. The citizens, believing that with proper care 
the whorle skeleton might be obtained, volunteered to remove a sutifi- 
cient area of surface to effect this object. As anticipated, the bones 
of the body and extremities were found, but so much decayed that it 
was impossible to raise any of the more important ones entire. Traces, 
however, were left, by which their size and figure were ascertained. 
The lower bone of the hind leg measured three feet in length from the 
knee joint to the ankle. The thigh bone, from joint to neck, was also 
three feet in length and eighteen inches at its smallest circumference. 

The length of the animal, measuring from the centre between the 
base of the two tusks to the exterior point of the pelvis, was estimated 
at twenty feet and the height at twelve feet. "The animal could not 
have been old, as eight molar teeth were found — old animals have only 

1. Livingstou Register, Aug. 17, 1S25. 



338 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

one molar on eit'ner side of each jaw."' The bones were placed in the 
cabinet of the Buffalo Natural Historical Society. 

A similar discovery was made about the year l.S.iS, in straightening 
the road from Scottsburg to Conesus lake. In digging the ditch on 
the east side of the road, where it ran through a swamp of five or six 
acres near the inlet of the lake and about thirty rods to the west, the re- 
.mains of a mastodon were discovered about three feet below the surface. 
Eight teeth were found, four of which had blunt [joints and weighed 
about two pounds each. The shoulder blades, pieces of the ribs and 
some joints of the backbone were also found. Some of these bones were 
placed in the LeRoy Female Seminary. - 

In November, 1824, Livingston county gave S4'» majority for 
DeWitt Clinton for Governor, over Samuel Voung. Every town in 
the county except Groveland gave a majority for Clinton. In 1820 
Governor Clinton had proposed in the State Senate that the Federal 
constitution be amended so that presidential electors should be chosen 
■by the people in districts. Following up the idea, he recommended in 
his speech at the opening of the e.xtra session in November, 1820, 
that a State law be passed providing for the election of the electors 
by the people on a general ticket. This proposed change was the 
great theme of discussion in the fall of 182.^ and throughout the fol- 
lowing year. Originally agitated by the "Rucktails," all the Clinton- 
"ians joined them in favoring the bill. The advocacy of this measure 
added to Clinton's popularity with the people, but the moving cause 
of his triumphant election may with safety be attributed to the action 
of the Legislature in the spring of 1824, in removing him from the 
office of Canal Commissioner. This was done by the "Bucktails," 
his political enemies, yet though it was l)ut following out the policy 
lie had himself always pursued, it seemed to the people "like striking 
a fallen enemy." His work in behalf of the people, es[)ecially in de- 
A'eloping the resources of the State, were not forgotten, and rallying to 
his support they carried him into office with a majority of over sixteen 
thousand. In this contest, as has been shown, Livingston stood firm- 
ly by the "people's candidate," and contributed largely to his succes- 
ful canvass. 

Warmly supporting Clinton, the people also strongly favored his pro- 

1. Sillinian's Joiirual, Vol. 12, p. 380, 1st .Series. 

2. See iu another chapter the account of a more recent discovery of mastodon remains. 




Jud^e Ch&rlu. H. Carroll. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY- 339 

posed change in the manner of choosing electors, and looked with sus- 
picion on all who did not hold the same views. During the sitting of 
the January Common Pleas, and while the electoral bill was pending 
in the Legislature, John Van Fossen, with a view of getting up a gen- 
eral meeting of the electors of the county, without reference to party, 
to give expression to the views of the people on this subject, presented 
a paper to Judge Carroll, then First Judge of the county, who was also 
Republican candidate for Congress, while he was at dinner with about 
fifty others at Amos Adams' tavern in Geneseo. The Judge declined 
ti) sign the paper, believing that Van Fossen had some ulterior pur- 
pose. Van Fossen at once caused to be struck oft handbills, which he 
circulated slyly in Monroe county, stating that Judge Carroll was op- 
posed to any change in the existing mode of appointing presidential 
electors. Judge Carroll, when appraised of this fact, publicly denied 
the assertion. His opponent, Moses Hayden, was also compelled by 
public opinion to define his position on this question, and his letter 
caused considerable discussion, although he warmly favored Clinton's 
measure. At the election ilr. Hayden was successful in securing a 
reelection. 

In the summer of 1826 Governor Clinton, accompanied by his son 
Colonel Clinton and General Beck, visited the Genesee valley. Ac- 
cepting the statement of the opposition organ as true, his reception was 
not a warm one. "His Excellency's visit at this place was remarkable 
for nothing but its silence; his friends, we think, were hardly civil to 
him."* 

In 1826 Charles H. Carroll was the Republican candidate for State 
Senator, his opponent being his old foe, Mr. Van Fossen. The re- 
sult was somewhat of a surprise, a canvass of the votes showing that 
Judge Carroll had a majority of about 600 in a district which in 1824 
had given Mr. Clinton a majority of between 5,000 and 6,000. The 
Register, then the "Bucktail" organ at Geneseo, commenting on this 
result, said; "Notwithstanding, the little regency editor of the Jour- 
nal in his simpering tone proclaims that 'in this Senate District 
Charles H. Carroll, the Bucktail candidate, has been elected by a small 
majority.' It is true that it is not 6,000, neither is it reduced to the 
sickly number of nine; but is respectable in a district where the polit- 

I. Livingston Register. November 28, 1826. 



340 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



ical parties claim to be nearly equally divided, and one that the friends- 
of Judge Carroll feel not inclined to find fault with — and why need his 
enemies?" 

From the best available records it appears, that in 1S2') a one story 
cobblestone clerk's office was erected on the court house grounds a few 
rods east of the court house. As originally built the floor was ot 
brick; in the course of years these had become much worn and the 
floor very uneven, and it was taken up and a wooden floor substituted. 
At the same time a heavy partition wall, built also of cobblestones 
with a fire place on each side of it and a chimney running through the 
roof, was removed and replaced with a stove. The removal of the 
partition caused the walls to crack and rendered necessary iron rods, 
which were passed through the building. This building was torn 
down in March, 1887, when the new clerk's office was constructed. 

The following statistics are taken from the census of the county for 
the year 1825: 



Males 12,225 

Females 11,635 

Legal voters 4,694 

Aliens 310 

Paupers 15 

Colored 53 

Deaf and dumb 5 

Idiots 13 

Lunatics 4 

Births ')!! 

Deaths 292 

Marriages 227 

Acres of improved land. .113,576 

Neat Cattle 28,762 

Horses 5,209 

Sheep 74,882 



Hogs 27,422 

Yards fulled cloth 51,772 

" flannel 75,494 

•• linen 81,027 



Grist mills 

Saw mills 

Oil mills 

Fulling mills 

Carding machines. 
Cotton factories. . , 
Woolen factories. . 

Iron works 

Trip hammers 

Distilleries 

Asheries 



3a 

50 

2 

28 

32 

2 

4 
2 

3 
31 
79- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 341 



CHAPTER XV. 

AN EVENT occurred in the fall of 1826, in the neighboring coun- 
ty of Genesee, that filled the people with alarm and terror and 
aroused them to a fever heat of excitement. A wide-spread 
effect was produced upon the then existing political parties, and a new 
organization sprang into existence, which rapidly increased in num- 
bers and for a time exerted a powerful influence over the political 
affairs of the State. 

This occurrence was the abduction and supposed murder of William 
Morgan, a Royal Arch Free Mason, a printer by trade, then living at 
Batavia. As the whole subject has been fully discussed by other 
writers, only enough of the details will be given here to explain the 
course of the people of this county, especially in their political action. 
Morgan, it appears, unable to earn a livelihood by his trade, deter- 
mined to publish for his pecuniary benefit a pamphlet containing an 
expose of the secrets of Masonry. While at work setting the type for 
this pamphlet, his intention was discovered by some of his fellow 
Masons, and communicated by them, as subsequent events seemed to 
show, to the members of the order far and wide. 

A warrant was issued by Jeffrey Chipman, a Justice of the Peace in 
Canandaigua, on the 11th of September, 1826, for the arrest of Mor- 
gan on a charge of stealing a shirt and cravat, and Mr. Cheesebrough, 
master of a Masonic lodge at Canandaigua, who procured the warrant, 
together with two or three other Masons, went to Batavia with it. 
Causing Morgan to be arrested, they hurried him in a close coach to 
Canandaigua, where he was brought before Justice Chipman, but was 
discharged, as the Justice believed him guiltless of the charge preferred. 
He was immediately re-arrested on a small debt due Aaron Ashley, 
which Cheesebrough claimed had been assigned to him. Judgment 
was rendered against Morgan for two dollars, and under a body execu- 
tion he was placed in the Canandaigua jail. During the night of the 
12th he was discharged from custody,_ but was immediately seized 
by a party of unknown persons and rapidly and secretly conveyed 
to the Niagara River, where he was left confined in the old magazine 



342 - HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of Fori "Niagara, in charge of Colonel King and Elisha Adams. 
On the 29th of September he disappeared, and nothing was ever after- 
wards heard of him.' 

The people of Batavia had been for some time aware that Morgan 
was regarded with suspicion by the Masons, as they had made several 
ineffectual attempts to suppress the forthcoming work. When it be- 
came known, therefore, that Morgan had been forcibly seized after his 
discharge from custody, and had mysteriously disappeared, they de- 
termined to investigate the case and vindicate the majesty of outraged 
law. At a public meeting held in Batavia, a committee was appoint- 
ed which instituted a strict investigation, without, however, being 
able at that time to discover any traces of the missing man beyond 
the fact that his abductors had conveyed him rapidly toward Roches- 
ter. These facts being reported, the community became convinced 
that a great crime had been committed, and the dreadful suspicion pre- 
vailed that Morgan's life had been sacrificed by his abductors. Then 
the whole western part of the State was aroused, and alarm, indigna- 
tion and a deep determination to probe the mystery to the bottom 
prevailed among all classes of people. Meetings were held in nearly 
every town, at which was condemned in the severest terms the outrage 
which had been perpetrated, and steps were taken to ferret out and 
bring to justice the impious hands that had thus stained themeslves 
with human blood. The evident deliberation with which the abduc- 
tion had been committed, the large number of agents employed and 
the secrecy with which all the movements had been conducted pointed 
to a well organized and widespread conspiracy to put Morgan out of 
the way, and indicated that in thus ignoring the laws and outraging 
the sentiment of the peaceful community a large organization had 
been interested. This was enough to fill the community with alarm, 
but when was added to this evident strength of the abductors the 
mystery which surrounded the occurrence — itself an element that sel- 
dom fails to inspire terror — it may be readily believed that not only 
indignation but the greatest alarm filled the hearts of the people. 

The committee before spoken of continued its investigations, but at 
first with little success. "They could trace him (Morgan) as far as 

I. As to his ultimate fate later disclosures seem to leave no doubt. A party of men chosen 
by lot met under cover of darkness, and conveying him to the middle of the Niagara river, con- 
signed him to its waters, firmly bound and weighted with stones. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 343 

Rochester, and it was a long time before the clue was found by which 
he was finally traced to Fort Niagara. The very difficulties inter- 
posed to the investigation increased the excitement in the public 
mind. There were some who early implicated the whole Masonic 
fraternity in the guilt of the transaction. This, however, was not at 
first the general public sentiment; but when, as the investigation pro- 
ceeded, it was found that all those implicated in the transaction were 
Masons, that with scarce an exception no Mason aided in the investi- 
gation; that the whole crime was made a matter of ridicule by the 
Masons; and even justified by them openly and publicly ; that the 
power of the laws was defied by them and the committees taunted 
with their inability to iiring the criminals to punishment before tribu- 
nals where judges, sheriffs, jurors and witnesses were Masons: 
that witnesses were mysteriously spirited away, and the committees 
themselves personally vilified and abused for acts which deserved 
commendation, the impression spread rapidly and took a strong hold 
upon the popular judgment, that the Masonic institution was in 
fact responsible for this daring crime. "^ 

It is proper to say, however, in this connection, that this extract is 
from the pen of one who was a prominent anti-Mason, and who took a 
leading part in the investigation. Therefore it is probable that his 
picture of the opposition met with by the committees in their investi- 
gations is highly colored and overdrawn. ]Many joined in the warfare 
on Masonry through honest abhorrence of the crime that had been 
committed, and a firm belief that all secret societies were inimical to 
the spirit of our institutions. Others, however, seized upon the op- 
portunity to advance their own political ends; and some who were 
loud in their denunciation of Masonry, and zealous to an excessive de- 
gree in the prosecution of those suspected of complicity in Morgan's 
abduction, would have been as ready, had the popular current been set- 
ting that way, to applaud the dark deed and extol the shining virtues 
of the Masonic order. It was certainly the case that the abduction 
and murder of Morgan found many to condemn it among Masons 
themselves, while, as must be admitted, a few of the order approved 
and defended it. 

The effect of this event on the then existing political parties was 

1. Ilammond's ni<ilorv of Political Parties. 



344 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

very great, although for a year or two it was not sensibly felt outside 
of the counties of Genesee, Monroe, Livingston, Orleans and Niagara. 
The rise and progress of the Atiti-Masonic party was briefly epito- 
mized at one of its later conventions, as fiillows: "The abduction of 
Morgan called forth the first general expression of popular opinion 
against secret societies. That event occurred at Batavia Sept. 11th. 
1826. A considerable period elapsed before the people in the imme- 
diate vicinity of that outrage became sensible of the fact that P'reemas- 
onry had commanded and justified the high handed conspiracy; and 
a still longer period transpired before the iniquitous oaths and obliga- 
tions of the order became generally known. But finding themselves 
at length unable to ferret out the conspirators, and becoming ac- 
quainted with the alarming principles, in accordance with which their 
fellow citizen had been bereft of liberty and life, a determination was 
made by the people in a few of the towns in the counties of Genesee, 
Monroe and Niagara, by the exercise of the right of suffrage, to effect 
the abolition of the institution in whose name and service the daring 
deed was committed. In the spring of 1827 a few scattering demon- 
strations of this determination were made at the town meetings. In 
the fall of 1827 the cjuestion was for the first time brought distinctly 
and with concert to the polls, in the counties of Genesee, Monroe, Liv- 
ingston. Orleans and Niagara, in each of which counties the Anti- 
Masonic ticket prevailed, and the territory including them became 
thenceforth known in Masonic language as the 'infected district'. In 
the summer of 1828 a convention of seceding Masons was held at Le- 
Roy, in the county of Genesee, by whom the truth of the revelations 
of Freemasonry made by Morgan was affirmed, and a further revela? 
tion was made by many of the higher degrees. In the fall of 1828^^e 
memorable presidential canvass absorbed almost the entire/public 
attention without the limits of the counties above mentionecT and the 
counties adjacent. Nevertheless, Anti- Masonry, in defiance of and 
in opposition to both of the political parties, deposited in the ballot 
bo.xes 33.000 votes. In the month of February, 1829, a StatA conven- 
tion was held at Albany, in which forty-two counties were repre- 
sented, and by which the first national convention was recomnvended. 
As yet neither of the political parties had openly declared itself iri op- 
position to Anti-Masonry, and in many parts of the State both had 
vied in caressing it. " 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 345 

In this county action was early taken to express the sentiment of 
the community. A call appeared in the local journals for a meeting to 
be held at the court house in Geneseo on the 12th day of January, 
1827, "for the purpose of expressing their sentiments in regard to the 
outrage committed upon William Morgan, and of adopting such meas- 
ures as may be deemed advisable to discover his fate, and to prevent 
a recurrence of such detestable transactions. " The call was signed 
by C. H. Bryan, P. C. Fuller, J. Wright, R. Austin, E. N. Buell, 
S. F. Butler, Charles Colt, Campbell Harris, and J. Percival. At this 
meeting Judge Jones, a prominent Freemason, was made chairman 
and Philo C. Fuller secretary. Mr. Bryan gave a brief review of the 
transaction which had given occasion for this meeting, and referred to 
the fact that there was no statutory prohibition of the kidnapping of 
white persons, although there was a statute to prevent the abduction 
of people of color. Several affidavits relating to various facts con- 
nected with the abduction and a report of the recent trial at Canan- 
daigua of persons implicated in it, were read, and a committee con- 
sisting of P. C. Fuller, C. H. Bryan, J. Clute, H. D. Mason and J. 
Almy was appointed to report resolutions for the consideration of the 
meeting. The resolutions thus reported and adopted condemned in 
the Severest terms the kidnapping of Morgan, "a proceduresf) ob- 
viously repugnant, not only to the laws of the land but to the first 
principles of civil liberty; we view the transaction as one calculated 
to excite alarm; one which no consideration can justify, and one 
which, as intelligent and watchful citizens, we are bound to reprobate 
in decided terms. " A suggestion was made that a law should be 
passed forbidding "the kidnapping of free white citizens," and a com- 
mittee consisting of the chairman, secretary and Mr. Clute was ap- 
pointed to "correspond with other committees in neighboring coun- 
ties, and to receive contributions to be used in endeavoring to discov- 
er the fate of Morgan, and in detecting and bringing his abductors to 
condign punishment ; and that a contribution for these purposes be 
taken up at this meeting." 

The people of the several towns followed the example thus set by 
this county gathering, and meetings were held in a large number of 
places. A local journal ' gives an acc(junt of a large meeting held in 

1. Livingston Register. 



346 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Sparta on the 17th of March, 1827, to i^ive expression to the senti- 
ments of that community. Benjamin Roberts presided and William 
C. McNair officiated as secretary. The resolutions passed expressed 
in ringing tones the abhorrence with which the people viewed the out- 
rage. "The history of the last six months," the resolutions read, 
"has disclosed the facts which make every individual tremble for his 
own safety; our liberties have been invaded; the majesty of our laws 
has been trampled upon with imjiunity; our citizens have been ar- 
rested, robbed, kidnapped and murdered without the shadow of a 
crime, or any legal pretense whatever." The press, it was averred. 
had been generally silenced. Freemasonry had become a stepping 
stone to office, "and the principal posts of honor, trust or profit, from 
the President of the United States down to the petty magistrates of 
our towns and villages, are generally held by Masons." The meeting 
pledged itself to oppose the election of any one to any office of honor 
or trust who was a member of the order of Freemasonry, and ap- 
pointed Russell Day, Ilirani Kellog, S. W. Smith, James McNair and 
Benjamin Wheeler a committee of vigilance and correspondence for 
the town of Sparta. 

These accounts serve to show how thoroughly the people were 
aroused, and the deep, earnest and determined spirit with which they 
entered upon this warfare on an institution they deemed so dangerous 
to individual liberty and popular government. The most intense 
feeling was generated, and probably no question of public interest in 
this country ever more thoroughly engaged the attention of the peo- 
ple, was made the theme of more earnest discussion or gave rise to a 
warmer political canvass than this po])ular uprising against Masonry. 

In the election of 1827 the influence of this opposition was but lit- 
tle felt. The forces were but gathering then that afterwards for sev- 
eral years controlled the politics of the "infected district," and exerted 
a powerful influence in State councils. Nevertheless, it behooved can- 
didates for office, even at this time, that they be able to show a clear 
record on this question, and probably the election of Calvin H. Bryan 
to the Assembly in November, 1827, »vas due to the fact that he was not 
only a Jackson man l)ut also a decided Anti-Mason. At the same 
time William Janes, another vehement opposer of ilasonry, was also 
elected to the Assembly, the majority of both himself and his col- 
league being about Still. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 347 

At the spring elections of 1828 the Anti-^Iasons were largel}' in the 
ascendency, the issue being for the first time brought directly before 
the people. A newspaper of that day said of the result: "Intelli- 
gence received from the several towns in this county of the results of 
the late town elections, furnishes the best evidence that Anti-^Iasonry 
still flows in a 'natural and healthful channel, notwithstanding the 
great exertions made use of by royal arch politicians to direct its 
course." The Anti- Masons elected the whole, or the greater part, of 
their tickets in nine out of twelve towns comprising the county. In 
Groveland, Leicester and Lima the Masons elected their candidates 
for the office of Supervisor by small majorities. 

In the spring of 1828 Charles H. Carroll, who was then one of the 
Senators from this district, resigned his seat for the purpose of devot- 
ing his whole time to his private affairs. He had served during 1S27 
and the winter session of 1828, with great acceptability to his constitu- 
ents and credit to himself, but his large personal interests demanded 
that he shoLdd forego, for a time at least, any further political honors. 
In his letter of resignation to the Hon. Peter R. Livingston, Presi- 
dent, pro icDi. of the Senate, he said: "The unusual time occupied 
by the sessions of our Legislature for the last two years, compel me to 
tender you the resignation of my seat in the Senate of this State. In 
years of ordinary legislation it would have afforded me much satisfac- 
tion to have served my constituents the four years for which they 
elected me. My own affairs, however, oblige me to resign this honor 
for the residue of the term, and to do it at this time that my [ilace 
may be supplied at the ensuing election, and my constituents saved 
the expense of a special one." The resignation was accepted, al- 
though it was said that "his retirement at this time is a source of re- 
gret to his friends, while the public will lose the services of a worthy 
and useful legislator." 

It becoming necessary to supply the vacancy caused by Judge 
Carroll's resignation at the November election, an Anti-Masonic con- 
vention was held at Rush, October 2tlth, 1828, which nominated James 
Wadsworth for this position. Mr. Wadsworth, however, although a 
decided Anti-Mason, declined to be a candidate. He was absent from 
home when the convention met, but William Wadsworth. his brother, 
on learning of the action taken, addressed a letter to the Anti-Masonic 
central committee of Livingston county, in which he said: "This 



348 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

nomination is contrar)- to his (James) wishes and his express declara- 
tions will appear from the following letter from him addressed and 
read to the convention. I am induced to ask a publication of this let- 
ter from a thorough conviction that my brother will not in any event 
suffer himself to be considered a candidate. His absence will prevent 
his declining publicly in time to permit another nomination. Under 
these circumstances, as it is the unquestionable right of Livingston 
county, I take the liberty to suggest to you, gentlemen, the propriety 
of recommending some other person without loss of time." 

Following out this suggestion, a meeting of Anti-Masonic electors 
of the county was held in Geneseo on the evening of the 20th. James 
Percival acted as chairman and Philo C. Fuller as secretary, and a 
resolution was unanimously adopted that Moses Hayden of York be 
recommended to the electors of the district as a candidate for the 
office of Senator. 

Meanwhile an Anti-Masonic State convention had been held at 
L^tica on the 4th of August, whch had nominated for Governor, 
Francis Granger of Ontario, and for Lieutenant-Governor, John Crary 
of Washington. In this convention James Wadsworth's name had 
been frequently mentioned in connection with the nomination for 
Governor. "Great unanimity of sentiment prevailed among the 
members of this body, although met from remote parts of the State. 
But two candidates for Governor were mentioned on the first attempt 
to obtain the mind of the delegates, when each one named the individ- 
ual of his choice. These two were James Wadsworth and Francis 
Granger, Esquires. As no member present was able to answer for 
the acceptance of the former gentleman, his name was reluctantly 
withdrawn by his friends, yet, notwithstanding the propriety of unan- 
•imity at the final balloting, some few could not be prevailed upon to 
relinquish what they deemed a fit opportunity of expressing their pref- 
erence for a man who is so eminently qualified to discharge the duties 
of the high and important office for which he had been named by 
those who knew his wtirth, and are acquainted with his sentiments on 
the particular subject which then engaged the attention of the conven- 
tion." Mr. Granger, however, declined the nomination for political 
reasons, although he was a decided Anti- Mason, and Solomon South- 
wick of Albany was substituted. Anti-Masonic nominations had also 
been made for all the offices to be filled at the coming election. These 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 34<l 

were as follows: For Congress, Timothy Childs; State Senators, 
(jeorge 11. Boughton, Moses Hayden; Assembly, Philo C. Fuller, 
Titus Goodman, Jr. ; vSheriff, Russell Austin; County Clerk, Chauncey 
R. Bond. Each of the other political parties also had a full ticket in 
the field, and the canvass was one of the most closely contested politi- 
cal campaigns ever witnessed in the county. Much feeling was en- 
gendered and the discussion was heated and bitter. All opposition 
to the new political movement was, however, useless. The people, 
regardless of all former political ties, of the ridicule of their oppon- 
ents, the reasoning and entreaties of politicians or the unconcern of 
the two great parties, were deeply in earnest in their determination 
to crush out, by the power of the ballot, what they conceived to be 
the great wrong of the age. Freemasonry. The result was astonish- 
ing to party leaders, and even to the people themselves. A canvass of 
the votes cast at the election showed that Southwick for Governor had 
received l')(i3 votes to 1257 for \'anBuren (Jackson candidate) and 
867 for Thompson (Adams man), while the Anti-Masonic candidates 
for Congressman, State Senators, Assemblymen, Sheriff and Clerk 
were elected by overwhelming majorities. 

This was the first great triumph of the Anti-ilasonic party, to 
which it added others in successive years until it was finally wholly 
absorbed by the Whig party about the year 1832. 

Early in the Spring of 1S27 the citizens of Blount [Morris com- 
menced an important public work, which has since added largely to 
the commercial importance and prosperity of that beautiful village. 
This was the construction of the race-way extending along the hill- 
side below the village from the Genesee river to a point near the 
center of the village, from whence its waters are again returned to 
the river by means of a small stream emptying into the Canaseraga 
creek. The plan proposed embraced a strong timber dam at the river 
to raise the water to the proper level to carry it through the race-way, 
and a lock and apron to facilitate the passage of boats. The work 
was done for the purpose of providing an extensive water power, 
which it answered admirably, a large number of flouring mills, saw 
mills, wood and iron working establishments, etc., being driven by the 
power which it furnished. The dam proved too weak and was re- 
placed by another in 1S33, in constructing which aid was obtained by 
the transfer to the proprietors of the Mount Morris Tract of the pub- 



350 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

lie square in the village, which was divided into lots and sold; this 
dam was carried away by the higii water in 1S52, and rebuilt by the 
vState for canal purposes. This was in turn destroyed in 18')'* and the 
present splendid dam of masonry completed in TMi,^ ])roniises to resist 
for many years the turinilence of the (Jenesee. 

The Board of vSupervisors gave notice in December, 1828, that "a 
fariTi is wanted for the accommodation of the poor of the county. It 
must be within six miles of the court house in the village of Genesee, 
and must contain about one hundred acres of land; the land must be 
of good qualitv. well timbered, and well su|)[)lied with good water. 
Any person having a farm for sale that will answer the purpose for 
which it is wanted, is requested to deliver a particular description of 
the same to William H. Spencer, before the 15th of December ensu- 
ing, stating the quality and <}uantity of land, how much is in timber, 
what kind of timber," etc., and "the ready cash price asked for the 
farm. " 

At the November session of the Board in the following year, the 
Superintendents of the Poor reported that they had purchased, under 
direction of- the Board, "a farm one mile and a half from the village 
of Geneseo; containing about 13(. acres, for the sum of $5,44i), payable 
in annual installments." The Superintendents erected an addition to 
the dwelling house already on the premises, 48 feet in length by 3(i 
feet in width and two stories high. Other improvements were made, 
and on the loth of June, 182'>, they commenced to receive paupers 
into the house; receiving u[) to November 7th of that year thirty- 
four persons, of whom twenty were males and fourteen females. 

Quite a formidable movement was inaugurated in 1S.^0 for the 
erection of a new county, out of portions of Allegany, Genesee and 
"so much of Mount Morris in Livingston county, as would lie south 
of a continuation of the north line of the town of Sparta to the Gen- 
esee river." The project seems to have originated in Allegany 
county, and was there pushed with remarkable pertinacity. Outside 
of that county, however, few were found to favor it. At a meeting 
of the citizens of that portion of Mount Morris which it was proposed 
to include in the new shire, having appeared "by the legislative reports 
that petitions purjiorting to be 'from Allegany, Genesee and Living- 
ston' have actually been presented in furtherance of the said applica- 
tion," a protest was entered against this or any other ])roject which 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 351 

contemplated the separation of all or any part of that town from the 
county to which it was then attached. The people said that while 
they conceded the right of their neighbors to "cut and carve" up 
their own count)' to suit their local or personal interests, they were 
"constrained to express the belief that the people of this section are 
unanimously opposed to the extension of the 'gerrymandering system' 
ti) this town or county." 

A meeting of citizens of the whole town was held in the vil- 
lage of Mount Morris Jan. 11th, 1831, for the purpose of taking steps 
ti> oppose the efforts of those who were seeking a division of the lown. 
William A. Mills was called to the chair and W. H. Stanley acted as 
secretary. A committee consisting of William A. Mills, W. H. Stan- 
ley, Moses Marvin, Humphrey Hunt and James Miller was appointed 
to report resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the meeting. In 
the resolutions thus adopted the citizens said, "While we are willing 
that Mur more prosperous brethren of Allegany and Genesee should im- 
pose on themselves any amount of taxes which they may desire, for 
their own exclusive convenience, we have not sufficient disinterested 
benevolence to induce us to 'go over and help' them; nor can we think 
it a generous attempt on their part, without consulting our feelings, 
to force us into a measure which we can have no possible interest to 
advance." And a local journal in commenting on this action ex- 
pressed the prevalent feeling in saying, that it was "sincerely to be 
hoped that the wishes of the inhabitants of Mount Morris would not 
. he unheeded," while it was unkind enough to say of the instigators of the 
vxcounty movement, that in advocating a division they were "suspected 
of being influenced more by considerations of private interest than by 
a jiroper regard for the good of the public." Owing probably to the 
determined and persistent opposition which it met, the new county 
project failed of success, and the people of the county were not called 
— upon to discuss the question for several years'. 
^ Up to this time all efforts to secure the establishment of a bank in 
the county had proved futile, although such a monetary institution 
was imperatively demanded by the commercial necessities of the com- 
munity. Avon had made several attempts to secure a bank charter, 
and so also had Geneseo, Mount Morris and York, but at this time 
the Legislature was chary of its favors in this direction, and the desire 
of the people was ungratified. At the session of the Legislature of 



352 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

1S30, however, the bill to incorp<jrate the Livinjiston County Bank- 
was passed, and the long \\'ished for measure was secured. Naturally 
the people of the county were much elated, and especially so as this 
was the only charter west <if Syracuse granted at this session. In 
May of the same year, the commissioners appointed to distribute the 
stock of the bank announced that the subscrii)tion books would be 
opened in Geneseo May 31st, at the house of C. Hamilton, and that 
a payment of $1 on each share of $25 was required by the act of incor- 
poration. The notice was signed by William H. Spencer. Allen 
Ayrault, W. H. Smith, I). H. Fitzhugh and William Lyman. Such 
was the public desire for the bank and the confidence felt in its finan- 
cial success, that in three days the entire capital stock, $1(1(1, (MM), was 
subscribed and the payment of $1 per share made. ( )n the 25th of June 
the stockholders met for the [)urpose of completing the organization, 
when the following gentlemen were elected Directors for the ensuing 
year: John Greig, H. B. Gibson, Nathaniel W. Howell, Abraham M. 
Schermerhorn, James K. Guernsey, Charles H. Carroll, Hezekiah D. 
Mason, Feli.x Tracy, Owen P. Olmsted, Eli Hill, William Lyman, 
William H. Stanley and Allen Ayrault. Subsequently Allen Ayrault 
was chosen President, Watts Sherman,' Cashier. Eben N. Buell, 
James Percival and David C. Stewart were appointed inspectors of the 
next election. 

Work was immediately commenced on a new hanking house, and 
in the Register of Sept. 8, 1S3(I, we find the following reference to the 
bank and its building: "The capital stock of this bank ($1(10,000) 
was promptly paid'in on the 1st inst., and everything is now in readi- 
ness for the transaction of business. A very neat banking house, well 
calculated both for convenience and security, has been erected since 
the first of June. The building is of brick, situated about the centre 
of the village, and will, as we understand, be completed in a few days; 
until which time the business of the bank will be transacted in an 
office appropriate for this purpose." The same paper indulges in a 
congratulatory strain over this event. It says: "Thus have the un- 
tired exertions of the inhabitants of this place been rewarded with 
success. Their perseverance for the last si.x years has resulted in the 
establishment of an institution which has long been needed, and the 

1. .-Vfterwards a member of the well known firm of Dnucan. Sherman is: Co.. Hankers, New 
York. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 353 

lack of which has placed this section of the country under some dis- 
advantages which we hope will now be no more felt. We confidently 
look forward to the fulfillment of all the predictions we have hereto- 
fore made in relation to the benefits to be derived from this bank, 
and have still good reason to believe that with proper management, 
such as it will undoubtedly receive, both stockholders and those who 
have occasion to transact business with the bank will find an ample 
reciprocity of benefit and favor."* 

Moses Hayden while serving his second year in the Senate sick- 
ened and died Feb. 14. 1S.^0. His death was a shock to his constit- 
uents, and caused a feeling of deep and wide-spread regret. His 
public services had been rendered with marked ability and a sincere 
purpose to secure the public good, while his private character was 
one of singular ]nirity and integrity. He consequently had the con- 
fidence and esteem not only of his own party, but of the people gener- 
ally, and his unexpected death was the cause of sincere sorrow. His 
remains were brought from Albany in May of the same year, and 
rfekjterred near his late residence in York. Philo C. Fuller was chosen 
to fill the vacancy in the Senate caused by Mr. Hayden's death. 

The end of 1830 found the county, in the ninth year of its existence, 
in a highly prosperous condition. Its population had increased from 
19,800 in 1S21 to 27,710; its territory was dotted with numerous enter- 
prising and growing villages, and its active population was rapidly de- 
veloping the resources of this rich and fertile region. 

I. The expectatious of the editor were fully realized. Duriug the tweutv-five yeans of its ex- 
istence as a corporatiou it paid iu dividends to its stockholders, 5579.500, and theu returned to 
them every cent of the capital stock. .An eminent banker speaking; of its management wrote; 
"In reference to the closing of the operations of the Livingston County Bank, after its existence 
of a quarter of a centurj* under your management, a bank managed better, as well for the good of 
the country, as for the benefit of the stockholders, I do not think exists or has existed in the 
country." 



354 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER XVI. 

NOTWITHSTANDING that the question of a canal along 
the valley of the Genesee to Olean had now been before 
the people for fully six years, and the measure urged year after 
year with great determination upon the attention of the Legislature, 
nothing had as yet been done by that body to further this object. Dis- 
couraged by their attempts to secure the needed measure, the people 
of this and Monroe counties turned their attention to other plans for 
imjjroving the transportation facilities of the valley. 

Aiiout this period the attention of the country was directed to the 
subject of railroads, which were then just coming into use, and the 
people of the valley naturally concluded that a railroad would solve 
the difficulties under which they labored. 

On the 15th of November, 1831, a meeting of citizens of the county 
was held at C. Hamilton's house in Gencseo, for the [uirpose of taking 
measures to call a general meeting of the inhabitants of the counties 
of !Monroe, Livingston, Genesee, Allegany and Steuben who felt an 
interest in the construction of the "Rochester and Dansville Rail- 
road," along the valley of the Genesee river and Canaseraga creek. 
Charles H. Carroll acted as chairman ot this meeting and Allen 
Ayrault secretary. The object of the meeting having been stated, it 
was announced that a notice had been given that an application would 
be made to the Legislature for a charter for this road, with a capital of 
$300, out). It was therefore resolved that a call be issued for a general 
meeting to beheld in CJeneseo on Tuesday, Nov. 2'', 1S31. and all resi- 
dents of the counties previously named, who were interested in this 
project were invited to attend. The committee appointed to carry 
this into effect consisted of Charles H. Carroll, Allen Ayrault, C. H. 
Bryan, D. Firman, James Proudfit, Asa Arnold, William A. Mills, H. 
Jones, Jr., 1). H. Fitzhugh, Smith Parmalee, James McCurdy, F. 
Blakesley, Robert Di.von, S. C. Grover, J. Clark and John Young. 

Preliminary meetings to promote this object were also held in Dans- 
ville and other places which were participated in by leading citizens. On 
the 2'>th of the same month the general meeting was held in (Jeneseo, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 355 

and proved a large and enthusiastic gathering. All sections were rep- 
resented, and a great unanimity of sentiment prevailed. In the pre- 
amble adopted appears this: "Whereas we have repeatedly and in 
vail) petitioned tt) the Legislature of this State for the improvement of 
our natural means of intercommunication by the construction of a 
canal from Rochester to Olean up the valley of the Genesee river; and 
whereas, within a few years the science of the construction of railroads 
and the machinery employed thereon has been so much improved as 
to exceed the most sanguine expectation of power and speed in its 
adaptation to the transportation of passengers and produce; and 
whereas, in this latitude the railroad has a decided advantage over 
the canal system by extending its benefits and facilities throughout 
the whole year." Hezekiah D. Mason, Allen Ayrault, C. H. Bryan, 
Felix Tracy, William A. ^lills and James Faulkner were made a com- 
mittee to circulate a petition for signatures, praying the Legislature to 
incorporate the company. 

In the memorial to the Legislature on this subject, it was urged that 
the face of the country over which the projected railroad would pass, 
was well adapted to its construction. From Rochester to the mouth 
of Canaseraga creek, about thirty miles, the rise was stated at 45 
feet; and from the latter point to Dansville, a distance of about 
eighteen miles, the rise was 160 feet, a total rise of 2U5 feet in forty- 
eight miles. Referring to the extent of the traffic over the water and 
land routes at this time, the memorial said: "The surplus products of 
the Genesee and Canaseraga valleys and southern country pass to 
Rochester down the Genesee valley. The amount of tonnage up and 
down the valley in the last year was 16,846 tons. This appears upon 
and is taken from the books of the forwarding merchants. Not in- 
cluded in this statement are the articles of oats, barley, beer, butter, 
cheese, lard, pork unpacked, tar, peltry, salt and lumber, and a great 
variety of other products that never find their way to the storehouse 
of the merchant. There are in the immediate vicinity of Dansville 
fifty-six sawmills surrounded by immense forests of white and yellow 
pine. The joint product of these mills at a low estimate is 5,000,000 
feet. ** * Present price of transportation from Dansville to Rochester, 
loads furnished both ways, is $4 a ton. From Geneseo by water, 
twenty shillings. A trip on railroad to Rochester and return could 
be made in nine hours; from Geneseo in six hours." 



356 HISTORY OF TJVIXGSTON COUNTY 

The Village Chronicle of Dansville gives an account of a meeting 
held in that village Jan. 7th, 1832, in furtherance of the projected 
railroad, at which addresses were made by Judge Carroll, James 
Faulkner and others. The members of Congress of the 26th, 27th 
and 28th districts were requested by this meeting to use their inlUience 
to secure the appointment of some member of the corps of topographi- 
cal engineers to make a survey from Lake Ontario to the head waters 
of the Susquehanna river, through the valleys of the Genesee and 
Canaseraga. 

These united and persistent efforts were speedily crowned with 
success. The bill incorporating the railroad company passed the 
Senate Feb. 23d, 1832, by a unanimous vote, and in the latter part 
of March it was passed by the Assembly. This successful issue was 
the signal for joyful outbreaks throughout the valley. Public meet- 
ings were held, congratulatory addresses delivered and in other ways 
the people testified to the general good feeling. The Village Chronicle 
of March 20, 1832, thus notices the reception of the news at Dansville: 
"The cheering intelligence that the bill incorporating the Dansville 
and Rochester Railroad company had passed the Assembly, and only 
wanted the signature of the Governor to become a law, was received 
in this village on ^Monday evening last, about 8 o'clock, and as a 
demonstration of the joy with which it was hailed by our citizens in 
the short space of half an hour, every house and shop in the village 
was handsomely illuminated, which together with the skyrockets, 
fireballs, bonfires, etc., that were flying in all directions, presented a 
beautiful scene." 

Surveys for the proposed road were commenced in July, 1832, by Mr. 
Almy of Geneseo, and on November 20 the stock books of the company 
were opened at the Eagle tavern in Rochester and Hamilton's tavern 
in Geneseo, for the purpose of receiving subscriptions. A portion of the 
stock was taken during the three days the books were kept open at this 
time, but in the following year the directors were compelled to give 
notice, that the subscription to the stock of the company not having 
been filled, the books would again be opened at the Eagle tavern in 
Rochester on the 9th of September. The persons signing this notice 
were Elisha Johnson, Charles H. Carroll, A.M. Schermerhorn, W. H. 
Spencer, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, James Faulkner and William Lyman. 

Unfortunately, however, this constitutes the substance of the history 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 357 

of the Rochester and Dansville railroad. Like all similar enterprises 
it met with delays, disappointments and embarrassments, and the 
enterprise was finally wholly abandoned. Subsequently the Genesee 
Valley Railroad Company built a line from Rochester to Avon, finish- 
ing it in 1854; the Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris Railroad Com- 
pany extended the line to Mount Morris, opening the road to the pub- 
lic in 185"); and forty years after Dansville celebrated the chartering 
of her railroad company the cars entered that village for the first 
time the line having been extended by the Erie and Genesee A'al- 
ley Railroad Company from Mount Morris m the fall of 1871. The 
line from Rochester to Mount Morris is now under lease to and 
operated by the Erie Railroad Company, and that portion of the line 
from Mount Morris to Dansville is owned by the Dansville and Mount 
Morris Railroad Company, which was organized in October 1891. 

In addition to this railroad enterprise, a charter was granted in 
1832 for a railroad from Geneseo to Pitt.sford, but nothing was done 
in the direction of building the road. 

The general election of 1830 resulted in the election of the entire 
Anti-Masonic ticket. The Senators chosen were Philo C. Fuller, and 
Trumbull Cary; for the Assembly, Jerediah Horsford and James 
Percival. Calvin H. Bryan was a candidate for Member of Congress 
for the Twenty-seventh district, but was defeated by Frederick 
Whittlesey of Rochester, who filled the position during the"years 
1831 to 1835 inclusive, the congressional district at that time embrac- 
ing Livingston and Monroe counties. 

The town elections of 1831 resulted very favorably to Anti-Masonry. 
But three towns elected opposition tickets, Groveland, Mount Mor- 
ris and Lima. The Anti-Masonic organ in commenting on this result 
said, "The elections demonstrated that Anti-Masonry not only holds 
strong in this county, but that it is continually increasing in strength. 
In several towns the fraternity, although they put in requisition 
their utmost endeavors, were unable to get up any opposition." 

In March, 1832, Willard H. Smith was appointed by the Governor 
and Senate First Judge of the County Court of this county, succeed- 
ing Hezekiah D. Mason, who had served since 1829. At the same 
time Samuel W. Spencer was appointed in the same manner as Sur- 
rogate to succeed James Rosebrugh, whi) had filled the office since 
the organization of the county in 1821. 



358 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

By the act of June 2'J, 1832, Livingston and Allegany were made 
the Thirtieth Congressional district, and the first Representative 
chosen was Philo C. Fuller of Geneseo, who served from Dec. 2, 1833, 
to Sept. 2, 183f), when he resigned and was succeeded by John Young 
of Geneseo. Mr. Young was succeeded by Luther C. Peck of Al- 
legany, whose service covered the years 1837 to 1841 inclusive, when 
John Young was again returned and served one term. 

The election of 1831 resulted in the choice of George W. Patterson' 
and John Young as Merfibers of Assembly, and in 1833 the county 
was represented by George W. Patterson and Samuel W. Smith. 
The election in the fall of 1833 resulted in the choice for this office of 
Salmon G. Grover and Tabor Ward. Again in 1834 Mr. Patterson 
became the choice of the electors for this position, his colleague being 
Hollotn Hutchinson. At the same time Elias Clark was chosen 
County Clerk, the Whigs carrying the elections. 

In 1835 the elections resulted in another sweeping Whig victory, 
the Assemblymen chosen being Charles H. Carroll and George W. 
Patterson. On the 20th of January, 1836, Calvin H. Bryan was ap- 
pointed District Attorney by the Court of General Sessions, but was 
superseded May 30th of the same year by A. A. Bennett. The elec- 
tion of this year resulted in the choice of George W. Patterson and 
William Scott, Assemblymen; they seVved two successive terms. In 
1833 Mr. Patterson was again reelected, his colleague being Elias 
Clark. At the session of 1839 Mr. Patterson was chosen Speaker and 
filled the position two successive terms.with great credit to himself 
and honor to his constituents. Elias Clark was succeeded as County 
Clerk by William H. Stanley, who was elected in 1837. In 1840 
Samuel P. Allen was chosen to fill the office. George Hastings fol- 
lowed A. A. Bennett as District Attorney May 27th, 1839, while the 
Sheriffs of the county during the period covered by this chapter were 
Augustus Gibbs, elected in 1831; Josiah Wendell, 1834; AVilliam W. 
Weed, 1837 and James Brewer, 1840. 

Until the adoption of the new constitution in 1S4() Surrogates 
were appointed by the Governor and Senate for the term of four 
years. On the 23d of March, 1836, Benjamin F, Angel was appointed 
Surrogate, and held the office until April 22d, 1840, whc'n he was 
succeeded by William H. Kelsey, who in turn was followed by Mr. 
Angel again in 1844, upun the advent to power in the State of a 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 359 

Uemocratic administration. The office of Supreme Court Commis- 
sioner, an officer performing the duties of a Judge of the Supreme 
Court at Chambers, was conferred upon Mr. Angel at the same time, 
and held by him until the new constitution went into effect in 1847. 

Applications to the Legislature for charters and legislative aid to 
various enterprises were of frequent occurrence at this time. In 
1836 notices appeared that applications would be made for charters 
for banks at Avon, Dansville and York Centre, and the villages of 
Avon and York Centre wanted to be incorporated, while the people 
of Dansville asked for an act to incorporate the Dansville Academy, 
and the directors of the Livingston County Bank desired to increase 
their capital stock to $250,000. 

In 1837 an act was passed incorporating the Geneseo Hydraulic 
Company. It was the design of this company to provide a great 
water power, by proper dams and other works on the Genesee river. 
The passage of the bill was hailed with the greatest demonstrations of 
joy on the part of the people of Geneseo, but it does not appear that 
the company ever commenced work. It is certain, at least, that the 
wild expectations of the people were never realized. 

On July 13, 1837, a meeting of "the friends of universal freedom" 
was held at the Presbyterian meeting house in Geneseo, of which 
Feli.x Tracy was made chairman and Reuben Sleeper, secretary. The 
first resolution, offered by George Kemp and seconded by Rev. H. 
vSnyder, was adopted unanimously ; this is it : 

RESOLVED, That slavery being a great political and moral evil, 
and this whole nation being guilty of upholding it, it is the plain 
duty of this whole nation to repent of it immediately and bring forth 
fruits meet for repentance. 

The next resolution, offered by James H. Rogers of ]\It. Morris, was 
as follows: 

RESOLVED, That this meeting proceed now to form a Livingston 
county anti-slavery society which shall be auxiliary to the American 
Anti-Slavery Society. 

This encountered the opposition of the Rev. W. P. Page of the 
Episcopal Church in Geneseo, "on the assumption that the people of 
the county have not been informed of the intention of forming an anti- 
slavery society; that it would be improper to call it a county society, 
when all the people had not been notified; that it would go forth to 



360 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTV 

the world as an expression of the public sentiment of Livingston 
count}', etc.," and he moved that the consideration of the resolution be 
postponed for one month and gave his reasons at some length. The 
motion to postpone consideration was laid on the table, and (Jcrrit 
Smith then addressed the meeting for nearly two hours, on the sub- 
ject of American slavery. 

The meeting then took a recess; upon reassembling, the considera- 
tion of Mr. Roger's resolution and the motion to postpone were 
discussed. Mr. Page returned to the attack and urged the postpone- 
ment of the adoption of the Roger's resolution ; the motion to post- 
pone was decided adversely. 

The report of the meeting proceeds to say that, "Gerrit Smith then 
addressed the meeting about two hours discursively on the resolution, 
interspersing his remarks with illustration, anecdotes and clear and 
forcible arguments, on the safety and general benefits of immediate 
emancipation, pointing out the evils and wickedness of the slave 
system, the prejudice and hatred against colored people, the dangers 
which threaten the liberties and free institutions of the nation, in 
consequence of the growing infiuenco of slavery, the infringements 
already made upon our constitutional rights, and portrayed in the 
most eloquent manner the duties of the people of the free States in 
resisting, by all lawful and moral means, the extension of the 
despotic doctrines of Slavery, and to labor for its immediate removal 
from the land; showing by scripture arguments and the history of 
all slaveholding nations that the only remedy against the threatened 
judgments of Heaven in the overthrow and ruin of this guilty nation 
is in their immediate repentance and the restoration of the oppressed 
to the rights of humanity. " 

Mr. Smith was followed by the redoubtable Rector Page, who, 
according to the record, "urged several objections to the doctrines 
of Abolition; professed himself as much opposed to slavery as Mr. 
Smith; would go as far to remedy the evil, etc., hut contended that 
Abolitionists had dont no good; they had agitated and ilisturlit-d the 
peace of the churches, etc., and that Mr. vSmith and his friends were 
all acting under a delusion! Mr. Smith rejoined, answered objections, 
explained and proved that the Abolitionist had done much to ad- 
vance the doctrines of freedom, and aided extensively in the emanci- 
pation of manv slaves, etc., and made further illustrations of the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 3f>l 

blessings of immediate emancipation by quoting historical proofs." 

Action was then taken upon the resolution, which passed with four 
or five dissenting votes, and a constitution was presented and read 
and unanimously adopted. 

In this manner was born the Livingston County Anti-Slavery 
Society. 

A committee consisting of Charles Colt, Rev. Henry Snyder, 
Allen Ayrault, J. B. Bloss and Rev. Wilber Hoag was appointed for 
the purpose of reporting names of otificers. The committee reported 
for officers, Reuben Sleeper, of Mount Morris, for President; Vice 
Presidents; Wm. C. Dwight, Leicester; Asa Woodford, Mount Mor- 
ris; Samuel W. Smith, Sparta; I. McCracken, York; Russell Austin, 
Genesee; Wm. Squier, Groveland; Rev. H. B. Pierpont, Avon; 
Andrew Arnold, Conesus; Rev. H. Gregory, Lima; Henry Pierce, 
Livonia, Rev. Samuel Hoag, Springwater. For Recording and Cor- 
responding Secretary, AVilliam H. Stanley of Geneseo. For Treas- 
urer, Ephraim Cone of Geneseo. For E.xecutive Committee. Charles 
Colt, W. H. Stanley and W. M. Bond, Jr. of Geneseo, George Hast- 
ings of j\It. Morris and J. B. Bloss of York. 

The following are the names of the members given in at the first 
meeting or subsequently added; Wm. C. Dwight, Moses Marvin, 
James H. Rogers, Reuben Sleeper, ^lorris Sleeper, J. B, Bloss, David 
Bush, Allen Ayrault, Rev. Samuel Hoag, Giles Lyman, Jr., Charles Colt, 
Hiram Ellis, Rev. Wilber Hoag, Rev. C. H. Goodrich, Rev. Merritt 
Harman, Rev. Henry Snyder, Felix Tracy, George Kemp, Hiram 
Jennings, John D. Fraser, Rev. H. Gregory, A. Fowler, James Col- 
lins, Eben N. Horsford, Edgar Camp, Orrin Hall, Wm. B. Munson, 
S. Rowland, Wm. McCracken, Robert L. Guthrie, Alfred Beecher, 
Wells Fowler, James Richmond, Alanson Richmond, Jonathan Kings- 
bury, E. B^ Warner, John Fisher, Samuel Gardner, Samuel Burpee, 
James Conkey, George Hastings, Amos Scofield, Mary H. Hastings, 
Mrs. Wm. M. Bond, M. B. Rogers, Lucy F. Richmond, Alice Jen- 
nings, Mrs. B. Ayrault, Mary Lyman, Caroline, A. Bloss, Lucy 
Lyman, Mary W. Stanley, Mercy B. Stanley, Harriet C. Stanley, 
Emily S. Stanley, Catherine Whiting, Roxena Ewart, Nelly Bush, 
Susan E. Wendell, Eleanor C. Hoag, Sally H. Fowler, Maria Hills, 
Mary B. Lyman, Louisa Lyman, Sophia A. Fullerton, Lucretia W. 
Merrill, Orissa Merrill, Laura A. Bond, Lucinda Snyder, Hannah 



362 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Cliilds, W. H. Stanley, Wni. M. Hoiul, Jr., J. R. Bond. Asa Wood- 
ford, Samuel \V. Smith, Russell Austin, William Squier, Rev. H. B. 
Pierpont, Andrew Arnold, Henry Pierce, Luman Stanley, S. S. 
Cooley, Wm. Wilder, N. Wilder, R. B. Southworth, Samuel Wood^ 
George H. Ellicott, Frederick Stanley. R. W. Hills, M. W. Toby, 
Doctor E. Childs, Ephraim Cone, W. F. Clark, Wm. 11. Raynale, 
Luther Melvin, S. Shannon, Moses VanCampen, C. E. Clark, Russell 
Day, J. W. Merrill, Jacob B. Hall, David Shepard, Robt. T. Sinclair, 
Moses Camp. John P. Gale, Eben Childs, Jr., Elilui S. Stanley, Johi> 
H. Stanley, James R. Bond, Andrew Baldwin. Tiiomas P. Boyd, 
Lorenzo H. Brooks, Lorin Coy. 

Meetings were held by the society until February 6th, 1839, which 
appears to be the date of its last assemblage. All but one were 
held in Geneseo, the final meeting being held at York Centre; and if 
the duration of the society was short, its work was of a very earnest^ 
if not effective, character, to judge from the resolutions which the 
record shows were adopted. 

Delegates were appointed to attend the conventions of the State 
society at various times, generally one or more members from each 
of the towns in the county being selected. 

■Gerrit Smith delivered an address at a meeting held at the Presby- 
terian Church in Geneseo, on the 1st day of September, 1838. At 
this meeting, according to the record, "there was a respectable audi- 
ence from several towns in the county, and among them a fciv from 
the Village of Geneseo." It is apparent from the emphasis with 
which the secretary records the word "few," that the attendance 
from Geneseo was not up to his notion of what it should have been. 
The following are several of the resolutions adopted in the course of 
the society's existence: 

"RESOLVED, That the system of American slavery, as sustained 
by law, is disgraceful to this nation, revolting to humanity, repugnant 
to common justice, contrary to the plain and positive injunctions of 
the Gospel, and ought therefore to be immediately abolished. 

"RESOLVED, That the adoption on the 21st inst. by the House of 
Representatives of Mr. Patton's resolution to lay unread, unprinted, 
and unreferred, all petitions and papers touching the abolition of 
slavery on the table, clearly shows that the North has in that house 
many unNorthern and unAmerican representatives, and that the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 3,(>3 

whole of the affirmative on that res'ilution are ready to sacrifice the 
entire nation on the altar of slav-ery. 

"RESOLVED, That as American slaveholding destroys the in- 
dividual responsibilities of its victims by legally .blotting out the 
grand distinguishments of humanity, it is an usurpation of Divine 
power, and the relation in itself sinful. 

"RESOLVED, That the annexation of Texas to this republic 
would be unsound in policy, inconsistent with the avowed political 
faith of the nation, and threaten with a speedy dissolution the union 
of the States, and that Abolitionists ought at once to be prepared to 
meet any attempt for that purpose by the South, with the solemn' 
protest of all classes of their fellow citizens. 

"RESOLVED, That the principles and designs of Abolitionists 
need only to be understood to receive the approbation of candid and 
intelligent pei^ple. That they have been fully explained and power- 
fully discussed in the various anti-slavery publications of the day. 
That the establishing of libraries embracing these publications in 
towns and villages is an enterprise which commends itself to the 
judgment and ought to command the well directed persevering efforts 
of the friends of human rights to secure its immediate success. 

"RESOLVED, That slavery in the District of Columbia and in 
Florida and the slave trade between the respective States, are fully 
under the constitutional control of Congress. That the honor, safety 
and pmsperity of the nation demand their immediate abolition. 

"RESOLVED, That the recent assassination of E. P. Lovejoy 
admonishes us that the friends of human rights should be prepared to- 
make any sacrifice for the promotion of their cause. And that in the 
name of God and sufifering humanity they should be read\' to part 
with reputation, property and even life, rather than yield the great 
principles of Abolitionism which bind us to our fellow men and the 
throne of God. 

"RESOLVED, That we believe the system of American slavery 
was regarded by the wisdom and intelligence of our nation at the 
time of the organization of our Government, even by slaveholders, 
themselves, as a great evil and one which would soon diminish and 
eventually cease, and that the increase and extension of this evil and 
tlie claims of slaveholders upon the liberties of the free States, for 
the purpose of perpetuating this horrid system, .give fearful evidence. 



364 HISTORY OF LIVIXCiSTOX COUNTY 

of a change of national policy incompatible with the fundamental 
principles of our Government, detrimental to the interest of free labor, 
and destructive to the peace and prosperity of our whole country. 

"RESOL\'EU, That recent events show more clearly than ever 
the dark spirit of slavery, and its withering influence not only at the 
South, but at the North; and that as the developments of its wither- 
ing influence are coming thick and fast upon us, in the form of mobs, 
lynching, burning of public buildings, gag resolutions, rejection of 
petitions, and threats of assassination, it becomes every philanthropist, 
every patriot, and especially every Christian, to maintain calmly, yet 
firmly, and unflinchingly, the principles of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, thatall men are created equal and endowed by their 
Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and tlje-pTirsuiT- 
of happiness. And to pledge to each other as did our /iithers our 
lives, jour fortunes and our sacred honor in suppi6rt of these 
principles. 

"RESOLVED, That as slavery is created by la\|i-, it must .be 
abolished by law, and that in the exercise of our elective franchise, 
we will give our \-otes to those men of good moral character, and 
those only, who will sustain the principles of impartial freedom. And 
that the time has come to let all men know, that we will not on any 
consideration give our votes for any man to be next President or 
A'ice President of the United States, who is a slaveholder, or an 
apologist for slavery. 

"RESOLVED, That we have abundant evidence, not only in the 
nature of things and the testimony of God's words, but in the historv 
of all past experience, that immediate emancipatii)n is not only safe 
but most expedient for the master as well as the slave." 

For the most part, the resolutions were adopted unaninmusly ; 
occasionally some differences of opinioD were e.\])ressed by the more 
conservative members who, however, appeared to have been very much 
in the minority and do not seem to have impressed their spirit of 
moderation upon the Society. This is ]iriil)ably a fair ])icture of Imw 
strong a hold the anti-slavery feeling had thus early taken upon the 
people in the rural communities of the North. 

The [(residential cam[)aign of 1S4U was a memorable one, and holds 
its place in history as one of the most spirited and closely con- 
tested the country has ever witnessed. The Whig party came 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 36S 

early into the field with its standard bearers, William Henry 
Harrison for President, and John Tyler for Vice President. The 
Democratic party nominated for reelection President Martin Van 
Biiren and Vice President Richard 'SI. Johnson. 

It was a period of great financial distress. In 1837 had occurred 
the disastrous financial panic, when bank after bank suspended specie 
])ayments, enterprise was crippled, the business of the country was 
to a large degree suspended, and thousands of laborers were thrown 
out of employment. The government, which a few months before 
had a surplus of forty millions of dollars, found itself in this crisis 
unable to meet its daily obligations, and an e.xtra session of Congress 
was rendered necessary to extricate it from serious difficulties. In 
1840 the financial distress had been but little relieved and the people 
generally attributed this to the attempts of the government to regu- 
late the currency. Under the generally accepted rule that the party 
in power is responsible for all existing evils, the Democratic party 
was held respcjnsible for this wide-spread distress and business stagna- 
tion, and its nominees were thus rendered un])opular. This tendency 
of popular judgment has ever been a marked feature of our political 
system, and while it may, and undoubtedly does, sometimes do in- 
justice to party leaders and organizations, it also acts as a wholesome 
check upon the abuse of power or the neglect of manifest public duty. 

vSome peculiar features marked the campaign of 1840. General 
Harrison, the Whig candidate for President, had served in the cam- 
paign of 1811 against the Indians, and at the battle of Tippecanoe 
had won great military honors. His admirers now took advantage of 
thi-;, and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," became the Whig watchword. 
Another peculiarity arose from the fact that some injudicious 
opponents had taunted General Harrison with having lived in a log 
cabin and used hard cider as a beverage. "Hence the term 'log 
cabin' was seized upon and became the great talismanic word of the 
party, the effect of which all the arts of the 'Little ^Magician' were 
insufficient to counteract. Miniature log cabins were a part of the 
para])hernalia got up to give effect to the mass meetings which were 
not infrequently measured by acres. These rude structures, 
decorated with 'coon skins,' were erected of sufficient dimensions 
for the accommodation of the local assemblages. There was scarcely 
a city or village which was not adorned with an edifice of this de- 



366 HISTORY OF TJVIXCSTOX COUNTY 

scriptinn. And the number was legion of those who traced their con- 
version to the 'new liglit' emitted from these political forums." 

Like their brethren in other piirts of the country, the Whigs of 
Livingston had their log cabins and hard cidt-r, much to the amuse- 
ment of their opponents, who derided them unmercifully. The Whigs 
of Geneseo erected a cabin near the centre of the village in the latter 
part of August, and it afforded a place for numerous gatherings dur- 
ing the campaign. It was not a sightly structure, however, and 
many were the derisive laughs enjoyed by the Democrats at its rough 
appearance and uncouth shape. The Register for September 1st, 
under the head ol "\'illage Improvements," announces the comple- 
tion of the log cabin, which had been built in one week. It con- 
sidered the architecture unique, and compared the cornice in front, 
which had no posts to sustain it, to "Federal Tippecanoe Whiggery," 
which, it said, "is destitute of props, posts or supports, that can save 
it from the fate that awaits it." 

Dansville also had her log cabin erected in one day at a grand 
mass meeting of Whigs, and, although threatened with destruction by 
the Democrats, it served its purpose in the campaign, and was the 
scene of a number of exciting and enthusiastic political barbecues. 

After a canvass which will long be remembered, the two great 
parties met at the polls and measured their relative strength. The 
result proved an overwhelming Whig victory, the party electing its 
•candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, gaining a large 
majority in Congress, and sweeping everything before it on its local 
tickets. In Livingston county it achieved a signal victory. The 
entire Whig ticket was elected. The Register, the organ of the 
Democracy, discouraged by this result, and its resources exhausted 
in attempts to maintain an existence, gracefully yielded to the in- 
evitable and suspended publication. The county officers chosen at 
this election were Samuel P. Allen, County Clerk; Jaines Brewer, 
Sheriff, Augustus Gibbs and Reuben P. Wisner, Members of As- 
sembly. John Young was also chosen Member of Congress and John 
Wheeler, Presidential Elector. 

The county had now nearly reached the twentieth year of its 
separate existence, and was prosperous to a degree exceeding the 
highest expectations of those who had favored its erection. The 
population at this time had reached 37,777, an increase of about 8,767 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(iSTOX COUNTY 3f.7 

in ten years. The assessed valuation of real estate was $10,477/)92: 
of personal estate, $768,432; aggregate valuation, $ll,24f),124. 

The development of the manufacturing interests of the county had 
kept pace with her agricultural progress, and among the principal 
manufacturing establishments were one woolen mill, six iron establish- 
ments, fiiur paper mills, twenty tanneries, one brewery, sixty-nine 
saw mills, thirty grist mills, sixteen fulling mills, fifteen carding 
mills and one oil mill. 

Of banking establishments the county had two. The Livingston 
County Bank at Geneseo, with a capital of $100,000, its report for 
183') showing loans and discounts to the amount of $217,844; divi- 
dends in tiiat year, $14,000, and surplus, or profits on hand, $37,762. 
Allen Ayrault was President and Ephraim Cone, Cashier. The Bank 
of Dansville was located at Dansville. Its capital was $150,000 at 
this time, and the amount of its circulation $124,000. 

The villages in the county incorporated were Geneseo and Mount 
Morris, the former in 1832, the latter in 1835. But Dansville, 
Moscow, A\'on, York, Lima and I^ivoiiia were flourishing villages, 
Dansville, at least, having a larger population than either of the 
incorporated villages. The number of post-offices in the county was 
thirty. 

Three newspapers were at this time making their weekly visits to 
the people. These were the Livingston Republican and Livingston 
Register,' published at Geneseo, and the Spectator, published at Mount 
Morris by Hugh Harding. 

Two incorporated academies furnished educational facilities, in addi- 
tion to the excellent district schools. These were the Genesee 
Wcsleyan Seminary at Lima, with an average attendance per term of 
180 pupils, and the Livingston County High School, with an average 
attendance of 83 pupils per term. There were also several unin- 
corporated academies which enjoyed a considerable reputation as 
institutions of learning. Among these were the academies at Moscow 
and West Avon. 

A daily line of stages furnished comparatively easy communication 
with all points, and carried the mails with regularity and dispatch. 
A line ran fnim Rochester to Bath, accommodating all the principal 

I. Suspended after the Presidential election of 1S40. 



368 HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY 

places in this county, and making connection with a Philadelphia and 
Washington line, and also with lines running to Buffalo, Lewiston, 
Utica and Albany; while the Genesee Valley Canal, now completed 
to Mount Morris, and rapidly approaching a finished state on its upper 
sections, as previously stated, afforded ample and cheap facilities for 
transporting the abundant products of the valley. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 369 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE A^IBUSCADE by which a brave scouting party sent out 
from Sullivan's army of invasion in 177'* was ruthlessly de- 
stroyed by the savages, has been described in a previous chap- 
ter. The scene of this ambuscade is on the farm now owned by 
Robert D. and Mary E. Boyd, situated just below the cemetery in 
Groveland, and a few rods south of the public road. The spot where 
the remains were interred is now marked by a monument erected by 
the Livingston County Historical Society. The deeply worn trail 
traversed by Boyd's scouting party and over which the army passed, 
and which might until recently be easily traced through the wood lot 
near by for quite a distance between this spot and the lake, is now 
used as a private roadway. 

The fallen soldiers were buried in two graves near together, the 
larger of which was located between three huge oaks whose stumps 
were standing a few years ago. Captain Salmon, who now sleeps in 
the graveyard close at hand, lived for many years but a mile distant 
and frequently visited the spot. He never was weary of pointing out 
the place of conflict, or of identifying with soldierly reverence the 
burial place. The earth over the graves, while yet the virgin soil 
thereabouts lay undisturbed, had settled about two feet, and bushes 
had been thrown into the depression. Thus it remained for some years 
until the brush was removed by a tenant, who plowed over the 
spot and gradually levelled it with the surrounding surface. 

While the country was yet new and farmers allowed their cattle 
and horses to roam at large, John Harrison, of Groveland, one morning 
in crossing the farm, just north of the site of the ambush, in search 
of his stock, stumbled upon a human skull which lay beside a decay- 
ing log. This doubtless belonged to one who had been wounded in 
the fight and had crawled off in that direction to die. A scalping 
knife also, possibly the property of the Indian killed by Murphy while 
effecting his escape, was found a little way eastward of the graves. A 



370 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



number of other relics have been picked up from lime to time, 
though few are preserved.' For many years it was the practice of 
Grfiveland boys, on their way to the lake for fishing, when their 
route lay by this spot, to seek among the soldier bones, then quite' 
freely scattered over the surface, for such pieces as they best liked for 
cane tops. Military buttons, too, were now and then picked up and 
applied to the same fanciful purpose until the hand of the curious and 
the corrosion of time together had removed the more open evidences 
of the burial place, so that when in 1S41, the general e.\humation 
occurred, it was only after digging over a considerable space that the 
exact location of the two graves was ascertained. Mingled with the 
bones and dust thrown up on that occasion were found four jjewter 



>^i.^ 




buttons of a particular pattern, bearing on the fact- in large letters 
the initials "U. S. A. " These were at once recognized by Paul Sanborn 
and Lemuel Richardson, and nnc or two other Revolutionary soldiers 
present, as the kind worn by the Riflemen, to which corps Boyd's 
party belonged. The identity of the remains, consisting of bones 
more or less decayed, of teeth and we believe some portions of mili- 
tary clothing, was thus fully established. 

1. The eugraviuj: on this page shows the scalping knife alluded to above: an axe dug np 
aliout forty rods east of the spot where the military bridge was built across the inlet; and a pair 
of hnge bullet moulds, greatly rust eaten, capable of running a dozen balls at once, found near 
Sullivan's camping ground at Conesns. 

The knife was the properly of Janits Doyd, the late ownsr of the farm; the axe was presented 
to Colonel Doty by Mr. Granger Griswold, late of Conesns: the notch near the eye hole was made 
by taking out a piece of steel for ornamenting a cane made from the wood of the Big Tree for 
Thnrlow Weed; the bullet moulds were presented by thelate James T. Norton of Geneseo. 

There was found on Mr. Richardson's farm, on the spot where the army lay encamped for the 
night, a gun barrel, and Mr. Richardson some years ago plowed up two horse shoes, of great 
size, much eaten by the rust, which doubtless belonged to the army horses. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 371 

As the anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence in 
the year 1841 approached, a writer in one of the Rochester journals, 
said: 

"The proximity of our national anniversary naturally excites re- 
flection respecting the services of those bold spirits whose patriotic 
course in field and council was blessed by Heaven to the establish- 
ment of American liberty- Unworthy would we be of the freedom we 
are enjoying, were we to prove forgetful inheritors of blessings se- 
cured through the storm and bloodshed of our glorious Revolution ! 
The national honor would have been consulted by more liberal 
provision for the soldiers of that memorable strife. But as time rolls 
by — thinning their ranks with its unsparing scythe — the survivors, 
like the SibvUine leaves, increase in public esteem as they diminish in 
number. 

"There were those who fell fighting our battles, whose memory has 
not been fully considered by the inheritors of the liberty for which 
they fought. This \'alley of the Genesee contains the relics of a 
gallant officer who bore arms for the Republic against the former 
savage occupants, when they were leagued with British red-coats in 
desolating our frontiers with fire and sword. 

"The mouldering relics of that ill-fated warrior slumber now in an 
obscure grave, almost unknown, as it is without any memorial to 
apprise the passing traveller that beneath rests the gallant Boyd, 
the slaughtered officer in the advance guard of Sullivan's army. 

"The heroic valor of Boyd would be worthy of admiration under 
any circumstances; but when we know that that valor was displayed 
in behalf of American liberty, and that his gallantry and his slaughter 
are identified with the history of the Genesee ^'alley, how much 
stronger are those claims rendered which impel us to testify our love 
for his patriotism — our sympathy for his fate, by some public testi- 
monial of his worth, and of the gratitude of his country! 

"It may be that oirr Rochester companies, recognizing promptly 
all claims of honcir and ])atriotism,will make an excursion this summer 
to remove the mouldering remains from their lonely grave to our 
beautiful Mount Hope, and award the last military honors by a proper 
monument to the martyred soldier." 

This suggestion evoked immediate response from the Rochester 
companies to whom it was more directly addressed, with the promise 



372 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of their enthusiastic cooperation. The following is the record of the 
proceedings of a ineetintj of Williams' Light Infantry upon the 
subject: 

Armory of Williams' Light Infantry. 

Roches^ter, July 2^ 1841. 
At a special meeting of this corps, on Friday evening, at their 
armory, the subject of disinterring the remains of the brave Lieut. 
Royd, which now lie buried in the \"alley of the Genesee, between 
(ieneseo and Moscow, and removing them to such place on Mount 
Hope as shall hereafter be designated, the fijUowing resolutions were 
adopted: 

Resolved, That we cordially approve of the recommendations which 
have been made for the removal to some selected spot, of the remains 
of the brave and generous Boyd, who, in 1779, fell a victim to the 
savage barbarity and treachery of the infamous Col. Butler, while, 
with a detachment of (ien. Sullivan's command, he was endeavoring 
to drive the savage enemy from the Valley of the Genesee. 

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to cooperate 
with the other committees that may hereafter be appointed for tiie 
purpose of effecting such removal. 

Whereupon the President named as such committee, James Miller, 
Robert A. Hall and Henry Shears, jr. 

Joseph Putnam, 
E. F. Parker, Secretary. President. 

Similar action was quite as promptly taken by the Union (Srays, 
the City Cadets, the Artillery Corps, the German Grenadiers, the Fire 
Department of Rochester, the Mechanics' Literary Association and 
the Rochester Athenaeum. The Corporation of the City of Rochester 
delegated three Aldermen to represent the body in the General Com- 
mittee of Arrangements. The project took definite shape by the ap- 
pointment of a Rochester Committee of Arrangements, consisting of 
Messrs. Henry O'Reilly, _ L. B. Swan, John Williams and H. A. 
Tucker, and these gentlemen secured the promise of Governor Seward 
to be present at the ceremonies attending the proposed removal of the 
remains to Mount Hope appointed for August 21. 

The people of Livingston county, within whose limits lay the ashes 
of the honored dead, zealously concurred with the citizens of Roches- 
ter in favoring the proposed solemnities. 

Their feelings were happily expressed through the resolutions 
adopted by a county meeting convened at Creneseo. As some persons 
doubted the propriety of removing the remains from Livingston 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 373 

county, and as it was desirable that entire cordiality should exist 
between the people of the different counties on this matter, several 
prominent citizens of Genesee issued the following notice for a county 
convention, that the sentiment of the people of Livingston might be 
freely and decisively manifested for or against the proposed ceremon- 
ies: 

HONOR TO THE NOBLE DEAD! 

The undersigned were appointed at a meeting of the citizens of 
Genesee, on the 11th inst., as a committee to invite the citizens of this 
county to meet at the Court House in Geneseo, on Saturday, the 14th 
inst., at 2 o'clock, p. m., to take into consideration the proposed re- 
moval of the remains of Lieut. Boyd and his companions in arms, 
from this county by the citizens of Rochester. All who feel an inter- 
est in this subject are earnestly requested to attend punctually at the 
hour. 

Dated, August 12, 1841. 

This notice was signed by C. Metcalf, W. W. Weed, S. P. Allen, 
E. Clark, Allen Ayrault, W. J. Hamilton, E. P. Metcalf, E. R. Ham- 
matt,D. H. Bissell, C. H. Bryan, C. Colt, L. Turner, S. Treat, W. M. 
Bond, W. H. Kelsey. 

The following is an official account of such meeting: 

At a meeting of citizens of the County of Livingston, held, pursu- 
ant to public notice, at the Court House in Geneseo, on the 14th day 
of August, 1841, for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro- 
posed removal of the remains of Lieut. Boyd and his companions in 
arms, from this county, by the citizens of Rochester. 

Colonel David A. Miller was appointed Chairman, and Samuel W. 
Smith and O. M. Willey, Secretaries. 

C. H. Bryan, Esq., addressed the meeting on tlie subject ; and, in the 
course of his remarks gave a brief but interesting account of the con- 
flict between the Indians and the detachment under Lieut. Boyd, in 
which the latter was taken prisoner and shortly after put to death by 
the savages. 

Henry O'Reilly of Rochester, at the invitation of the chairman, ad- 
dressed the meeting on behalf of the committee of that city, in rela- 
tion to the contemplated removal, and the provision made for the in- 
terment of the soldiers of the Revolution in the cemetery of Mount 
Hope. Whereupon, 

Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed to report what 
action is proper to be had by the citizens of this county, at the ap- 
proaching ceremonies. 

The chairman appointed W. W. Weed, W. M. Odell, S. W. Smith, 



374 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Reuben Sleeper, Mr. Xixun. Allen Ayrauit and Sanuicl Lewis said 
committee. 

The committee made the following report through Mr. Ayraiill: 

Your committee having entertained the subject matter committed 
to them do most cordially respond to the patriotic feeling evinced by 
the citizens of Rochester, to do honor to all who participated in the 
eventful struggle of the Revolution; and sincerely recommend to the 
citizens of Livingston County, to unite in the exercises contemplated 
on the 20th and 21st inst., in the removal of the remains of Lieut. 
Boyd and his immediate associates, who fell in 1779, in the cause of 
freedom, while contending with their savage enemies, within the 
territory now embraced in this county. 

The committee, therefore, recommend for the consideration of the 
meeting, the following resolution: 

Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed, with power to 
appoint a sub-committee, to make all necessary arrangements for the 
purpose of conveying to Cuyler the remains of those soldiers of Lieut. 
Boyd's detachment who fell in (irovcland, in time for the exercises of 
the' 20th instant. 

The chairman appointed the following persons said committee: C. 
H. Bryan, W. T. Cuyler, D. H. Bissell, R. Sleeper, J. Henderson, 
Horatio Jones and John R. Murray, Jr. 

Resolved, That said committee be enlarged by the addition of six 
names. Whereupon. 

The chairman appointed the following additional members: Allen 
Ayrauit, Samuel Treat, E. R. Hammatt, W. W. Weed, W. H. Stanley 
and D. H. Bissell. 

Resolved, That we duly appreciate the praiseworthy and patriotic 
exertions of the citizens of Rochester, in establishing, in the cemetery 
at Mount Hope, a suitable place for the public interment in Western 
New York of such of the Revolutionary patriots as helped to fight the 
battles of our coimtry. 

D. A. Miller. 

Sam'l W. Smith, Chairman. 

O. M. Willey, 

Secretaries. 

In addition to the proceedings of the meeting at Geneseo, the follow- 
ing notice was issued to enable the people of Geneseo and other eastern 
towns to unite with the western towns of Livingston, in cooperation 
with the Rochester arrangements for the funeral ceremonies: 

The committee from Livingston County will accompany the re- 
mains to the place of reinterment at Mount Hope. All persons resid- 
ing on the east side of the Valley and desirous of uniting in the cere- 
monies of the occasion, are res|)ectfully invited to assemble in (Jene- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 375 

seo on Friday, in season to join the procession from that [>lace, which 
will move at precisely 11 o'clock, a. m., and arrive at Cuyler before 
2 o'clock p. m. Those residing on the west side are invited to as- 
semble at the mound at Cuyler, in season to move with the procession 
from that place. Revolutionary soldiers are particularly solicited to 
unite in the ceremonies of the occasion. 

By order and in behalf of the Committee of Arrangements. 

E. R. Ilammatt, 

Secretary. 

It is suitable to introduce here a letter and statement respecting 
the ceremonies at the disinterment of the remains at Groveland and 
Leicester. 

Geneseo, August 16, 1841. 

Dear Sir — By this mail I send you a copy of our village paper, con- 
taining a sketch of the Order of Arrangements on the part of this 
county, for doing honor to the remains of the gallant Boyd and his 
associates. At a subsequent meeting we shall mature our plans, the 
result of which I will send you by Thursday's mail. 

To-day a delegation from our committee have been to Groveland, 
and after vigorous search, succeeded in finding a portion of the re- 
mains interred there. After digging over a small space of ground, 
they were eminently successful in their search, having found quite a 
number of bones, some in a tolerable state of preservation, and others 
more decayed — many teeth perfectly sound, etc. From information 
derived from some of the oldest settlers, but little doubt existed as to 
the identity of the remains with those they sought. Before leaving 
the ground, however, all doubt was removed by the discovery of four 
lead or pewter buttons in excellent preservation, and distinctly marked 
"U. S. A." These, with the remains, have been brought to our vil- 
lage; and to-morrow we propose to prosecute the search still further. 
Our committee learned from some old settlers who were present, that 
the ground had been explored some thirty-four years ago; and at that 
time many bones were discovered, which were either removed at the 
time or left exposed to the action of the atmosphere, and consequently 
soon decomposed. Many relics were also carried off at the time, such 
as buttons, parts of military dresses, etc. I will communicate the 
result of our further search. 

We understand that letters have been addressed by your committee 
to two nephews of Lieutenant Boyd, residing in Pennsylvania. Will 
you please communicate the substance of their replies, in order that 
our orator may avail himself of any incidents they may communicate? 

You will notice by the paper I send, that our committee propose 
accompanying the remains to Mount Hope. As there will be but few 
of us, could we not do so in one of the boats which will come up with 
the Rochester delegation? 



376 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

We have writen to Maj. VanCampen, requesting him to assist at 
the ceremonies; but, as yet have not received his reply. 

I am, dear sir, in behalf of the Committee, with great respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

E. R. Hammall. 
T(i Henry O'Reiley, Secretary. 

Chairman, &c. 

STATEMENT. 

We, the undersigned, inhabitants of Cuylerville, in Livingston 
County, deem it proper to make the following record of the proceedings 
connected with the removal to Mount Hope of the remains of the 
party sent from Sullivan's army to reconnoitre the savages in Genesee 
Valley, in the Revolutionary War. 

Excavations, made during several days, resulted, on the 7th of 
August, in the discovery of some remains at the junction of the 
streams where historical and traditionary ac'counts state that the 
bodies of Boyd and Parker were buried, after they were tortured to 
death — they having been taken prisoners when their twenty comrades 
were killed in battle. These streams unite at Cuylerville, near the 
site of the Indian settlement formerly known as Little Beard's Town, 
the chief point against which Sullivan's army directed their operations 
in the Genesee Valley; and their junction is midway between CJeneseo 
and Moscow, a few rods from the main road. They were found partly 
overgrown by the roots of decayed plum trees, within a few feet of 
the edge of the bank of the united streams. They were disinterred in 
the presence of between twenty and thirty persons, including Captain 
David Shepard, of Geneseo, Henry O'Reilly, Lieut. Cheny of the 
Rochester Grays, and George Byinglon of the same city. The remain- 
der of the spectators were residents of this town, along with us. 

The relics, as disinterred, were examined particularly by Dr. Gar- 
lock, formerly of Canandaigua, and now of this place; who recognized 
most of them as parts of two skeletons, which, from the position in 
which they were found, left not a doubt on the minds of any one pres- 
ent, as to their being the remains of the ill-fated Boyd and Parker. 
These remains were kept in this village, in charge of one of the Liv- 
ingston County Committee, from that time to the 20th of August — 
being meantime examined, during that fortnight, by many persons 
from the neighboring towns, who called to witness the erection of the 
mound at the junction of the streams where these brave men met 
their fate. 

Seymour L. Phelps, 
Edward Munsel, 
A. H. Niven, 
W. T. Cuvler. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 377 

The concurrence of sentiment thus exhibited between the people of 
Livingston and those in Monroe county who manifested an interest in 
the subject, led to a satisfactory co-operation in rendering the last 
honors to the heroic dead. 

Pursuant to arrangements between the General Committees of 
Monroe and Livingston counties, the Corporation and Military com- 
panies of Rochester left that city on the afternoon of the 19th of 
August, in a flotilla of boats, five in number, three of which were 
furnished gratuitously, with the usual liberality of Colonel John Allen 
of the Clinton Line, another by Mr. Sidney Allen, also an enterpris- 
ing and liberal minded forwarder of Rochester, the fifth being a 
packet. 

On board these boats five military companies embarked, Wil- 
liams'Light Infantry, under Capt. Gibbs; the Union Grays, under 
Capt. Swan; the City Cadets, under Capt. Tucker; the Rochester 
Artillery, under Capt. Davis, and the (iernian Grenadiers, under Capt. 
Klein. With these companies there went several mvited guests, 
Major-General Stevens and suite, Capt. Eaton of the United States 
Army, Mr. Shepard of the Rochester Democrat and others, including 
several members of the General Committee of arrangements who 
were not attached to any military corps. 

The Mayor, Elijah F. Smith, with Aldermen Southerin, J. I. 
Robins, H. Witbeck, and vStephen Charles, as representatives of the 
Corporation of Rochester, proceeded in carriages to the scene of 
action in Livingston county. 

The military movements were directed by Col. Amos Sawyer, who 
had been elected Commandant for the occasion. 

The editor of the Rochester Democrat, Mr. Shepard, who partici- 
pated in the scenes he describes, thus referred in his jcjurnai to the 
progress of the flotilla and the ceremonies in Livingston county: 

As we progressed up the Genesee "N'alley canal, we saw evident 
tokens of a laudable public feeling, in the bonfires which were kindled 
at the principal villages, and the countless groups assembled to bear 
testimony to their reverence for the heroes of the Revolution, as well 
as approbation of the patriotism which had prompted this enterprise. 
At Scottsville, Captain Elnathan Perry, of West Rush, one of Sulli- 
van's men, in the eighty-first year of his age, joined our party, and 
bore his proportion of the fatigues of the next day, apparently with 
as little inconvenience as any of us. In the morning, passing through 



378 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Ciiylfiville, which was already alive with spectators, we went to 
Mount Morris to breakfast. Here everything was in readiness, pre- 
pared by the liberality of its citizens; and after the repast, and a 
inarch by the troops through the several streets, were returned to Cuy- 
lerville, where we found such masses of people as seldom congregate 
on any occasion; proving satisfactorily that the people of Livingston 
county did not consider the attempt tf) commemorate the heroism and 
virtues of those who achieved our liberties, an unmeaning ceremony, 
or unworthy of their countenance and cooperation. 

Tiie military companies and many of the citizens dined under a 
bovver, while the committees, the survivors of the Revolution, the 
Mayor and Common Council, Maj. Gen. Stevens and staff, and other 
guests were very hospitably entertained by Colonel Cuyler, at his 
beautiful residence in the grove on the hill. 

The procession was then formed and proceeded to the mound, some 
three quarters of a mile east of the canal. The bones had been de- 
posited in an urn, and after a dirge played with much effect by the 
band, on the very spot where, sixty-two years ago, the savage yells of 
Little Beard and his blood-thirsty rangers had been the only requiem 
of the two dying patriots (Boyd and Parker), they were slowly borne 
away, with the sarcophagus containing the ashes of their comrades, 
followed by the thousands who had there collected from (ieneseo and 
the eastern extremes of the county. (The citizens from Geneseo, etc., 
had brought witli'them' to that spot the relics of Boyd's soldiers who 
fell in CJroveland — which were thus united with the ashes of their 
gallant officer in the honors paid to their heroism by the people of 
another age, w'ho are enjoying the blessings of that freedom for which 
those soldiers fell bravely fighting.) On reaching the large grove of 
stately oaks near Col. Cuylers house, where a platform and seats had 
been erected, the vast concourse (the lowest estimate of which, that 
we heard, was five thousand), was called to order, a dirge was played 
by the band, and the Throne of Grace addressed by the Rev. Mr. 
Gillet, of \[oscow. iilajor Moses \'anCampen, aged eighty five, and 
ilr. Sanborn, aged seventy-nine, sat on the platform by the side of 
Capt. Perry, all of whom had been actively employed in Sullivan's 
expedition. Mr. S. w'as the man who first discovered the mangled 
bodies of Boyd and Parker in the grass. There were also several 
other time honored Soldiers of the Revolution present. After another 
dirge, Mr. Samuel Treat, Principal of the Seminary at Geneseo, ad- 
dressed the audience in a strain of eloquence and manly feeling, highly 
honorable to him as a historian and scholar, giving in the introduc- 
tion detail of the massacres at Cherry \'alley, Wyoming, etc., which 
led to the destruction of the wigwams and corn patches that once 
covered the now prolific valley which lay spread out before us. As 
the address is to be ])ublished, and slionld he in every family in 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 379 

Livingston, Genesee and Monroe, we shall attem[)t no outline of it." 

The venerable JIajor \'anCampen, as President of the day, thus 
addressed the vast assemblage by which he was surrounded: 

Fellow Citizens — We no longer hear the war whoop of the savages. 
We are no longer alarmed by the martial drum calling us to arms. 
We no longer hear the roaring of cannon nor the din of small arms. 
We are no longer shocked by the cries of the wounded nor the groans 
of the dying. We no longer see the fertile fields of our country 
stained with the blood of your fathers and of my companions in arms. 
But we see the relics of those patriotic youths who shed their blood 
for the rights of man, deposited in that sacred urn before you. 

Gentlemen of the Committees! Citizens and Soldiers of the coun- 
ties of Monroe and Livingston ! You have conferred upon me the 
honor of presiding on this day, on this important and interesting 
occasion. 

I confess I want ability to discharge the duty connected with the 
deep interest felt on this occasion; yet I feel happy in doing what I 
can to commemorate the scenes which are this day brought before us. 

It will not be necessary for me to say much, after the interesting 
and eloquent address which we have just heard. Yet, I must say 
that I little expected to live to see the time when the remains of some 
companions in youth, and all of them my companions in arms, whose 
blood was shed in the glorious struggle for the liberty and independ- 
ence of our country, and shed on the soil of Livingston county; and 
whose patriotic remains for si.xty-two years have been mouldering in 
her dust — should here, this day, be presented to the view of this great 
assembly. 

How different do they appear to me now, from what they did sixty- 
two years ago, when I saw them in the vigor of life and in the bioom 
of youth. 

Aye! my noble Boyd! could your immortal spirit witness the 
scenes of this day, methinks it would rejoice to see your old friend 
and companion making a surrender of your mortal remains and those 
of your brave men who fell a sacrifice to the tomahawk and scalping 
knife of the savage ^surrendering you to the honorable committee 
and associations from Rochester, who hav» prepare I for you a resting 
place till you are called from the slumbering dust bv the voice of your 
God. 

And you, gentlemen, that have taken so honorable a part in the 
scenes of this day, your names are worthy of a page m the history of 
our country for this act of patriotism. 

Gentlemen, I now, with these my worthy companions, and the 
only two surviving members present of the army of General Sullivan, 
and in the n;ime of the Committee of the County of Livinsgton, sur- 



380 HISTORY OF LIVIXfiSTON COUNTY 

render to you these sacred relics for an honorable interment at Mount 
Hope, where you will pay to them the highest tribute of respect. 
Gentlemen, they are yours. 

The Mayor of the City of Rochester, the Hon. E. F. Smith, re- 
sponded to the sentiments expressed by the venerable VanCampen. 
as follows: 

Ab one of the Committee appointed on behalf of the citizens and 
military companies of Rochester, he said, he was impressed with the 
solemnity of the trust which the people of the Genesee valley had 
now transferred to the inhabitants of that city. Appropriate honors, 
k)ng deferred, had been paid by the multitude here assembled, to the 
names of those gallant soldiers whose lifeblood first moistened this 
valley in the cause of freedom. The remains of those heroic men, 
now transferred for interment on the Revolutionary Hill at Mount 
Hope, imposed on the citizens of Rochester a duty which he was con- 
fident would be sacredly discharged — the duty of rendering their 
resting place in that cemetery an appropriate mausoleum for those 
whose services in the cause of freedom entitled them to honor in 
death as in life. 

Yet, he remarked, it was proper to disclaim, on the part of his fel- 
low citizens, any feeling merely local or sectional. The Revohition- 
ary flill in Mount Hope Cemetery is designed not merely for the re- 
ception of the Revolutionary patriots who may die in Rochester, but 
for all of the gallant seventy-sixers "who have died or may die in the 
Valley of the Genesee." And whose remains more worthy of the first 
honors than those of the intrepid soldiers who fell with Boyd in this 
beautiful valley — the extreme western point to which the flag of free- 
dom was borne during our glorious Revolution? 

The corporation of Rochester, he added, had liberally appropriated 
a suitable eminence for the hallowed purpose; and the patriotic feel- 
ing which characterized the ceremonies thus far afforded ample 
guaranty that the people, not merely of Rochester, but of the whole 
Genesee valley, would, through long ages, guard with filial care the 
resting place of those Fathers of American Freedom who boldly 
pledged honor and life for the defence of their country, in the "times 
that tried men's souls." 

The following preamble and resolution were then proposed by 
Henry O'Reilly, the chairman of the Rochester Committee of Ar- 
rangements, and unanimously adopted: 

Assembled for the solemn purpose of rendering funeral honors to 
the gallant soldiers of Sullivan's army who fell fighting for freedom 
against the British and savage forces in the Revolutionary war, the 
thousands here collected from the Genesee valiev. do solemnlv 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 381 

Resolve, That the streams at whose junction were buried the 
mangled bodies of Boyd and Parker, one of which streams has hither- 
to been nameless and the other named after the savage chief whose 
ferocity was signalized by the shocking tortures of the gallant Boyd, 
shall hereafter be named in honor of those fallen soldiers, the latter 
Boyd's Creek, and the former Parker's Creek, that those streams 
and the mound at their junction may commemorate the names and 
services of those martyrs through all time, 'while grass grows and 
water runs.' 

"After reciprocal interchanges of courtesy between the Committees 
of Livingston and Monroe counties," says Mr. Shepard in his nar- 
rative of the expedition, and after directing that the entire proceedings 
should be published the Rochester Military took their departure with 
the remains an hour before sunset, highly gratified with the courtesies 
which liad been extended to them by the citizens of Livingston 
county. 

The arrival of the flotilla at Rochester was announced at sunrise by 
firing the national salute. At 10 o'clock the troops, upon the tolling 
of the hells, assembled in front of the place where the boats were 
moored; and, after going through various evolutions, formed into pro- 
cession and moved towards Mount Hope. 

When the immense cavalcade got in motion it presented a scene 
highly interesting and imposing. The procession extended as far as 
the eye could reach, consisting of double and sometimes treble rows 
of carriages, besides large numbers on horseback. Thousands of 
spectators lined the sides of the streets, or appeared at the windows, 
in the numerous balconies and on the tops of houses. Every 
eminence and elevated place was crowded with people. Along the 
whole line of march from the city to Mount Hope the roadsides were 
thronged with foot passengers wending their way to the scene of the 
final ceremonies. 

"Upon arriving at Mount Hope, where a vast assemblage cf people 
were awaiting the arrival of the procession," says the writer already 
quoted, "the military companies formed a line around the hill desig- 
nated as the burial place of the Revolutionary patriots, where the 
sarcophagus and urn were deposited in their final resting place." An 
address was made by Governor Seward, who was introduced by 
Chancellor Whittlesey. Rev. Elisha Tucker read the funeral service 
of the Episcopal Church, and in a very impressive manner dedicated 



382 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the ground to the sacred purpose dI a cemetery for the remains of 
Revolutionary Soldiers, who had died or might thereafter die in the 
valley of the Genesee. 

Thus this portion of Momu Hope came to be known as Revolution- 
ary Hill and later Patriot Hill. But it did not prove to be the final 
resting place of Boyd and his tt-llow patriots, nor did the patriotic 
fervor which inspired the removal of the remains from Livingston 
county and the consecration of the spot to sacred uses outlive more 
than a score of years. In depressing contrast with the sentiment and 
promise of Mayor Smith of 1841: "The eminence for this hallowed 
purpose, and the patriotic feeling which has characterized the cere- 
monies thus far, afford ample guaranty that the people, not merely of 
Rochester, but of the whole Genesee valley, will through long ages 
guard with filial care the resting place of these fathers of American 
freedom, who boldly pledged honor and life for the defense of their 
country, in the times that tried men's souls," was the utilitarian 
spirit of the Commissioners of Mount Hope and the Common Council 
of the city in 1863, for in that year the hill was leveled to providt. 
salable Inirial lots and the bones of our soldiers were intrusted to the 
tender mercies of the keeper of the cemetery for removal to the pot- 
ter's field, the last resting place of the homeless and unknown. 

A monument erected by the Livingston County Historical Society 
to the memory of the soldiers who fell in Livingston County during 
Sullivan's campaign and were buried within the limits of the county, 
was completed and put in its place without formal ceremony in No- 
vember, 1901. The initial step in this enterprise was taken at the 
annual meeting of the Society held at Geneseo January 24, 1898, when 
the following letter addressed to \V. Austin Wadsworth, Esq., Presi- 
dent of the Livingston County Historical Society, by Hon. Wm. P. 
Letchworth was laid before the Society. This was the first annual 
meeting of the Society after the date of Mr. Letchworth's letter: 

P'-rlage P. O., N. Y. 
To March l')th. 1897. 

\V. Austin Wadsworth, l-^stjuirc. 

President of the Livingston County Historical Society, 
Dear Sir: 

One of the Governors of our State has said: "To preserve the mem- 
ory of early events, to mark the spots where they occurred, is a duty 




Monument to Sullivan's Men killed in Groveland Ambuscade 
Erected by Livingston County Historical Society. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 7,83 

which we owe to the future and the vast mullitudes who are to come 
after us." There are two spots of earth in Livingston Count}' so 
intimately associated with important events in the history of our 
country that I am impressed with the conviction that they should be 
set apart and marked by some enduring memorial. One of the spots 
to which I refer is in the town of Groveland, where were buried the 
men who fell while discharging the dangerous duty assigned by 
General Sullivan to their leader, Lieutenant Thomas Boyd, in 1779. 
Some of the bones of these men were removed to Rochester in 1841: 
but the greater part of their remains had become incorporated with 
the soil where they fell, and can never be removed from the spot made 
sacred by their blood. 

The other spot baptized by the blood of Revolutionary martyrs is 
that at Cuylerville, where Lieutenant Boyd and Sergeant Parker were 
tortured to death and afterwards buried with military honors by their 
companions in arms. A part of the headless remains of these brave 
and unfortunate men were likewise removed to Rochester in 1841 . 
Included in what was not removed were the chambers of their minds, 
in which were the windows of the soul. These still remain in the soil 
of Livingston County. Had their retnains, however, been entirely 
removed, these spots of earth would have still remained historic, and 
the same obligation would exist to mark them in memory of the dead. 
It has always seemed strange to me that the people of the Genesee 
\"alley, especially of Livingston County, should have allowed these 
graves to be desecrated by the plow and left so long unmarked. 

The policy adopted by Congress in 1779 — "To carry the war into 
the country of the Six Nations, cut off their settlements, destroy 
their next year's crops, and do them any other mischief which time 
and circumstances will permit" was looked upon as the only means of 
protecting a long line of exposed frontier settlements. It was adopted 
after the Indians had broken their solemn treaty to remain neutral in 
the struggle between King George and the colonies and after the 
terrible massacres of Wyoming and of Cherry "\'alley by the Indians, 
aided and instigated by British troops and Tories. General Washing- 
ton delegated the carrying into execution of this mandate of Congress 
to (General Sullivan, who faithfully executed it with, it is believed, as 
little sacrifice of life as possible and without the wanton infliction of 
suffering. The men under his command who fell in the Genesee Val- 
ley were bravely fighting for the cause of American Independence, 
and the peculiar circuinstances under which they met death en- 
title their memories to lasting recognition. 

The commendable spirit shown by your Society in the preservation 
of historical relics, especially those liaving a patriotic significance, 
leads me to suggest the propriety of your carefully considering 
whether it is not desirable for your corporation to secure possession of 



384 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

these spots cf ground, and, after properly marking them by some 
enduring means, assume the responsibility of their perpetual care. 

I venture to suggest the project of purchasing, say an acre of land, 
about the site of these graves and of erecting thereon plain, substan- 
tial monuments of dignified propcjrtions, suitably inscribed, to cotii- 
memorate the services of these martyrs in the Revolutionary cause, 
a cause which, if unsuccessful, would have done away with the neces- 
sity of a Big Tree Treaty. The land acquired could be inclosed by a 
neat, inexpensive fence and the ground planted irregularly in the 
natural order with forest trees indigenous to the soil, which would 
eventually grow into stately trees, and, leaving Nature to her own 
ways, we in time would have two small tracts as they appeared at the 
time of Sullivan's Campaign. The spot at Cuylerville would, of course, 
require somewhat different treatment from that at (jrovcland. * * * 
I am, 

Yours with great respect, 

(Signed) Wm. Pryor Letchworth. 

An earnest discussion followed the reading of the letter, in which 
there was a unanimous expression of opinion in favor of carrying out 
the project suggested by Mr. Letchworth at as early a date as practic- 
able. A committee was appointed consisting of Hon. Wm. P. Letch- 
worth, William A. Brodie, Lockwood R. Doty, Chauncey K. Sanders 
and Charles Jones, to ascertain whether the titles to the lands desired 
could be secured. 

At the ne.xt annual meeting of the Historical Society, held at Gene- 
seo January 31, 1899, the committee reported that they could secure 
the site where the Revolutionary soldiers fell in the town of Grove- 
land, but were unable to obtain a proposal for the sale of the site 
at Cuylerville where Boyd and Parker were buried at any other than 
an extravagant sum. The powers of the committee were continued 
and a title to the (iroveland site was subsequently obtained. Messrs. 
Brodie and Djty a::tinT for thi c > n nittee. The funds to purchase the 
site and erect the monument were obtained by voluntary contribution, 
Mr. Letchworth and ilr. Herbert Wadsworth aiding with custonuiry 
generosity. 

The monument is situated on the Boyd farm in the town of Grove- 
land, about si.xty-five or seventy rods from the highway leading from 
Geneseo to the head of Conesus Lake. The memorial is reached by a 
farm road leading from the highway to the house of Mr. Boyd and 
descending into a picturesque wooded ravine beyond which, upon 



i 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



385 



rising ground, the monument is situated. The monument bears the 
following inscription on the several faces; 
East face: 

Sacred to the memory of 
"Hanyerry," a loyal Oneida. 
Sergeant Nicholas Hungerman, 
Private John Carney, 

William Faughey, 
John McElroy, 
John Miller, 
" Benj. Curtin, 
" John Putnam 
and several tJthers, names unknown, 
who fell and were buried here. 



North face: 



South face: 



Erected by the 
Livingston County Historical Society 



Scene of Ambush and Massacre of 

Lieut. Thomas Boyd's Scouting Party 

of 

General Sullivan's Armv, 

by 

British and Indians under 

Rutler and Brant, 

September 13, 1779. 



Sacred to the Memory of 

Lieut. Thomas Boyd and 

Michael Parker, 

who were captured and afterwards 

tortured and killed. 



'"Afar their bones may lie. 

But here their patriot blood 
Baptised the land for aye 

And widened freedom's flood." 

The height of the monument is fourteen feet. It stands on a solid 
foundation, and consists of a base three feet square, on which rests a 



386 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

(iie two feet square and four feet high. Upon this rests a shaft which 
is seventeen inclies square at the base and gradually tapers to the 
summit. 

It should not be forgotten that some of the soldiers whom this monu- 
ment commemorates were veterans in the United States service and 
participated in some of the hardest fought battles of the Revolutionary 
War. 

The monument, though simple and unpretentious, reflects great 
credit upon the Livingston County Historical Society and the in- 
dividuals who were actively interested in rendering this long delayed 
tribute. 

It was reserved for a genuinely patriotic society of women of Roch- 
ester — Irondetjuoit Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution — 
to secure decent sepulture at last for the remains of the Sullivan men. 
The following is taken from the admirable account of the ceremonies 
by Mrs. ]\Lu"y Cheney El wood, of Rochester: 

"It is difticult adequately to express in words the weight of grati- 
tude and obligation that is due to j\Irs. Josephine Gregg Chappell — 
a member of Irondequoit Chapter — for the diligent and patient search 
she made to locate and identify the graves. It is due to Mrs. Chap- 
pell, and to her alone, that, through her perseverance and untiring 
energy, the remains taken from Patriot Hill were identified. Those 
who are unfamiliai' with such work, can scarcely realize what persistent 
labor it has taken, for five years, to complete the work she so willing- 
ly undertook. After fully verifying the identity of the graves, a 
•committee was appointed by Mrs. William E. Hoyt, the Regent of 
Irondequoit Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, to confer 
with a committee from Rochester Chapter, Sons of the American 
Revolution. The object of this joint committee was to ascertain 
what could be done to rescue and suitably provide for the permanent 
•care of the remains of these heroes who had so long lain in neglected, 
unmarked and unhonored graves. The Mount Hope authorities were 
interviewed and, after several meetings, the Commissioners of the 
cemetery made a deed of gift of the south half of lot 24S in section 
B B, to the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, provided 
that $100 should be paid in order to ensure the perpetual care of the 
lot. The deed was duly executed and recorded in the cit)- clerk's 
office and at the same time a contract for the perpetual care of the 




Graves of Sulliv&n's Men ti Mount Hope. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 387 

lot was executed by Mount Hope. The entire expense of disinterring 
and removing the bones, which was most carefully and satisfactorily 
done, was borne by the cemetery. 

"On October 31, 1903, a committee from the Sons and Daughters of 
the American Revolution, with the Superintendent, John W. Keller, 
were present at the opening of the graves and supervised the transfers 
to the new lot. The martyrs of the Sullivan campaign, with the 
Rev. ^Ir. ^'ining's remains, had been carefully preserved in boxes, 
showing that they had had proper care in the removal from Patriot 
Hill. The bones were critically examined and were unmistakably 
human, forever setting at rest the absurd story as to their being other 
than human bones. The other three graves were easily identified as 
those of soldiers for, in transferring them, ancient army buttons were 
found. The bones were carefully transferred to strong boxes and 
were gently and.tenderly borne to the resting place where it is devout- 
ly hoped and believed they may never again be disturbed until time is 
nu more and the grave shall give up its dead. 

"The following day, Sunday, November 1, 1903, being All Saints' 
day, was that set apart for the commemorative service at Mount 
Hope, and it was a day never to be forgotten by those who took part 
jn its simple service. It was the culminating act of many years of 
patient search. It was the fruition of all that had been long before 
conceived and undertaken and had been so unfalteringly and earnestly 
carried to its successful issue."' 

An act was passed on the 5th of May, 1841, to promote agriculture, 
by the appropriation to the various counties of the State of an annual 
sum, which should become available upon the formation by any county 
of an agricultural society and the raising by voluntary subscription of 
a sum of money equal to the amount of such appropriation; the 
amount apportioned to Livingston County was one hundred seven- 
teen dollars. The farmers of Livingston County were quick to take 
advantage of this act, and twenty days after its passage a largely 
signed petition requested Samuel P. Allen, then County Clerk, to give 
notice of a meeting to be called on July 1st at the court house in Gen- 
eseo, for the purpose of forming a society in this county. The meet- 
ing was accordingly held. Gen. William A. Mills being chosen Chair- 

1. See Appendix 14 for accouut of celebration of the Sullivan Centennial at Genesee. 



388 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

man, and Col. Samuel W. Smith, Secretary. It was determined to be 
expedient to form the Livingston County Agricultural Society, and 
Gen. ^licah Brooks, Col. Holloway Long, Felix Tracy, Calvin H. 
Bryan and John Holloway prepared the draft of a constitution, which 
was duly adopted at this meeting. The following named officers were 
then chosen: \Vm. A. Mills, President; Holloway Long, James S. 
Wadsworth and Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Vice Presidents; C. H. Bryan, 
Recording Secretary; C. R. Bond, Corresponding Secretary; Al- 
len Ayrault, Treasurer; Micah Brooks, Mt. Morris, S. W. Smith, 
Sparta, C. H. Carroll, (iroveland, W. H. Spencer, York, \V. 
W. Wadsworth, Geneseo, W. W. Wooster, Leicester, Hector 
Hitchcock, Conesus, Edward A. LeRoy, Caledonia, Asahel War- 
ner, Lima, H. S. Tyler, Springwater, Lernan Gibbs, Livonia, 
and John E. Tompkins, Avon, Managers. These persons became 
members by the payment of a fee of one dollar; iJavid Shepard, 
Chas. Shepard, Holloway Long, J. B. Harris, W. W. Wooster, J. 
Worthington, D. Warner, Jr.. P. E. Baker, J. W. Merrill, J. White, 
Jr., Samuel Vance, P. Goddard,' C. H. Bryan, Robert Crossett, O. D. 
Lake, R. L. Blake, S. P. Allen, M. P.rooks, Wm. A. Mills, O. Skin- 
ner, Cornelius Shepard, Reubsn Squirer S. W. Smith and John Hol- 
lou-ay. At a meeting of the executive committee held August 3, 1841, 
the following town committees were appointed: Geneseo, Cornelius 
Shei)ard, Jr., Reuben Squirer, Chas. Colt; Mt. Morris, Alfred Hub- 
bard, W'm. D. Morgan, Moses Barron; Sparta, Charles Shepard, Wm. 
Scott, Wm. Fullerton, Morgan Hammond; (iroveland, W. \V. Mc- 
Nair, John White, William Ewart ; Lima, Asahel H. Warner, Jasper 
Marvin, Samuel Stevens; Livonia, James Campbell, John Adams, 
Ruel L. Blake; Springwater, Parker H. Pierce, Horatio Dyer, Zenas 
Ashley; Conesus, John Henderson, Timothy DeGraw, Jotham Clark; 
Leicester, W. T. Cuyler, Jerediah Horsford, Allen Smead; Caledonia, 
Ephraim Lacy, Th. H. Newbold, John McKay; Avon, John Kelsey, 
Asa Nowlen, Ira Merrill; York, John Holloway, James Dow, Wm. 
Craig, John Russ, Wm. Stewart, James B. Harris, Angus McVean. 
It was determined at this meeting to hokl the first fair at Geneseo on 
the 22d of October, 1841, and to award forty-five cash premiums in 
amounts from two to fifteen dollars to exhibitors. An additional 
amount of forty dollars was appropriated as [jrcmiums for articles not 
enumerated. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 389 

The first fair was held at the time appointed. David Smith of Avon 
received the highest premium, fifteen dollars, for the best bull, two 
years old and over; Gen. Mills received premiums for the best pair of 
fat oxen and the best pair of matched horses; David Brooks of Avon 
received a premium for the best cow and another for the best stallion; 
Roswell Root of York received a premium for the best pair of work- 
ing oxen. 

At the second annual meeting the highest premium of ten dollars 
■was awarded to Angus McA'ean of Caledonia for the best cultivated 
farm of fifty acres or more. 

The fair for the year 1846 was held September 24th at Avon. At 
this meeting "the display of working cattle was very large and high- 
ly creditable to the farmers of the county." 

At the meeting of 1848, held in Mt. Morris, it was determined that 
the interests of the society "would be better promoted by the selection 
of a suitable place as a permanent location for the annual fair." The 
number of members this year was one hundred forty-one. 

In 1849 Geneseo was selected as the permanent location for the 
society exhibitions, and in the following year James S. Wads- 
worth offered the society the use of eight acres of the property long 
■occupied by it, rent free for five years, on condition that the society 
would build a fence and put the grounds in proper order. A trotting 
course was this year constructed on the new grounds. The society 
membership at this time had increased to two hundred fifty-three. 

The society was reorganized June 30, 1855, under the act of April 
13 of that year; the incorporators were: Z. Longyer, Richard Peck, 
Jas. T. Norton, William A. Mills, H. Allen, E. B. Chase, Aaron Bar- 
ber, L. S. Chamberlin, H. E. Rochester, C. C. Chapin, James Gil- 
man, Jehial Freeman. D. H. Bissell, Chas. Colt, Geo. W. Root, Fort 
Benway, O. D. Lake, Jasper Barber, Henry Simpson, Andrew Sill, 
Leman Gibbs, E. R. Hammatt, David Brooks, N. Robinson, Chas. 
E. Whaley, Jos. Kershner, John S. Wiley, Ezra Morehouse, John 
White, Henry V. Colt, W. S. Fullerton, J. W. Vrooman, B. F. 
Parker, J. Horsford. The officers for the term expiring December 
31, 1855 were: President, Aaron Barber; Vice President, George W. 
Root; Secretary, Joseph Kershner; Treasurer, Edward R. Hammatt; 
Directors, first year, Charles Colt, R. Peck; second year, Henry Simp- 
son, Wm. A. Mills; third year, John S. Wiley, Samuel W. Smith. In 



390 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

this j-ear Lyman Turner, Charles Jones, Isaac Allen, David Skinner, 
Henry V. Colt and William Cushing were appointed a committee to 
secure grounds for the society and ascertain the cost of fencing the 
same and erecting the necessary buildings; they were authorized to 
proceed at once with the work if the expense did not exceed eighteen 
hundred dollars. The committee obtained a twenty-one years' lease 
of the grounds then in use with adjacent lands north and east, com- 
prising about fourteen acres, at an annual rental of thirty dollars. 
The land was enclosed at a cost of $676.63, and the agricultural hall 
yet standing was erected at a cost of $1393.53; a trotting course one- 
third of a mile long was also laid out at a cost of $31().17, and every- 
thing was in readiness for the fair of 1855. 

A horse fair was held under the auspices of the society on the 4th 
of July, 1865, and prizes were offered for the best trotting and running 
horses. The first prize of $15U in the sweepstake trotting race was 
taken by D. i\Iahoney of Geneseo; the second of $50 went to George 
W. Pond of Rochester, and the third of $25 to O. C. Seymour of 
Rochester, and Craig W. Wadsworth of (ieneseo won the lirst prize of 
$50 in the running match. 

Plowing matches were early features of the society's work, and 
these and other competitions, relating more particularly to agricultural 
matters, were frequently arranged apart from the annual meetings. 
In later years very successful stallion shows were conducted by the 
society, and were usually held in the early summer. These exhibi- 
tions attracted the liest breeders in the county and adjoining counties. 
Among the prominent exhibitors were William A. Wadsworth, Samuel 
S. Howland, C. O. Shepard, Jacob Fisher, Henry Snyder, Morgan 
Shaffer, |. T. Trewer, Andrew Gardiner, Samuel Culbertson, A. L. 
Wyman, Dr. O'Dell, George A. Pitcher and many outside of the 
county. 

No intermission occurred in the annual meetings, until they finally 
ceased in 18<J6. A vast ann)imt of good was done by the society from 
the beginning, in the development of first class stock and the im- 
provement of farming methods. Here were shown, year after year, 
the unsurpassed herds of Short Horns of Aaron Barber, which had 
taken the highest premiums in nearly every State in the Union; the 
no less valuable Wadsworth herds of Short Horns and those of George 
W. Root, Judge Carroll and the Ayraults; the Spanish Merinos of 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 391 

Abrain Stocking, of York, owner of the famous rams Cornwall Chief, 
Kilpatrick and Tom Sayers; and of John S. Beecher and John P. Ray; 
S. N. Chamberlain & Sons, and Frederick Barrett's splendid Hocks of 
Southdowns; James W. Wadsworth's and L. Perrin's Shropshires; 
the superior herds and flocks of George D. Dooer. William A. Wads- 
worth, Matthew Wiard and Arthur Cummings, and the high class 
swine of Charles P. Armstrong, B. C. Nichols and Samuel Donnan; 
and here General Wadsworth, David Brooks, Richard Peck, C. H. 
Carroll and others elsewhere mentioned found in an earlier day the 
opportunity to introduce to the farmers of the valley improved strains 
of cattle, horses and sheep. Here, too, the breeders of adjoining 
counties were permitted to come into competition with those of Liv- 
ingston, and the excellent displays of sheep by Wellman Brothers of 
Wyoming County and Frank Ward of Genesee County, the fine cattle 
and sheep of William G. ilarkham, our near neighbor of Rush, and the 
magnificent herd of Holsteins of Captain Howard of Fairport will be 
remembered. An interesting circumstance may be recalled in con- 
nection with the effort to secure high grade stock. A prominent 
farmer in the town of Leicester purchased a Spanish Merino ram for 
4)5,000.00; he paid $2,000.00, in cash, and gave a second mortgage on 
his farm for $3,000.00, to secure the balance of the purchase price. 
The second mortgage represented about the whole of his equity in the 
property, and the amount that he had paid was substantially the 
amount of the first mortgage, so that he had practically given the 
price of his farm for the ram. Before he had proceeded very far in 
paying the balance of the debt his buildings burned and with them 
the ram. Such incidents as these, however, did not deter the farmers 
of this county from continuing the effort to develop the best quality 
of stock without much regard to jirice. The best products of the 
field, the garden, the orchard and the vine were brought here and 
carefully e.xamined and earnestly discussed. The housewife here dis- 
played her skill in the domestic arts, and the son and daughter of the 
household found many fields for honorable strife. It is much to be 
deplored that so serviceable an institution and one affording so great 
a stimulus in so many different directions should have been aban- 
doned, and regret is still expressed ^it its untimely taking off. 

The following explanation of the reasons which led to the abandon- 



392 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ment of the society meetings is taken from the Livingston RepubH- 
can, shortly after they were discontinued: 

"Officers of the Livingston County Agricultural Society are fre- 
quently asked why they don't hold the annual county fair as has been 
the custom for more than fifty years. The reason is obvious. It is 
because, for the last few years the fairs have been running the asso- 
ciation into debt, and the officers are tired of assuming the responsi- 
bility and finding the means to pay it. It should be remembered, too, 
that for seven successive years one or both of the fair days have been 
wet enough to keep back the natural attendance, and consequently 
no gate money has been received to meet the bills. Such a succes- 
sion of ill luck could not be otherwise than ruinous, but there are 
other causes. It is a matter of general observation, that at the pres- 
ent time the purposes for which fairs were established, and for which 
they received the legislative sanction are almost entirely lost sight of, 
for the reason that a purely agricultural exhibition, such as used to be 
held on these grounds, will no longer pay. There have been on these 
grounds, and there can be at any time, if the farmers and breeders of 
the county will bring out their stock, a better exhibition of cattle, 
sheep and horses than is usually shown at the annual State fair. But 
even the State fair does not draw as it formerly did, and has in these 
later years been obliged to add to its attractions various shows, bicy- 
Ice races, balloon ascensions and such other catch-penny amusements, 
in order to fill its coffers, and it is understood that this method was 
successful with it last year. Perhajjs the introduction of this feature 
might make this fair successful, but the managers hesitate to intro- 
duce it. and it would be objectionable to many persons whose patron- 
age is desirable, and certainly not in consonance with the advertised 
object of the society, which is the advancement of agriculture, horti- 
culture, the mechanic arts and household industry. Meanwhile, if 
the managers, after a full consideration of all the circumstances that 
have tended to produce the unfortunate condition to which the 
county fair is reduced, can devise any plan by which it can be made 
again a self supporting institution, it will be revived." 

The following named persons were Presidents of the Society. Wm. 
A. Mills, Mt. Morris, 1841; James S. Wadsworth. Geneseo. 1842,1861; 
Holloway Long, York, 1844, 1867-8; W. W. Wadsworth, (ieneseo, 
1845; Asa Nowlen, Avon, 1846; Allen Ayrault, Geneseo, 1847; John 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 393 

R, Murray, Jr.,' Mt. Morris, 1848 ; Jerediah Horsford, Leicester, 1849; 
Chas. H. Carroll, Groveland, 1850, 1863, 1864; Chas. Colt, Genesee, 
1851; Robert Rome, Geneseo, 1852; Chauncey R. Bond, Genesee 
1853-4; Aaron Barber, Avon, 1855; Chas. Jones, Leicester, 1856; 
G. W. Root, York, 1857; Richard Peck, Lima, 1858; Alonzo Bradner, 
Dansville, 185f)-6(); Jasper Barber, Avon, 1862; Craig W. Wadsworth, 
(reneseo, 1865-6; Aaron Barber, Jr , Avon, 1869-70; James W. Wads- 
worth, Geneseo, 1871-2; R. F. McMillan, Conesus, 1873-4; Hugh Wil- 
son McNair, Sparta, 1875-6; Wm. A. Wadsworth, Geneseo, 1877-8, 
1881-'96; Jotham Clark, Jr., Conesus, 1879-'80; Hon. Kidder M. 
Scott was Treasurer continuously from 1865 to the end, and Wm. A. 
Brodie and Major Henry V. Colt were Secretaries for many years. 

On ]\Iay 29th, 1886, the Genesee Valley Park Association was 
formed with a capital of $8,000, and in vSeptember of that year it pur- 
chased the fairground property at Geneseo of the sons of Craig W. 
^\'adsworth, deceased, comprising about fifteen acres, and rented the 
grounds to the society for its annual fair. The subscribers to the 
stock of the association were William A. Wadsworth, James W. Wads- 
worth,. John Rorbach, Joseph Cone, Theodore F. Olmsted and Jeremi- 
ah Cullinan, The Trustees for the first year were A. R. Scott, L. W. 
Crossett, George Goode, W. A. Wadsworth, A. A. Cox, F. W. Mate, 
W. E. Lauderdale, Jr, Jeremiah Cullinan and R. M. Jones, James W. 
Wadsworth was made President. 

The design of the association, as expressed in its certificate of in- 
corporation, was to promote agricultural and mechanical interests in 
connection with agriculture in the County of Livingston, and im- 
provements in the breed of farm animals and other live stock. The 
association became the landlord of the Agricultural Society, and to 
this extent served the purpose of its organization untilthe society was 
abandoned, as above stated. A portion of the grounds was purchased 
by the State in 1898 for an athletic field, in connection with the Nor- 
mal School of Geneseo, and it is still in use for that purpose. The 
remainder of the property is unsold. 

In 1841 Gardner Arnold and Chester Bradley were elected to the 
Assembly, and were succeeded in 1842 by Daniel H. Fitzhugh and 

I. Resigned. George T. Olyphaut, elected Feb. t,. 1S4S, and resigued Feb. 8, 184S. Both resig- 
nations were based on the assumption that the office should be filled by a ]>ractical agriculturist. 
Jerediah Horsford was elected July 1, 1848. 



394 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTV 

Daniel D. Spencer. James Faulkner was at the same time chosen 
Senator; he served during the years 1842 to 1845 inclusive. In 1842 
Charles H. Carroll was elected Member of Congress. At the fall elec- 
tion of 1843 the Whig party was again triumphant. The county offi- 
cers chosen were William H. Whiting, County Clerk ; William 11. 
Scott, Sheriff; Gardner Arnold and Daniel D. Spencer, Assemblymen. 

Calvin H. Bryan, wh(j settled in Geneseo the year the county was 
erected, ami who had always occupied a leading position as a lawyer 
and politician, was appointed by the Governor and Senate a Canal 
Appraiser for the -State, and Daniel H. Rissell of the town of Leices- 
ter, was elected Canal Commissioner. These responsible places of 
trust Were worthily filled, and reflected honor upon these respected citi- 
zens and upon the county. 

The records of the 'J4th Regiment of Infantry of the Militia of the 
State of New York, covering the period from July 20th, 1842, to June 
1, 184'), show that William J. Hamilton was Colonel ; James Wood, 
Jr., Lieut. Colonel, and William C. Hawley, Major, the same having 
been elected July 2<)th. On the 23d of July Colonel William J. 
Hamilton transmitted the report of such election to Brigadier Gen. 
William S. FuUerton at Sparta. The first regiinental order was issued 
(in the 12th of August, 1842, and is as follows: 

Headquarters 94th Regiment. 
Geneseo, 12th Aug., 1842. 
To Captain — 

You are hereby ordered to cause the commissioned, non 
commissioned officers and musicians of your company to be duly noti- 
fied to be and appear at the house of William W. Weed, in the \'illage 
of Geneseo, on the 24th and 25th days of August instant, armed and 
equipped, as the law directs, for drill and inspection, at h o'clock of 
each of those days in the forenoon. 

Yiiu will further cause the commissioned officers, non commissioned 
officers, musicians and privates of your company to be notified to be 
and appear at the inn of William W. Weed aforesaid, at 6 o'clock A. 
M. on the 13th day of October ne.xt, armed and equipped as the law 
directs, for military inspection and review. 

Wm. J. Hamilton, 

Col. and commanding officer. 

This order was issued to Cajitains Abraham 11. Williams, Richard 
Johnson, Norman J. Kclloiig, Richard N. Hanna, Lewis C. Kingsbury 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 395 

James H. Alger, Robert R. Beecher, Jr., and Henry Wiard, and 
Lieut. James W. Chappell. 

During the period mentioned it appears tliat the following persons 
besides those previously named were connected with the regiment: 
Adjutant, Dwight Webb, Geneseo; Paymaster, Orrin H. Coe, Avon; 
(Quartermaster, Oliver Smith, Avon; Assistant Surgeon, John W. 
Whitbeck, Avon; Sergeant Major, Zalman Griswold, Geneseo ; Ser- 
geant Color-Bearer, William Adams, Avon; Sergeant Color-Bearer, 
George F. Pratt, Livonia; Lieut. Oscar Ripley, Conesus; Lieut. 
Charles C. Pierson; Surgeon, David J. Pulling; Ensign, Ezra W. 
Clark; Lieut. Albert H. Huntley and Cjeorge H. Nowlen, George W. 
Kelly, Abraham H. Williams, Job Worthington, George Godfrey, 
James W. Chappell, H. R. Cowles, J. M. Humphrey, Florus S. Finley, 
Nathaniel K. Rose, John Patterson, Norton Gibbs, S. P. Fowler, T. 
Adams and Charles Cranmer. The regimental orders issued on and after 
June 19th 1845 are signed by James Wood, Jr. , Colonel and Commandant 
of the regiment, and in these orders Harvey J. Wood is referred to 
as Adjutant and later as Lieut. Colonel. The records abruptly end 
June 1st, 1841). 

But little less exciting than the "Log Cabin" conflict of 1840 was 
the presidential campaign of 1844. The leading and absorbing ques- 
tion of this contest was the annexation of Texas, a measure which the 
Democratic party North and South earnestly advocated, while the 
Whigs as vigorously opposed it. It involved the slavery question, 
which added to the warmth and bitterness of the canvass. The 
South was unanimously in favor of annexation, because the new 
territory offered a rich field for the extension of her peculiar 
institution; the anti-slavery men of the North, for the same reason, 
gave the measure their unqualified disapproval. To add to the 
intensity of the feeling a new element, the Anti-Slavery part\', made 
its appearance, — for the first time in a presidential election — nominat- 
ing James G. Birney' as its candidate for the presidency. The candi- 
dates of the Democratic party were James K. Polk for President and 

I . The remains of this pioneer in the Anti-Slavery movetnent lie in the Williamsburgh ceme- 
tery, east of the Colonel Abell residence, in the town of Groveland. He was born in Dansville, Ky., 
Fehrnary, I7g2, and died at HnKlewood, N. J.. November 24, 1^57. He married a sister of Dr. 
Daniel II. Fitzhugh. His son, Major Fitzhugh Biruey, A. A. G. of the Second Division of the Sec- 
ond Corps, Army of the Potomac, who died at Washington. Jnne 1N64, aged twenty-two, was buried 
by his side. A monnment is erected in the cemetery to mark their resting place. 



3% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

■George M. Dallas for Vice President. The Whigs supported Henry 
Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. In this county the Whigs sup- 
ported John Young and Harlow Wells for the Assembly. 

As the canvass progressed it became an exceedingly warm one, 
especially in this county, which possessed more than the usual number 
of leaders prominent in State and national politics. On the Whig 
side we recognize the names of Young, Carroll, Wood, Colt, Kelsey and 
•others equally prominent, while among Democratic leaders were 
James S. Wadsworth, Benjamin F. Angel, Calvin H. Bryan, Daniel 
H. Bissell, George Hastings and others. All were firm partisans, 
■energetic workers and men of wide-felt influence. Thus the local 
canvass was given an interest it would not otherwise have possessed, 
•since these leaders had reputations as well as views and principles to 
sustain; while the nearly equally balanced power of the two parties in 
the nation rendered the issue doubtful and furnished an incentive 
for each to put forth its greatest strength. But the victory was not 
for the Whigs. A variety of causes combined to weaken their 

strength, and the election resulted in the triumph of Mr. Polk by an 
■overwheln)ing popular vote, and also the success of the Democratic 
State ticket. Never had the Democratic party achieved a greater 
triumph than in the election of 1844. Both of the great parties of the 
country •had put forth their entire strength in the contest; the interest 
excited was intense and universal, and the result decisive. The Whig 
party was entirely prostrated and apparently discouraged. The 
Democratic party of the State never held so strong a position. The 
•severity of the contest with the Whigs had restored its ancient disci- 
pline, and the utmost enthusiasm animated its masses. Not so 
in Livingston county, however. Its firm adhesion to the Whig 
cause has in times past been proverbial, and on this occasion it 
firmly stood by its Whig principles. The candidates of that party were 
elected by the usual majoiities, but it was a hard earned victory and 
the opposition had the satisfaction of knowing that every inch of the 
•ground had been contested with unfailing courage and indomitable 
will. 

At the election of 1845 John Young and William S. Fullerton were 
the Whig candidates for the Assembly. Speaking of tJiese nomina- 
tions a Whig organ said: "This unflinching, unwavering Whig 
stronghold has prepared herself for the battle, and Locofocoism always 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 397 

feels her blows when they fall." The opposing candidates were David 
McDonald of York and Ira Merrill of Avon, both worthy citizens. 
The Whig candidate for Senator was Lorenzo Dana; his opponent, 
Thomas J. Wheeler of Cattaraugus. At this election also the ques- 
tion of a convention to revise the constitution was voted upon. The 
campaign was a closely contested one, but the Whig party was trium- 
phant in the county. The Senate district was largely Democratic, 
however, and Thomas J. Wheeler was chosen .Senator. 

The people having declared in favor of a constitutional convention, 
an election was held April 2Sth, 1846, to choose delegates. The 
nominees of the Whig party in this county were Allen Ayrault and 
William H. Spencer. The opposing candidates were Willard H. Smith 
and Hector Hitchcock. Probably no local canvass was ever more 
vigorously prosecuted, or the occasion of more bitterness of feeling. 
There was but little opposition to Mr. Spencer, but with Mr. Ayrault 
the case was different. His position as the President of the Living- 
ston County Bank had made for him enemies as well as friends; the 
former class including not only those whom the bank had refused to 
accomm<.)date, but a large number who entertained a prejudice against 
all banking institutions. Taking advantage of this, a desperate effort 
was made to elect the Democratic nominees. The Whigs were well 
organized and disciplined, however, and their strength was too great 
to be overcome. The Whig candidates were elected by a majority of 
about ''70, only two towns, Caledonia and North Dansville, giving 
Democratic majorities. The Whig organ at the county seat' was 
pleased to say of the result: "It gives us sincere gratification to an- 
■ nounce the result of the election in this county. Under all circum- 
stances it is the most overwhelming defeat our opponents have ever 
encountered, and one which, if repeated, would almost annihilate 
them as a party in old Livingston." 

The town of Nunda and that 'part of Portage lying east of the Gen- 
esee river, forming a part of Allegany county, were annexed to Liv- 
ingston county by an act of the Legislature passed in April, 1846. 
The town of Sparta was also divided, and the towns of North Dans- 
ville, Sparta and West Sparta formed from it. This gave the county 
sixteen towns. The annexation of Nunda and Portage added a rich 
and flourishing territory. "The two new towns were the best part of 

1. Livingston Republican, May 5, 1846. 



398 HISTORY OF LIVIXCSTON COUNTY 

Allegany county, and will make a rich ackiition to Livintjston. Be- 
sides their fame for raising excellent wheat, they are equally distin- 
guished for rolling up plump Whig majorities."' 

The gubernatorial election of 1840 possesses more than ordinary 
interest to the resident of this county, since it elevated to the highest 
office in the State one of the leading citizens of Livingston. This 
was John Young of Geneseo. an able membei of the bar and a promi- 
nent politician. JMr. Young, as a member of the Legislature, as well 
as by his congressional services, had acquired a brilliant reputation 
and was looked upon as one of the ablest and most trustworthy leaders 
of the Whig party. His prominent position in the Assembly of 1845, 
where he strenuously advocated the holding of a convention to revise 
the constitution, added to his already favorable record and attracted to 
him the attention of the whole State. Mr. Young had early avowed 
himself in favor of this measure, but many of the leading Whigs then 
in the Legislature viewed it with indifference, or were openly opposed 
to it. By his arguments and persuasive powers he brought nearly all of 
them to the adoption of his views, and under his leadership they gave 
the measure a warm support. The Democracy were divided on this 
question, and no honorable means were lost by Mr. Young and his 
friends to widen the breach. During the progress of the convention 
bill he made a number of speeches in reply to Horatio Seymour, then 
the Speaker of the Assembly and the leader of the conservative Dem- 
ocrats, which won him high praise from his party and made him its 
leader in the Assembly. 

It was while the recollection of this brilliant success was still fresh 
in the minds_^of the people, that the Whig State Convention was held 
at Utica, Sept. 23d, 1846. "It was well understood that Jlr. Fillmore 
did not desire to be again a candidate for Governor, and the name of 
Mr. Young was often mentioned in connection witli that office, long 
before the assembling of the Whig State Convention. "'- On the 
meeting of the convention, Mr. Fillmore was warmly supported by his 
friends, notwithstanding his reluctance to appear as a candidate, and 
two of the three informal ballots that were taken gave him a large 
majority over Mr. Young. On the third ballot Mr. Young received 

I. Livingston Republican. 

2 Jenkins" Lives of the Ooveinors of New York. 




Governor John Youn^. 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(JSTON COUNTY ?,')') 

76 votes to 45 for 'Sir. Fillmore. After this ballot the convention 
adjourned to the court house where, after eftecling a permanent 
organization, Mr. Babcock, of Erie arose and in a very commendable 
speech withdrew Mr. Fillmore's name as a candidate, and moved that 
the nomination of lohn Young as the Whig candidate for Governor be 
made unanimous. The motion was received with the greatest enthusi- 
asm, and again and again was responded to with ra[iturous applause. 
Hamilton Fish of New York was then nominated for Lieutenant 
Governor, and nominations were also made for the minor offices. 

The Democratic party renominated Silas Wright and Addison 
Gardiner, then Governor and Lieutentant Governor, while the Aboli- 
tionists and the new Native American party, which first appeared in 
1S4.1, each made separate iu)minations. The Anti-Renters endorsed 
the nominations of Young and Gardiner. 

The nijmination of Mr. Young was received with every demonstra- 
tion of joy by the petjple of Livingston county. A special express 
from Rochester brought the news to Geneseo on the evening of the 
23d, and "one universal shout of approbation rent the air, which was 
repeated and re-echoed long and loud in cheers and huzzas, such as 
are made only in the height of unbounded joy." The intelligence 
spread rapidly through the village and in a very short time a large 
crowd assembled at the American Hotel, where an impromptu meet- 
ing was held. Ogden M. Willey was made chairman, and J. M. 
Campbell secretary. A cotnmittee consisting of W. J. Hamilton, 
Judge Endress and J. ^L Campbell was appointed to wait upon !Mr. 
Young and inform him of his nomination. These gentlemen soon 
returned and reported that, "j\Ir. Young was found enjoying a fine 
flow of spirits, and received the announcement of the committee in the 
spirit of a true Whig. Mr. Young requested the committee to pre- 
sent to it his acceptance of the nomination, and his kindest regards for 
their renewed demonstrations of friendship and partiality towards 
him." Upon receiving this report the meeting adjourned to the front 
of ^Ir. Young's h(3use, where the firing of cannon and the shouts of 
the peo[)le rent the air "after the most approved example of '44." 
After this demonstration the procession moved down the street, made 
light as noonday by the numerous bonfires, to the Eagle Tavern. 
"The Whig houses were opened for the night, and for once the quiet 



400 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

village of Geneseo gave free rein to the expression and demonstration 
of joy."' 

The Whig local nominations were early made as follows: For Con- 
gress, Robert L. Rose of Ontario; Senator, Samuel II. P. Hall of 
Broome; Sheriff, William Scott; County Clerk, William H. Whiting, 
renominated; Members of Assembly, William S. Fullertt)n. Andrew 
Sill. The Democratic nominations were, for Congress, Peter Mitchell; 
Senator, William M. Hawley; Assembly, Napoleon B. Jones, Morgan 
Hammond; Sheriff, Ira Godfrey; County Clerk, George A. Fuller. 

The campaign was a warm one, both parties laboring hard to secure 
success. In the vState, however, a variety of causes weakened the 
Democratic party, while the Whig strength in the county was too great 
to leave any hope of their defeat. Nevertheless, the result of the 
election was a surprise to both parties. Mr. Young was chosen Gov- 
ernor by a majority exceeding eleven thousand, and the Whigs secured 
the Legislature and twenty-two of the thirty-four Congressmen. Mr. 
Fish, the Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor, was defeated, how- 
ever, by Judge Gardiner, the Democratic candidate thus demonstrating 
that the Anti-Rent organization at that election held the balance of 
power in the State. The result in Livingston County was particular- 
ly gratifying to Mr. Young's friends. His majority was 1,450, while 
^Ir. Fillmore's majority in 1844 had been only 1,029. The majority 
for Mr. Young in the "Old Eighth" district was nearly eleven thou- 
sand, an increase of nearly three thousand over that of 1844. This 
flattering vote shows in what estimation Mr. Young was held by those 
who knew him best, and justified the claim made for him, that he was 
a man of the people. 

Intelligence of the success of the Whig cause was not long in reach- 
ing the towns of this county, and was the signal for general rejoicing. 
The special express from Rochester arrived in Geneseo on the evening 
of the 4th of November and announced the election of Mr. Young, 
which was "truly acceptable to a large number of people from various 
parts of the county who were present. A procession was formed, on 
the spur of the moment, which moved amid the roar of cannon and 
the blazing of bonfires to the residence of Mr. Young. He was called 
out and congratulated upon his triumphant election in an eloquent 

I I.ivingstou Repiil>licaii. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 401 

and appropriate speech by Hon. C. H. Carroll. Mr. Young replied 
by making a few but very eloquent remarks. The crowd then gave 
three times three for Young and Fish, after the most approved ex- 
amples of '40 and '44. Other speeches full of spirit and animation 
were made by A. Ayrault, B. F. Harwood, A. A. Hendee 
and Mr. Kershner. The firing of cannon and other rejoicings 
were kept up until a late hour, and the home of Mr. Young presented 
a scene of joyful enthusiasm which was emphatically gratifying to 
every true Whig heart."' 

The Attica and Hornellsville railroad project engaged a large share 
of public attention in 1846 and the following year. This road was 
intended to run between the two places named and to make a con- 
nection with the New York and Erie railroad, later the Erie Railway, 
then in course of construction. Two routes were proposed, one through 
the counties of Wyoming and Allegany; the other, known as the North- 
ern or Valley route, traversing the western and southern portions of 
Livingston county. Allegany favored the former, and Livingston, 
for equally obvious reasons, the latter route; and, although the Valley 
route was the longer one of the two, yet such was the earnestness and 
determination with which its friends urged its adoption, that they 
nearly succeeded in their efforts. Public meetings were held in var- 
ious places, and liberal subscriptions made to the stock of the company. 
At a meeting held in Mount Morris February 20th, 1846, $20,000 was 
subscribed, conditionally, within an hour after the books were opened; 
but the liberal subscriptions and untiring energy of the friends of the 
southern route, coupled with the fact that it was the shortest one, 
combined to defeat the Livingston project, and the former route was 
selected with the crossing at Portage. 

Contemporaneous with this railroad movement was one in behalf of 
a plank road from Rochester to some point in Allegany or vSteuben 
county, passing through Avon, Geneseo, IMount Morris and Dansville. 
A meeting to further this object was held in Geneseo January 25th, 
1847, of which Allen Ayrault of Geneseo was chairman and Amos 
Dann of Avon and Isaac L. Endress of Dansville, secretaries. 
The object of the meeting was e.xplained by B. F. Angel of Geneseo 
and papers were read showing the estimated cost of the work. A 

I. t,iviiigslon Republican. N»v. lo, 1846. 



402 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

committee consisting of B. F. Angel and James Wadsworth of Gene- 
seo, Asa Nowlen of Avon, G. T. Olyphant of Mount Morris and S. 
W. Smith of Dansville was appointed to cooperate with the citizens 
of Rochester and other places on the line of the proposed road in fur- 
thering the enterprise. A few years later it was partially successful, 
as will subsequently appear. 

In 1849 the people were agitating the question of locating the New 
York and Eric railroad through the Cohocton instead of the Canisteo 
valley, and a public meeting, favorable to this action was held in 
Geneseo August 11th. At this meeting James S. Wadsworth, Allen 
Ayrault, John Vernam, Philip Woodruff, Lester Bradner, W. T. Cuy- 
ler, Hiram Boyd, Jerediah Horsford, W. S. Fullerton, B. F. Angel, 
Luther C. Peck, Charles Colt, Andrew Sill, C. H. Bryan, H. G. Dyer 
and George Pratt were appointed "a corresponding and business com- 
mittee to carry into effect the object of this meeting." A meeting in' 
behalf of the same object was held in Dansville on the Sth of August. 
In 185U this project was modified to a proposition to construct another 
line of road from Corning through the Cohocton valley to Rochester. 
A meeting held in Bath January 10, 1850 to consider this question 
recommended that a general meeting be held in Geneseo on the 
24th of January, "of those interested in the entire proposed route." 
In accordance with this recommendatif)n, the meeting was held in Gen- 
eseo and called together a large number of the enterprising men of 
Western New York. Delegations were present from Buffalo, Attica, 
Batavia, Mount Morris, Dansville and all parts of Steuben county. 
"The convention was addressed by several gentlemen from abroad, well 
versed in the conduct of railroad matters, and many encouraging in- 
ducements were held out. Among them was an offer from three e.v- 
tensive iron manufacturers to furnish the amount of iron necessary for 
the construction of the road and take stock in payment." 

During the summer of this year an engineer was employed to make 
the preliminary surveys. The citizens of Steuben county, with com- 
mendable enterprise, proposed to build on their own responsibility the 
road from Corning to Bath, a distance of eighteen miles. From this 
point the engineer reported two feasible routes to the Genesee river. 

The first of these, called the Honeoye route, was described as fol- 
lows: "Commences at Blood's Corners, north near Naples along west 
bank of Hunt's Hollow and Honeoye lake to Richmond Centre, cross- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 403 

ing the outlet of Hemlock lake at Frost's Hollow, thence one mile 
east of Lima, one mile west from Honeoye Falls, to the village of 
West Rush, crossing the Genesee river on Judge Sibley's farm about 
fourteen miles south of Rochester, thence up Dugan's creek to Cale- 
donia village, passing on the south side of the State road, through Le- 
Roy, Stafford and Batavia, thence direct to Buffalo." The distance 
by this route was 134 miles. 

The Conesus route ran "from Blood's Corners west six miles to Tut- 
tle's Inn (six miles east of Dansville), thence along the west bank of 
the Springwater valley, through Conesus Center, along the east bank 
of Conesus lake to Lakeville at its foot (six miles east of Genesee), 
thence down the outlet through Littleville and Avon Spring, crossing 
the Genesee river north of the bridge at Avon, thence up White Creek 
to intersect with Honeoye line at Caledonia village." The length of 
this route was 132 miles, a trifle less than that of the Honeoye line. 

Another railroad was projected in 1851, "the Genesee Valley line," 
which was designed to extend from Rochester to Pittsburg, passing 
through the towns of Avon, Geneseo, Groveland, Mount Morris, Nun- 
da and Portage. 

Here, then, were railroad and plank road enterprises enough to en- 
gage the entire attention of the people, and with so many to divide at- 
tention and resources, it is surprising that any were successful. Add- 
■ed to these was a proposed telegraph line through the Genesee valley, 
which was receiving great encouragement and was soon afterwards 
constructed. 

The Buffalo and Cohocton road was early put under contract, the 
Conesus route having been selected, and Buffalo, instead of Rochester, 
fixed upon as the western terminus. The company met with less delay 
and embarrassment than usually fall to the lot of such enterprises, and 
in July, 1853, regular trains were running between Caledonia and Corn- 
ing; the remainder of the road was completed soon after. 

The Attica and Hornellsville railroad was so far completed that 
trains were running in January, 1852, between Portage and Hornells- 
ville, and thus the county had now crossing its borders two railroads 
in actual operation. 

The Genesee Valley Railroad, unlike the Cohocton road, furnishes a 
long history of delays, failures, embarrassments and disappointments. 
The line was put under contract from Rochester to Mount Morris in 



404 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

1852 and 1853, and work on the road from the former place to Avon 
was prosecuted with reasonable vigor. South of Avon, however, but 
little was done beyond a small amount of grading, and the people 
along the line early began to have fears that the enterprise would 
prove a failure. Indeed, it was plainly evident that the company di- 
rectors viewed with indifference the completion of the road beyond 
Avon, and were expending their energies in completing the northern 
portion. The company did, however, make a contract in 1854 for the 
completion of the road from Avon to Mount Morris, and it was pro- 
posed to issue bonds to the amount of $300,000 to meet this expense. 
The directors were suddenly stopped however, by an injunction procured 
by two or three stockholders residing in Geneseo and Mount Morris 
restraining them from issuing the bonds. This proved the death 
blow to the enterprise, so far as the southern portion of the line was 
concerned. The line from Avon to Rochester was completed, and 
regular trains were running in October, 1854. 

The Genesee Valley Telegraph line was completed and in operation 
in the summer of 1851, the line extending from Rochester to Dansville, 
and the plank road from Piffardinia to Mount Morris, via Geneseo, was 
finished in the fall of the same year. Both were constructed and owned 
by stock companies and each proved a fairly remunerative investment. 

The previous political record ended with 1846. In the following 
year, the new constitution having gone into effect, an election was held 
in June to choose Judges of the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court 
and also a County Judge, District Attorney and a Sessions Justice. 
The Whig nominees in this county were elected, Scott Lord for 
County Judge receiving a majority of 34 over Judge W. H. Smith, 
the then incumbent; and A. A. Hendee, for District Attorney, a 
majority over R. P. Wisner of 5<I2. 

At the election in the fall of this year the Whig State and county 
nominees were elected by large majorities. Allen Ayrault of Gen- 
eseo was chosen Senator, and Gurdon Nowlen of Geneseo and Na- 
thaniel Coe of Nunda, Assemblymen. Mr. Ayrault served as Senator 
during the session of 1848 and resigned June 2d. The vacancy was 
filled at the fall election of 1848 by the choice of Charles Colt of Gen- 
eseo, who served during the years 1849 to 1858 inclusive. 

The presidential election of 1848, although an important one, was 
not a very exciting campaign. The Democratic party nominated 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 405 

Lewis Cass for President and William O. Butler for Vice President. 
The nominees of the Whig party were General Zachariah Taylor and 
Millard Fillmore. The Free vSoil party also entered the field with a 
ticket composed of Martin VanBuren and Charles Francis Adams. 
The election resulted in the triumph of the Whig cause in the Nation 
and State, and Livingston shared largely in the honors of the oc- 
casion. The Vice President elect had spent a portion of his boyhood 
days here, and the Lieutenant Governor of the State, George W. Pat- 
terson of Chautauqua, had for a long period of years been one of its 
most prominent citizens. The local ofiRcers chosen were Charles Colt, 
Senator; Archibald H. McLean and Phillip Woodruff, Assemblymen; 
Chamicey Metcalf, County Treasurer; Ogden M. Willey, William J. 
Hamilton and James H. Vail, Superintendents of the Poor. 

The fall election of 1849 resulted in the choice of Harvey Hill for 
Sheriff, Israel D. Root, County Clerk, and the reelection of Mr. 
McLean and Mr. Woodruff to the Assembly. 

In the summer of 1849 E.\-Governor Young was appointed Assistant 
Treasurer of the LTnited vStates at New York and entered upon the 
discharge of his duties in July of that year. The bondsmen of Mr. 
Young were Allen Ayrault and James S. Wadsworth of Geneseo, of 
whom the New York Express said: "The security is ample. Mr. A. 
was lately a State Senator, and is an honorable Whig. Mr. W. is a 
Democrat, whose friendship outweighs all political prejudices." Mr. 
Young remained in this position until his early and lamented death 
on the 23d of April, 1852. 

In 1850 the Whigs elected the following officers: Congressman, 
Jerediah Horsford; District Attorney, William H. Kelsey; Superin- 
tendent of the Poor, James H. Vail; Alvin Chamberlin and Orrin D. 
Lake, Assemblymen. 

At the end of the year 1850 the county had reached the thirtieth 
year since its organization and the height of its prosperity. Its pop- 
ulation, as shown by the census of 1850, was 40,875, or, including 
Ossian which was afterward annexed, 42,144. This was more than 
double the population of the county when formed, and larger by 
nearly three thousand than it was ten years later. This falling off is 
explained by the fact that, like all eastern sections, Livingston county 
supplied a large number of those who swelled the tide of emigration to 



406 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the great West, and settled the States comprising that now thriving 
section with a sober, industrious and progressive people. 

The Genesee Valley Canal was now in full operation, several rail- 
road enterprises gave promise of speedy success, and telegraph and 
plank roads lines were in process of construction. The well directed 
efforts of the people in industrial pursuits were uniformly rewarded 
with success, and on all sides peace and prosperity prevailed. 

Such was the condition of the county at the end of the century's 
fifth decade, and there was but little indication of the coming storm, 
which ten years later broke upon the country, rousing Livingston, as 
well as other sections, to deeds of patriotic valor. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 407 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE COUNTY almshouse, originally a private dwelling house, 
was early found too small to accommodate the large class of 
persons who sought its shelter. When purchased by the county 
the building was modified and somewhat enlarged, but even with 
these improvements it was inadequate for the purpose, and it was 
found impossible to properly care for its inmates in accordance with 
the ordinary requirements of sanitary laws. It thus became neces- 
sary to provide new and larger quarters and the question was 
first considered at the annual meeting of the board of super- 
visors in 1849. The result of these deliberations was the appro- 
priation by the board of the sum of $6,000 for the purpose of erecting 
a new building, and the appointment as a building committee of Allen 
Ayrault, William J. Hamilton and Russell Austin, who were also 
directed to sell the old building. The committee immediately entered 
upon the discharge of its duties, and early in the following year had 
decided upon the plans of the building. The contract for its construc- 
tion was then made with S. A. Hooper of Geneseo, who pushed the 
--^^ork with such vigor that it was completed about the first of Decem- 
ber, 1850, and the inmates were moved from the old house to the new 
and more comfortable edifice before the vigorous winter had fully 
set in. The committee, in making their report to the board of super- 
visors, announced that they had exceeded the appropriation by 
$250.94, although, as they said, they were aware of the caution of the 
supervisors, and of their instructions not to exceed the sum of $6,000. 
"But," added the committee, "it may not be improper for us to say 
that we are satisfied the building in some respects has cost Mr. 
Hooper, the builder, more money than the contract price, and while 
the consideration of an allowance to him by us is inadmissable, we 
understand Mr. Hooper intends applying to your board for relief, and 
in view of his great economy and fidelity in the execution of his job 
^vwe cannot forbear expressing the hope that his application will meet 
with favor." ]\Ir. Hooper did apply for relief, which was granted to 
the amount of $1,101.46, making the total cost of the new almshouse, 



408 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

exclusive of heating apparatus and furniture, $7,356.4(t. This is the 
east building of the present almshouse group. 

The old building and eighteen acres of land on the south side of the 
road were sold at auction on the 13th of December. 1850, to Dr. D. 
H. Bissell of Genesee for the sum of $2,0(iO, and is now the prop- 
erty of Rev. Mr. Sexton. 

The 58th Regiment, N. Y. S. M., had an encampment at ilmint 
Morris commencing Aug. 25th, 1850, and continuing one week; 
this attracted thousands of people from all parts of the country "to 
witness the parades, reviews, etc., of the citizen soldiery of old Liv- 
ingston." The camp was located on a rising piece of ground near the 
village and eight companies had their quarters there in tents. These 
companies wexe as follows; Rochester Union Grays, Mount Morris 
Union Blues, Canaseraga Light Infantry, a company from Spring- 
water, one from Livonia, one from Conesus, Groveland, Sparta, Avon 
and Lima, and the Big Tree Artillery from Geneseo. The encamp- 
ment was under the command of Col. James Wood, Jr., of the 
58th Regiment. A newspaper account of this encampment says: "Thurs- 
day was the great day of the week. The troops were reviewed by 
Generals Crouch and Fullerton. attended by a large and brilliant 
staff, and the affair passed off alike creditable to all. The grounds 
adjoining were densely covered ivith thousands of interested and 
pleased spectators of all ages and sexes. On Saturday afternoon the 
troops struck their tents and at about three o'clock departed for their 
respective homes well pleased with their sojourn of a week at 'Camp 
Livingston.' To Col. Wood and his staff much credit is due for the 
regularity, order and decorum with which the camp was conducted. 
The gentlemanly deportment and soldier-like bearing of all connected 
with it was the subject of general remark, and reflected high honor 
upon the Regiment." 

On the 25th of August of the following year the regiment went into 
camp at Geneseo on grounds at the head of North street, a spot after- 
wards made memorable as the site of Camp Wadsworth, where, when 
the more serious business of actual war stared citizens and soldiers in 
the face, the Wadsworth Guards (104th Regt. N. Y. S. V. ) were 
recruited for service in the field. Seven companies belonging to the 
58th Regiment attended this encampment and four Rochester com- 
panies, belonging to Major Swan's battalion, were also present. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 409 

The companies were reviewed on Tuesday, the 26th by Brig. Gen. 
W. S. Fullerton and on Wednesday by Major General Wool and staff, 
of the U. S. Army. General Wool spoke of the troops in the high- 
est terms, and pronounced them in point of discipline and thorough- 
ness of drill, "superior to any I have witnessed in any agricultural 
county in the State. " 

Another encampment was held at Avon in 1855, under the com- 
mand of Colonel VanValkenburgh of Bath. This was the last military 
"training" of this character held in the county. 

In December 1850 Philo C. Fuller of Geneseo was appointed Comp- 
troller of the State, vice Washington Hunt, who had been chosen 
Governor at the preceding election. This appointment gave great 
satisfaction not only to the Whigs but to all his fellow citizens of Liv- 
ingston County without regard to party. His administration of the 
duties of his office was able and conscientious and he retired 
at the end of the year 1852 with the good opinion of all parties. 

A favorite mode of travelling between Mount Morris and Rochester 
at this time was by the Genesee Valley Canal. R. vShackleton was 
running a daily line of packets between those places in 1851, as he had 
done for several years, and other persons were engaged in the same 
business. The packets were well built and comfortable boats fitted 
with many conveniences, and afforded decidedly the most pleasant 
means of travel known until the advent of the modern railway sleep- 
ing coach. 

Early in 1851 steps were taken for the organization of another bank 
at Geneseo, under the name of the Genesee \'alley Bank. The charter 
of the old Livingston County Bank had but a few years more to run, 
while the banking capital of the county was wholly inadequate to 
meet the wants of its business men. There was thus a good field for 
a new monied institution, and the enterprise was pushed with such 
zeal that the capital was all subscribed within a few days, and at a 
meeting held April 21, 1851, James S. Wadsworth, D. H. Fitzhugh, 
Alvenus Cone, Henry Chamberlain, D. H. Abell, Charles Colt, D. H. 
Bissell^JPeter Miller and William Gushing were chosen Directors. Mr. 
Wadsworth, was made President of the hank, and William H. Whiting 
appointed Cashier. The local journal, in announcing the organization 
of the bank said: "The institution commences operations under the 
most auspicious and flattering circumstances." The bank was ready 



410 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

for business May 23, 1851, and entered upon a career that has since 
proved uniformly successful and prosperous, and ranking it as one of 
the most carefully managed institutions in the State. 

The Portage riot, an affair which at one time promised most serious 
results and occasioned considerable excitement throughout the coun- 
ty, occurred early in July, 1851. A large number of the laborers 
engaged on the section ot the New York and Erie Railroad running 
through Portage struck for higher wages, and, as is generally the 
case, not only refused to work themselves but would not permit 
others to do so. So annoying were the strikers in their efforts to pre- 
vent others from working, that a requisition was made on the 7th of 
July on the civic authorities of this and Wyoming counties, and six 
or eight officers repaired to the scene of the strike. A sharp 
encounter ensued between the officers and the disaffected workmen, 
in which a number of the latter were shot, two, at least, fatally. On 
the same day a requisition was made on Captain Hamilton of Gen- 
eseo for the services of the Big Tree Artillery, and that organization 
started for the scene of the conflict, arriving there about 4 o'clock 
A. M., of Tuesday, the 8th. The sight of the militia cowed the 
rioters and without any serious opposition twenty of their number 
were arrested, twelve of whom were confined in the jail at Geneseo 
and the others taken to Wyoming county. Some of these were after- 
ward released, while the principal offenders were properly punished. 

At the fall election of 1851 Scott Lord was reelected County Judge; 
John White, Jr., County Treasurer; William J. Hamilton, Superin- 
tendent of the Poor; Alvin Chamberlain and Orrin D. Lake, Assem- 
blymen, and Myron H. Clark, Senator; all being nominees of the 
Whig party. Their Democratic opponents were George Hosmer for 
County Judge; Daniel H. Bissell, County Treasurer; Lucius Warner, 
Superintendent of the Poor; Lewis E. Smith and Hector Hitchcock, 
Assemblymen. The Whig majority at this election ranged from 1,289 
to 1,760. 

On the 12th of December, 1851, Harvey Hill, then Sheriff of the 
county, died after a short illness, and Norman Chappell of Avon was 
appointed to fill the vacancy. 

The presidential campaign of 1852 was a warmly contested political 
battle. A desperate effort was made by the Democratic party to re- 
gain its lost power, and Hunkers, Barn-burners and all (Jther factions 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 411 

laid aside their differences for a while and united in the endeavor to 
recover the old footing. The Whigs, too, ignoring for a time the fac- 
tional quarrels which had weakened them, united upon a common 
platform to repel the attacks of their adversaries. The nominees of 
the Democratic party were Franklin Pierce for President and William 
R. King for Vice President. The Whigs nominated for these offices 
General Winfield Scott and William A. Graham, while the Anti-Slav- 
ery party supported John P. Hale and George W. Julian. 

Nationally the Democrats were successful, as they were also in the 
State, electing their candidates by an overwhelming majority. Liv- 
ingston county yet remained firm in its adhesion to Whig principles, 
however, and gave the nominees of that party for county officers a 
heavy majority. The officers chosen were William Scott, Sheriff; 
James S. Orton, County Clerk; Jacob B. Hall, Superintendent of the 
Poor; Amos A. Hendee and Abrani Lozier, Assemblymen. The Whig 
candidate for Congress, William Irvine of Steuben, was defeated by 
George Hastings of Livingston, the Democratic candidate. The Whig 
nominee for Presidential Elector, Samuel W. Smith of Livinsgton, 
was also defeated. 

In the spring of 1853 the people of Mount Morris organized a bank, 
with a capital of $130,000, under the name of the Genesee River Bank. 
The directors chosen were John R. Murray, R. P. Wisner, Calvin Nor- 
ton, Jesse Peterson, Henry Swan, John Vernam, Allen Ayrault, H. P. 
Mills, R. Sleeper, William Whitmore and Lyman Turner. John Ver- 
nam was chosen President. The Bank commenced business in No- 
vember, 1853, and like the other chartered banks of the county it has 
been uniformly successful. 

At the fall election of this year the Whig nominees were James 
Wood, Jr., for District Attorney; James H. Vail, Superintendent of 
the Poor; Amos A. Hendee and Abram Lozier, Members of Assembly; 
Myron H. Clark, Senator. George Wilson of Canandaigua was an 
independent candidate for this office. The Democracy presented two 
tickets for popular approval. The Hards nominated John A. VanDer- 
lip for District Attorney; Morton Reed, Superintendent of the Poor; 
Leman Gibbs and Hector Hitchcock, Members of Assembly. The 
Softs nominated Samuel H. Northrop, Samuel Finley, Leman Gibbs 
and William N. Alward for the several offices in the order named. 
The election resulted in the triumph of the Whig candidates with the 



412 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

exception of Assemblyman in the first district, Mr. Hendee being de- 
feated by Judije Gibbs. 

In May 1853 Benjamin F. Anycl of Genesee was appointed Con- 
sul to Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, and in the latter part of June sailed 
for that port. The Senate failed to confirm his nomination, and after 
discharging the duties of the office for eighteen months he was succeed- 
ed by Darius A. Odgen of Penn Van. Mr. Angel went from Honolulu 
to China, on a commission from the United States Government, to ex- 
amine into and if practicable negotiate the settlement of a troublesome 
controversy between the Chinese customs authorities and the American 
merchants in China, growing out of the unjust and arbitrary imposi- 
tion of exorbitant export duties when, it was claimed, the Chinese 
authorities utterly failed to protect our commerce on the coast and in 
Chinese waters against the depredations of Chinese pirates. In this mis- 
sion Mr. Angel was entirely successful, and he returned to the United 
States by way of the East Indies, Egypt and Europe in the fall of 
1855. 

Reference has already been made to the fine stock of the Genesee 
valley. In 1853 an important step was taken having for its object 
the further improvement of the large herds of the valley. For this 
purpose a meeting was held at the close of the annual fair on the 
29th of September, 1853. which appointed a committee to mature a 
plan of organization and to call a future meeting. In accordance 
with this arrangement a meeting was held at the American Hotel in 
Genesee on the 22d of October following, of which C. R. Bond was 
chairman and S. L. Fuller secretary. The deliberations of this meet- 
ing resulted in the formation of the ''Livingston County Association 
for the Importation and Improvement of Stock," with a capital of 
$8,0()(), to be increased to $12,<I0(I if deemed necessary. Any person 
was permitted to become a member on the payment of fifty dollars. 
The officers chosen were: President, Jas. vS. Wadsworth ; Secretary, 
Daniel H. Fitzhugh; Treasurer, Allen Ayrault; Directors, Charles H. 
Carroll, Aaron Barber, Wm. A. Mills, Robert Rome, Geo. W. Root, 
Richard Peck. Agents were to be sent to Europe to select and pur- 
chase stock from the celebrated herds of the Old World, and these 
animals were to be sold at public auction under the conditions that 
the puchasers should retain them in the county for at least three 
years from the time of sale, and that the stockholders of the company 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 413 

should have preference in the use of the animals, upon complj-ing 
with the owners' terms. 

The amount of stock was early taken by the progressive farmers of 
Livingston, and in December 1853 David Brooks of Avon and .Samuel L. 
Fuller of Conesus were selected to proceed to Europe and purchase the 
stock. These gentlemen sailed January 21, 1854, and early in the 
spring returned with selections from the best foreign herds. The 
company suffered the loss of some animals, however, and when the 
sale was held June 27, 1854, but twelve animals were put up. The 
highest price paid was $1,075 for the bull Usurper, by C. H. Carroll, 
and the lowest $350 for the heifer Damsel. The average price was 
nearly $600 per head. The purchasers were Homer Sackett and others, 
Caledonia; C. H. Carroll, Groveland ; J. S. Wadsworth, Geneseo; 
Richard Peck, Lima; N. Chappell, Avon; D. H. Albertson, Avon; 
and D. H. McHardy, Avon. This importation resulted in a small loss 
to the Association owing to the death of several animals. Soon after 
this the celebrated bull Governor and two cows were sent to this 
country. In 1857 Mr. Brooks introduced the bull John O'Gaunt and 
the cows Lady Rose and Dairy i\Iaid. Richard Peck of Lima about 
this time procured some very fine blooded cattle from Kentucky. In 
1864 Gen. James S. Wadsworth purchased the bull Reynolds of Mr. 
Alexander, the celebrated Kentucky stock breeder, and Aaron Bar- 
ber of Avon became the owner of the Red Duke, which for a number 
of years was exhibited at the county fairs. Since that time Mr. Barber 
has acquired a national reputation as the owner of the best herds of 
shorthorns in the country. The impulse given to the improvement of 
cattle by the breeders named and by Hon. James W. Wadsworth, the 
late Charles F. Wadsworth, George W. Root, the Ayraults, Maj. 
William A. Wadswcjrth and others placed Livingston county for a 
time in the van as the producer and exhibitor of the very best 
grades of cattle. "Twenty years ago," wrote Mr. Brodie in an ad- 
mirable article on the subject of shorthorns in the Genesee valley, 
published in American Rural Home in 1871, "but few farmers pos- 
sessed an animal other than of the common kind, but to-day almost 
every one has some choice sttick." 

Late in the vear 1853 a movement was set on foot for the formation 
of a new county, from parts of Livingston, Ontario, Steuben and 
Allegany. Dansville \vas proposed as the county seat. The plan con- 



414 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

templated subtracting from Livingston's fair proportions the towns 
of Springwater, Sparta, Dansvilie, West Sparta, Nundaanci Portage; 
Naples and Canadice were to be taken from Ontario; Cohocton, Way- 
land and South Dansvilie from Steuben, and Burns and Ossian from 
Allegany. The project was the subject of considerable discussion and 
was urged with great zeal upon the attention of the Legislature. It 
does not seem to have received a very general support from the south- 
ern towns, however, and was early abandoned. As a sort of compen- 
sating measure, a bill was introduced in the Assembly in March, 1854, 
dividing the county into two jury districts making Dansvilie a shire 
town and providing for the erection of a jail in that place. The 
bill failed to pass, however. 

The Whigs entered the fall political campaign of 1854 with Myron 
H. Clark as their candidate for Governor and Henry J. Raymond for 
Lieutenant Governor, while on the county ticket were John White, 
Jr., for County Treasurer; Lyman Turner, Superintendent of the 
Poor; David H. Abell and John S. Wiley for the Assembly. William 
H. Kelsey was the Whig nominee for Congress. The Democrats put 
in nomination the following county ticket: County Treasurer, Chaun- 
cey R. Bond; Superintendent of the Poor. Ebenezer Leach ; Members 
of Assembly, Lyman Odell and McNeil Seymour. The temperance 
men also made an independent nomination for the Assembly, support- 
ing John B. Crosby and Sidney Sweet. For the first time in many 
years the Whig party of Livingston met with defeat. The proud 
boast of the Whigs that this county, no matter what might befall the 
party elsewhere, always "stood firm and immovable," and that "her 
unwavering host could not be moved from the path of duty and 
right," had become an idle one, and defeat was upon the banners 
where so often victory had perciied. The Democrats elected their 
candidates for the Assembly and for Superintendent of the Poor, 
■while the Whigs secured the remaining offices. Mr. Kelsey, the 
Whig candidate for Congress, was elected by a majority of about 
6,000, he having secured the votes of those calling themselves Ameri- 
cans, at this time a party without a definite organization. 

The country at this time was in a condition of political chaos. Old 
parties were losing their strength and party cohesiveness was fast 
disappearing. The discussion of the slavery (juestion and the grow- 
ing power of the foreign elements infused into our national life, forced 



li 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 415 

new issues upon the people and gave rise to new organizations. The 
Democratic party, notwithstanding its numerous factions and its 
manifest mistakes, managed to preserve its party organization and 
to a great degree its former strength. The Whigs, however, were 
less fortunate. After the fall election of 1854 Mr. Greely declared 
that the Whig party was dead, and the little it had achieved in this 
election seemed, certainly, to justify his assertion. To add to the 
political confusion, a new party made its appearance, whose influence, 
although exerted somewhat secretly at first, was strangely powerful. 
Other organizations seemed to waver before it and, proclaiming high 
purposes, appealing to the patriotism of men, their religious and 
social prejudices and passions, many men of sound judgment and un- 
questioned integrity were drawn into its ranks, which swelled until 
the party wielded a powerful influence in political affairs. 

In this county the influence of the widespread disorganization in 
the political parties was first felt at the special election held for this 
Senatorial district January 30, 1855, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the election of Myron H. Clark Governor of the State. The Whig 
nominating convention met at Lima January 22d, when a resolution 
was adopted "that the members of this convention approve of the 
nomination by the People's convention of Hon. Charles Loomis, 
as this day made at Canandaigua." This action proved unsatisfactory 
to a large number of the Whigs, especially in this county, and William 
H. Goodwin was also nominated. The election resulted in the 
triumph of the Anti-Fusionists, or American party, Mr. Goodwin's 
majority being over 2,000. 

The spring town meetings of this year were also carried by the 
Americans against a fusion of all other elements. In but one or two 
towns were regular Whig or Democratic nominations made. 

The first county convention of the American party was held in 
Geneseo July 9, 1855. S. J. Crooks of Nunda called the conven- 
tion to order, and permanent officers were chosen as follows: Chair- 
man, Lyman Odell; Secretaries, H. L. Janes and James Faulkner, Jr. 
A committee was appointed to report resolutions expressive of the 
views of the convention consisting of S. J. Crooks, W. A. Mills, J. 
Kershner, John Shepard, L. Williams, Jr., J. Faulkner, Jr., J. S. 
Wiley, Robert Grant, L. Odell, R. Olney, N. Chappell, B. Payne, 
Scott Lord, H. McCartney, A. C. Campbell, A. Conkey and Francis 



416 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Hull The resolutions reported approved the declarations of the 
national American party, "hostility to public and party corruption, 
and the means by which the leaders of party have hitherto forced 
upon us our rulers and our political creed — a determined resistance 
to the aggressive policy of the papal church — the right of every man 
to the uncontrolled and peaceful enjoyment of his religious opinions 
and worship, yet asserting that Christianity is an element of our 
political system, and that the Holy Bible is the repository of all 
civil and religious freedom, and therefore condemning every attempt 
to exclude it from the schools." 

^leanwhile elements opposed to the Democratic party on account of 
its attitude on the slavery question, and to the American party be- 
cause of its secret and prescriptive character, were crystalizing to 
form the Republican party, which a few years later was destined to 
enter upon an enduring career of success and power. 

In the midst of this political confusion came the fall election of 
1855. The American party in this county supported Sidney Sweet 
for Senator; Scott Lord for County Judge; Hugh McCartney for 
Sheriff; James T. Norton for County Clerk ; Harvey Armstrong for 
Superintendent of the Poor, and Lyman Odell and Samuel J. Crooks 
for Members of Assembly. Opposed to these men were the candi- 
dates on the Republican or Fusion ticket, as follows: Senator, John 
Wiley; Sheriff, John N. Hurlburt; County Judge, George Hastings; 
County Clerk, Charles Root; Superintendent of the Poor, Lyman 
Turner; Members of Assembly, John H. Jones and Alonzo Bradner. 
The Democrats made an independent nomination of Chauncey 
Loomis for Sheriff, and the temperance people supported John B. 
Crosby for the Assembly in the first district. 

The campaign was a lamentably bitter one, and one of the most 
closely contested political battles ever fought in the county. The 
result was a decided victory for neither party, although in the State 
the Americans had a large majority. The American candidates for 
Sheriff, Member of Assembly in the first district, and also the nominee 
of that party for vSenator were elected, and a majority of about 450 
given for the American State ticket. The other offices were, how- 
ever, secured by the Fusion candidates by small majorities. 

Following this was the presidential election of 1856, when the three 
great parties marshalled their forces and contended for the mastery. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 417 

The Democrats entered the field with James Buchanan and John C. 
Breckenridge as their nominees for President and Vice President. 
The Republicans presented the names of John C. Fremont and Wil- 
liam L. Dayton for these offices, and the American party supported 
Millard Fillmore and Andrew J. Donelson. The county nominations 
of the Republican party were Amos A. Hendee for District Attorney; 
Chauncey R. Bond, County Treasurer; Daniel H. Bissell, Coroner; 
David Gray, Sessions Justice; Lyman Hawes and Alfred Bell, ]Mem- 
bers of Assembly. William H. Kelsey was nominated for Congress, 
James S. Wadsworth, Presidential Elector at large, and Isaac L. 
Endress, Elector for this county. The Americans nominated Scott 
Lord for District Attorney; Edward R. Hammatt, County Treasurer; 
Orson Walbridge, Sessions Justice; William H. Thomas, Coroner; 
Alvin Chamberlain and Orville Tousey, Members of Assembly. Sam- 
uel Hallett of Steuben was the American nominee for Congress. The 
Democratic nominations were, for District Attorney, John A. Van- 
Derlip; County Treasurer, Walter E. Lauderdale; Coroner, Arnold 
Gray; Sessions Justice, Clark B. Adams; Congress, Benjamin F. 
Angel; Assembly, John H. Jones and Utley Spencer. 

The Democrats achieved a national victory, but in Livingston 
county the new Republican party developed a strength which neither 
its friends nor its opponents supposed it to possess, and the election 
resulted in an overwhelming victory for its nominees. The Republi- 
can vote polled nearly equalled the combined vote of the two opposing 
parties, and gave it the ascendancy which it has, with occasional 
reverses, since maintained. 

In 1857 the Republicans were again successful, but lost the Assem- 
blyman in the first district. The officers elected were John B. Hal- 
sted. Senator; John H. Jones and Alfred Bell, As.semblymen ; Levi P. 
Grover and Harvey Farley, School Commissioners. 

In July, 1857, Benjamin F. Angel of Geneseo, who had twice 
before been honored with foreign appointments by the administra- 
tion, was appointed Minister Resident to Sweden. The people of 
Geneseo where his residence had been from early boyhood and where 
he occupied a prominent position as a lawyer and political leader, im- 
proved the occasion to show their respect and esteem for him, by in- 
viting him to a public entertainment to be given in his honor. The 
invitation was signed by all the leading citizens of Geneseo without 



418 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

regard to party, but Mr. Angel was compelled to decline it on account 
of his early departure. He remained at Stockholm until the change 
of administration in 1861. 

The Genesee Valley Railroad was now open from Rochester to 
Avon, but all efforts to complete it to Mount Morris had proven un- 
successful.' It had early become evident that the directors of the 
company did not intend, or did not have the ability, to complete the 
road; and the feeling was very general that the former was the true 
explanation of the situation. There had been much in the management 
of the company's affairs to create suspicion and distrust, and to 
justify the dissatisfaction which existed among the people; these im- 
pressions were not banished when the company attempted to enforce 
the collection of subscriptions against citizens of Geneseo and Mount 
Morris, without giving any assurance that this portion of the road 
would ever be completed. The people of Geneseo were also dis- 
pleased with the location of the road through that town, the line of 
which, against their earnest protest, had been run along the lower 
plateau, nearly half a mile below the village, when surveys had shown 
an equally practicable route along the upper plateau and much nearer 
the business center. 

The question of the completion of the road remained in a state of 
vexatious uncertainty until the fall of 1855, when a meeting was held at 
Rochester, composed largely of representatives from this county, to 
consider the question of completing the long delayed enterprise. It 
had been proposed that a company be formed to complete the road 
from Avon to Mount Morris, and then to lease it of the Genesee \'al- 
ley company. In furtherance of this plan a committee, consisting of 
three Rochester gentlemen and John R. Murray and Lester Phelps of 
Mount Morris, was appointed to solicit subscriptions. The latter 
gentleman stated that his town had already subscribed $30,000 for this 
object, and Geneseo would take $20,000 more. The road bed was 
already partially graded, $100,000 having been expended by the old 
company on this part of the line, and it was believed that $200,000 
would complete it. On the 21st of June of the following year another 
meeting was held at Geneseo, at which it was stated that the Roches- 
ter and Gen'esee Valley Railroad Company had offered to release all 

I. The original intentioa had beeu to exteud it to Pittsburg, but this idea was entertained 
only for a short time. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 419 

its right antl title in and to the line south of Avon to any company 
that would complete the road from Avon to !Mouni Morris. Accept- 
ing this proposition, steps were immediately taken to form a new 
company, and George S. Whitney, William T. Cuyler, William M. 
Bond, C. H. Carroll and H. P. North were appointed a committee to 
solicit subscriptions to the stock. An organization was effected at 
this meeting by choosing as directors John R. Murray, Allen Ayrault, 
H. P. North. Hiram P. Mills, C. H. Carroll, W. C. Hawley, J. S. 
Wadsworth, Charles Jones, William A. Reynolds, John Fowler. 
William T. Cuyler, R. P. Wisner and William Kidd. At a subse- 
quent meeting. Henry P. North was made President of the company, 
and Richard P. Fitzhugh and E. R. Hammatt were added to the 
Board of Directors, in place of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Ayrault. 

The most untiring efforts were now made to secure subscriptions to 
the stock along the whole line of the road, and many were so desirous 
of seeing it completed that they took more stock than they were able 
or should have been required to hold. Two prominent citizens now 
in mind in this manner opened the way for a series of financial re- 
verses that swept away a fine property and left them in strait- 
ened circumstances. Republics may be ungrateful, but it little be- 
hooves the people of the valley to treat lightly the claims to lasting- 
honor and gratitude of such men who have helped to make it a rich 
and prosperous community. 

Such was the success of the company in securing subscriptions that 
in October, 1856, a contract was made with George W. and George 
B. Phelps for the completion of the road by the 1st of September of 
the following year. Work was immediately commenced by these 
energetic contractors and pushed forward with all possible dispatch. 
In the calculations made, however, the financial crisis of 1857 did not 
enter as a factor, and consequently when that period was reached and 
all public and private enterprises were seriously embarrassed or wholly 
suspended this one proved no exception. Unable to provide the con- 
tractors with the means to prosecute the work, the Directors were 
compelled to suspend operations, but early in 1858 they were resumed, 
through the earnest and indefatigable efforts of the officers of the 
company. On New Year's day, 1859, the first train entered Geneseo, 
and soon afterward the road was completed to Mount ^Morris. Regu- 
lar trains commenced running in April, 1859. 



420 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Thus was brought to a successful issue one of the most important 
enterprises of the Genesee valley. For years it was a "child of sor- 
row," meeting with reverses and misfortunes enough to have filled the 
bravest hearts with dismay. But at last, through the indomitable 
will and the energy of its projectors, the road was finished and opened 
to the public. 

In 1857 was experienced one of those strange storms of financial 
disasters which sweep over the country at well defined intervals, car- 
rying ruin to business men, crippling and retarding enterprise and 
throwing helpless upon the world thousands of laboring men without 
work or the means of livelihood. Yet in this county its effects 
would have been little felt had it not been immediately preceded by 
another calamity of equal magnitude, the almost total failure of the 
wheat crop. For many yedrs the grain raised on the fertile hills and 
in the fruitful valleys of the Genesee had brought the highest price in 
the market, and the flour niercliant who could ticket his cargoes with 
the magic word "Genesee" was sure of a sale, even in very dull mar- 
kets, at by far the best rates. The tables of the wealthy were deemed 
lacking in an important particular if unsupplied with bread made 
from the celebrated Genesee wheat, and far and wide it was eagerly 
sought for by those who could appreciate its worth. But in 1855 a 
terrible enemy of this great staple, the weevil, made its appearance, 
and its ravages caused the almost total failure of the crop. Hundreds 
of fields of bright, waving grain fell a sacrifice to its remorseless on- 
slaught, and where thousands of bushels of wheat had been harvested 
before only a few hundreds rewarded the husbandman for his labor 
now, while many fields proved a total loss. This great failure of the 
principal crop, coupled with the stringency of the times, caused a 
financial distress unknown for years and a large number of business 
failures followed. The banking institutions of the county, however, 
remained firm during the general crash throughout the country, and 
not only bravely weathered the storm, maintaining their integrity 
while hundreds of other banks went down, leaving their promises to 
pay worthless as rags in the people's hands, but extended substantial 
aid to the entire business community. The ravages of the weevil 
continued for several seasons, but not to so serious a degree as at first. 
Nevertheless, it was years before the county again reached its former 
importance as a wheat growing district, and never since has 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 421 

its wheat filled the place in the markets of the world it once occupied. 

At the fall election of 1858 the Republicans supported John N. Hurl- 
burt for Sheriff ; Charles Root for County Clerk; S. N. Chamberlain 
for Sessions Justice; Lyman Turner for Superintendent of the Poor; 
C. R. Blackall for Coroner; Samuel L. Fuller and John Wiley for the 
Assembly. William Irvine was the nominee for Congress. The 
Americans also presented a ticket for popular approval, although 
their strength had greatly diminished, and this was destined to be 
their last appearance as a party organization. The American nomi- 
nees were (jeorge F. Coe, Sheriff; County Clerk, Matthew Porter, Jr.; 
Sessions Justice, William Houghton; Superintendent of the Poor, 
Peter Miller; Coroner, James E. Jenks; Assembly, Lyman Odell and 
Samuel Skinner; Congress, Goldsmith Denniston of Steuben. The 
Democratic party entered the field with the following ticket: Sheriff, 
Wilbur Watson; County Clerk, Charles L. Bingham; Sessions Justice, 
Utley Spencer; Superintendent of the Poor, George Mercer; Coro-. 
ner, Arnold Gray; Assembly, John H. Jones and David McNair. 
The Democratic nominee for Congress was George B. Bradley. 

The election resulted in sweeping Republican victories throughout 
the State. In the county the Republican majorities ranged from 
1,000 to 1,400 and every nominee of that party was elected. 

For the first time since the disintegration of the old Whig party 
the fall election of 1859 found party lines clearly defined, and the 
contest between two great organizations. The American party had 
dissolved, and its members found places in the ranks of the other two 
parties, the accessions from this source to the Republican party being 
the greatest, on account of its position on the slavery question, which 
had become the leading and all-absorbing issue. 

The Republicans of Livingston supported the following ticket at 
this election; County Judge, Sidney Ward; District Attorney, Ger- 
shom Buckley; County Treasurer, Chauncey R. Bond;' Sessions Jus- 
tice, Charles H. Randall; Coroners, William Nisbit and Zara H. 
Blake; Assembly, Samuel I>. Fuller and John AViley ; Senator, D. H. 
Abell. The Democratic nominees were; George Hastings, County 
Judge; Adoniram J. Abbott, District Attorney; George Mercer, 

1. While holding this office, Mr. Boud died Jime 2, iS6o. The vacancy thus caused was filled 
by the appointment of James T. Norton to the office. . At the fall election of iS6o Mr. Norton was 
elected for three years, and retired at the end of that time having declined a re-election. 



422 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

County Treasurer; Utley Spencer, Sessions Justice; William H. Ben- 
nett and Arnold Gray, Coroners; James G. Clark and Joseph W. 
Smith, Assemblymen; Senator, Lmus W. Thayer. But little interest 
was manifested in this election, except in the strife to secure the office 
of County Judge. The friends of Mr. Hastings made an unusual and 
successful effort in his behalf, and he was re-elected; his majority, 
however, was only 94. The rest of the Republican ticket was elected 
by large majorities. 

The census of 1860 showed the population of Livingston County to 
be 39,546, and the assessed valuation of real and personal estate in 
that year was $14,306,555; for causes already named, the showing of 
population not being as favorable as that of 1850. The wealth of the 
county, as shown in the tables of assessed valuation, made a more 
favorable exhibit, the increase since 1821 amounting to $12,128,654, 
or nearly six fold. When organized the county had twelve towns. 
The division of Sparta into the towns of North Dansville, Sparta and 
West Sparta increased the number to fourteen, while the annexation 
from Allegany of the towns of Nunda and Portage in 1846, and 
Ossian in 1857, brought the number of towns up to seventeen and 
added a rich and flourishing territory. All buildings necessary for 
the transaction of public business, the safe keeping of important 
records, and the care or confinement of its unfortunate and vicious 
classes, had been provided, equalling in size, convenience or cost 
those of any rural county in the State. 

Internal improvements had kept pace with the county's growing 
strength. The Cohocton Valley railroad skirted its eastern border, 
the Genesee Valley Canal wound along its western boundary, while 
midway between them was the newly completed Avon, Geneseo and 
Mount Morris railroad, connecting at the former place with the vast 
network of railroads extending over the country. The educational 
progress of the county also furnished a proud record. The Genesee 
College and Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, the Geneseo Academy 
and the academies of Avon, Moscow and Dansville, together with the 
excellent schools, public and private, of other towns, had a wide repu- 
tation and some of them, especially the three first named, were filled 
with students from all parts of the globe. Added to these was the 
Athenaeum Library at Geneseo, with its thousands of volumes, tree to 
all residents of the county. Nor were the institutions of religion 



H 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 423 

neglected. The churches of the several denominations throughout 
the county were beautiful, commodious and costly edifices, and the 
people generally a church-going and God-fearing community. 

In worldly affairs the inhabitants of the county were also prosperous 
and happy. The country had in a great measure recovered from the 
effects of the financial reverses of 1857, the crops were uniformly 
good, manufacturing and commercial interests were thriving, and a 
bright, peaceful and prosperous future seemed dawning on the people. 

Just as this period had been reached occurred the ever memorable 
presidential campaign of 1860. It is unnecessary to recount here the 
many exciting incidents of that period, which are still fresh in the 
public mind and will remain so long after the recollection of subse- 
quent campaigns becomes a dim and shadowy picture of the past. In 
its furor and e.xcitement, its campaign songs and partisan bands of 
uniformed men; in the intensity and bitterness of the feelings it en- 
gendered; even more in its after results, it stands out as one of the 
most important epochs in our national history. 

The Republicans early entered the field with Abraham Lincoln and 
Hannibal Hamlin as their national standard bearers. The Demo- 
cratic party, less fortunate in uniting its forces, presented two 
tickets for public approval. The regular nominees of the party were 
Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson; the candidates of the 
"Seceders' convention" were John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane. 
A fourth party, calling itself the Constitutional Union party, put up 
John Bell for President and Edward Everett for Vice President. 

Passing over the State nominations of these contesting parties, we 
come to those of more immediate interest, the county nominations. 
The Republican party supported the following ticket: Congressman, 
Robert B. VanValkenburgh ; County Treasurer, James T. Norton; 
Sessions Justice, Charles H. Randall; Coroners, J. B. Patterson and 
Loren J. Ames; Assemblymen, Matthew Wiard and George Hyland; 
School Commissioners, Franklin B. Francis and Harvey Farley. The 
Republican nominee for Presidential Elector was James S. Wads- 
worth.' The nominees of the Democratic party were, for Congress- 
man, Charles C. B. Walker; County Treasurer, Hezekiah Allen; Ses- 
sions Justice, Utley Spencer; Coroners, George H. Bennett, Zara 
W. Joslyn; Assemblymen, David H. Albertson and David Davidson; 
School Commissioners, Daniel Bigelow and Samuel D. Faulkner. 



424 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The canvass in this county was conducted with the same feeling and 
earnestness which everywhere marked it. Wigwams sprang up here 
and there; lofty poles flung to the breeze the banners of the contend- 
ing parties; bands of "Little Giants" and "Wide Awakes" almost 
daily paraded the streets, or lit up the dark night with their smoking 
torches and frequent political gatherings were addressed by the chosen 
orators of the opposing factions. It was the campaign of 1840 re- 
peated with variations; the day of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" re- 
vived. 

At last the decisive day came when the parties met at the polls to 
declare their political preferences, and when the smoke of battle rolled 
away it was found that the Republican party had achieved a great 
and unparalleled victory. Like the whirlwind it had swept everything 
before it in the North, and State after State had rolled up majorities 
before unknown. In Livingston county the entire Republican ticket 
was elected, the majority on the electoral ticket being 1917, and on 
the county ticket averaging over 1800— a result astonishing'to men 
of all parties. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 425 



CHAPTER XIX. 

WHATEVER else may be recorded on the page of history, the 
valor and unflagging patriotism of a people should have a 
prominent place, and be written in characters as lasting as 
the eternal hills. In harmony with this sentiment some attempt is 
here made to give an account of Livingston's part in the War of the 
Rebellion, and of her contributions of men and money in support of 
the General Government when foes assailed it and the national life was 
in danger. 

The people of this county have ever been distinguished for their loy- 
alty and patriotism. Many of its earliest settlers, when they penetrat- 
ed the forests of this then vast wilderness, were fresh from the toils, 
privations and bloody battles of the Revolutionary struggle; and a few 
years later, when the British foe again invaded our shores, no people 
responded more readily to the call of the government for help, endured 
the privations and dangers of war more cheerfully or rendered greater 
service in repelling the enemy than the citizens of Livingston. 
Love of country was with them a passion. Some of their best blood 
had been given in its defense, and their sturdy, honest, fearless char- 
acter made them warmly devoted to the principles of civil and relig- 
ious liberty upon which the government was founded. 

Thus, when intelligence came that the Southern people had risen 
in open rebellion, their patriotic zeal was aroused to the highest pitch 
and an earnest resolution found unanimous expression that the govern- 
ment should be sustained and the Nation's life preserved, cost what 
it might. 

Many still remember the intense excitement that prevailed when 
news came of the firing upon Fort Sumter. The national emblem 
had been insulted, the federal authority defied, the safety of the 
Union was threatened! The dark cloud that long overhung the 
Nation had burst, the storm was upon it, and people awoke from 
fancied security to find themselves involved in all the horrors of 
civil war. Then it was that the people of Livingston county, in 
common with the whole loyal North, rose up in their patriotic 



426 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

strength and asserted their determination to defend the govern- 
ment they had founded and cherished against the traitorous hands 
that were raised to accomplish its destruction. The valleys rever- 
berated with the patriotic songs of loyal men; the Spartan hills echoed 
hack the sound, and from near and far came ever-increasing evidence 
that when the principles of free government were assailed Livingston 
would be among the first to tender its services for protection and de- 
fense. It was no time now for partisan feeling or for lukewarm meas- 
ures. A graver duty presented itself, and with party lines obliterated, 
partisan differences forgotten, the people united upon the common 
platform of "The Union, now and forever'" and sung in unison the 
patriotic lines — 

"Our Country! right or wrong — 

What manly heart can doubt 
That thus should swell the patriot song, 

Thus ring the patriot shout? 
Be but the foe arrayed, 

And war's wild trumpet blown, — 
Cold were his heart who has not made 

His country's cause his owii.!" 

Under the calls of President Lincoln for troops, Livingston county 
was among the first to make enlistments. Union meetings were every- 
where held and prominent men of all parties united in addressing them 
and in securing volunteers. Scarcely had the smoke cleared awaj' 
from Sumter's ruined walls when a large number had enrolled them- 
selves under the Union banner and were rapidly forming into 
companies. Nor did the people forget in this hour the duty which 
they owed to the households of those who enlisted to fight their battles 
for them. Relief funds were raised in the several towns, and the brave 
soldier when he went to the battle's front had the comfort of know- 
ing that his family would be well cared for by those who had under- 
taken this patriotic duty. Loyal men gave freely and cheerfully to 
this holy cause, and these funds were swelled' to most generous propor- 
tions. Unfortunately their aggregate amount cannot be stated, but it 
is certainly safe to say that it was generous. 

Later, when the Sanitary Commission had been organized, liberal 
aid was constantly given this important branch of the service by the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 427 

county, and no little credit is due the loyal wives, mothers and sisters 
who worked with a devotion worthy of this noble cause to render it 
efficient in field and hospital. 

And later still, when the long struggle had drawn heavily upon the 
home circles, after the Union arms had suffered repeated reverses and 
even strong men were filled with doubts and fears; when this dark 
hour had come and enlistments were slow, the county came nobl}' to 
the rescue and offered liberal bounties to recruits, counting no cost too 
great that would save the Nation or preserve the honor of Old Liv- 
ingston. The money thus paid amounted to the vast sum of Twelve 
Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars, or nearly one-tenth of the 
total assessed valuation of the county at the time. 

As early as June, 1861, the county had furnished five companies of 
volunteers, without including a large number, probably enough to have 
formed another company, who had enlisted at Rochester and other 
places. These companies were raised in the towns of North Dansville, 
Geneseo, Lima, Mount Morris and Nunda, and were officered as fol- 
lows: Dansville company, Carl Stephan, Captain; George Hyland, Jr., 
1st Lieutenant; Ralph T. Wood, 2d Lieutenant. Geneseo company, 
Wilson B. Warford, Captain; Moses Church, 1st Lieutenant ; John 
Gummer, 2d Lieutenant. Lima company, James Perkins, Captain; 
Philo D. Phillips, 1st Lieutenant; H. Seymour Hall, 2d Lieutenant. 
Mount Morris company, Charles E. Martin, Captain; Joseph H. Bo- 
dine, 1st Lieutenant; Oscar H. Phillips, 2d Lieutenant. Nunda com- 
pany, James M. NcNair, captain; George T. Hamilton, 1st Lieuten- 
ant; Henry G. King, 2d Lieutenant. All of these companies rendez- 
voused at Elmira, but, perhaps unfortunately, they were assigned to 
different regiments. 

The Dansville volunteers were made Company B of the 13th Regi- 
ment, N. Y. V. I. and in the organization of the regiment Captain 
Stephan was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and George Hyland, Jr., be- 
came Captain of the company. 

The Lima and Mount Morris companies were made a part of the 
27th Regiment, N. Y. V. L, the former as Company G, and the latter 
as Company H. This regiment was formed at Elmira from companies 
recruited in Rochester, Binghamton, Lyons, Angelica and this coun- 
ty, with Colonel Slocum, afterward made a Major-General, in com- 
mand. The list of engagements in which this regiment participated 



428 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

shows that it shared in some of the hardest fighting of the war, and 
was distinguished for signal bravery throughout its whole period of 
service. 

The Geneseo and Nunda companies were assigned to the 33d Regi- 
ment, N. Y. V. I., the former as Company E and the latter as Com- 
pany F. This regiment was composed of two companies from Seneca 
Falls, and one each from Palmyra, Waterloo, Canandaigua, Geneseo, 
Nunda, Buffalo, Geneva and Penn Yan. The organization of the regi- 
ment was effected May 21st, 1861, with Robert F. Taylor as Colonel. 

The 8th N. Y. Cavalry numbered among its members many brave 
and gallant troopers from the different towns in this county, and in 
August, 1862, James McNair received a commission as Captain and 
recruited from Groveland and the towns adjoining a large number of 
men who formed the nucleus of Company L of this regiment. 

In tlie summer of 1861, while General Wadsworth was on a flying 
visit to Geneseo, he stated to prominent gentlemen that the war was 
to be a long one, and he was extremely anxious that Livingston should 
do her whole duty. To accomplish this he proposed that a regiment 
should be raised in the county, and asked John Rorbach to allow 
him to present the latter's name to the Governor for a commission to 
recruit such a regiment. After some hesitation Mr. Rorbach con- 
sented, and in a short time he received a commission to recruit and 
organize a regiment for the service. The experiment seemed a haz- 
ardous one, inasmuch as the county had already furnished recruits 
enough tor at least a regiment, but earnest men had hold of the meas- 
ure and it was bound to succeed. It was also proposed to call the new 
regiment the "Wadsworth Guards," in honor of the brave officer who 
had suggested its organization, and who had already reflected 
such honor on his native county by his daring bravery and self-sacri- 
ficing patriotism. 

Colonel Rorbach found, after some weeks' hard work, that it would 
be impossible to organize a regiment without having a local depot to' 
which he could send his recruits as fast as they were secured. He 
asked the State authorities, therefore, to establish a military depot at 
Geneseo, and an order to this effect was issued. The 104th Regiment 
may be said to have begun an active existence on the 30th day of 
September, 1861, when there arrived at Geneseo Captain Henry G. 
Tiithill, with about sixty men, who afterwards became Com- 




Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth. 




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C&mp Grounds of the 104th Regiment M Geneseo, "Camp Union.' 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



429 



pany A of the regiment. Company B followed with about forty 
men three or four days later. At this time no barracks had 
been erected and accordingly the men of Companies A and B were quar- 
tered at the hotels in the village for a while. The "old camp 
ground" at the head of North street having been selected as the site 
of the military depot, barracks were constructed, and the work of re- 
cruiting became general throughout most of the county of Livingston 
and a portion of the county of Wyoming and continued until February, 
1862. 

The following advertisement for recruits, appearing in one of the 
Geneseo papers of that time, will serve to show the energy with which 
the various captains of the Wadsworth Guards sought to complete 
their rosters: 




f/|^-',^ : 




WADSWORTH GUARDS! 

DEPOT AT GENESEO 

JOHN RORBACH, Colonel. 
HENRY v. COLT, Qr.-Master. 



VOLUNTEERS WANTED 

FUR THE 

WADSWORTH GUARDS! 

THE CRACK REGIMENT OF THIS .STATE. 

To be attached to General Wadsworth's Bri- 
gade, where we are now in camp, at Camp Union, 
Geneseo. Livingston Connty, N. Y. 

Persons enlisting can go into camp at once, be 
sworn in and receive pay, rations and uniforms 
from the dale of enlistment. 

Come and enlist in 

COMPANY H. 

Commanded by Capt. A. KENDALL, of Moscow. 
PAY $13 TO $23 PER nONTHl 

AND 8100 BOUNTY .\T CLOSE OF THE WAR! 

Persons can enlist by applying to E. S. Norton, 
Hemlock Lake, or at the Headquarters of Co. H. 
on the Camp Ground. 

The Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. Rorbach 
Cnpt. ALFRED KENDALL, 
Lieut..!. P. RUDD, 

Recruiting Officers. 



430 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



" Stand by the Stars and Stripes. " 

COME ONE, COME ALL ! 

And enlist in a good CoDipany, and under a 

man that has seen serviee, 

CAPT. JAMES A. GAULT, 

Who was in the Thirteenth Regiment, and at 
the battle of Bull Run. 

I am now raising a Compjiny to be attached to 
the Wadsworth Guards. 

We are now in eanip at Camp Union, (ieneseo. 
My company is organized, and 1 only want a few 
more men to complete the Company. Come and 
enlist in 

COMPANY F. 

Commanded by Capt. .lA.MEsi A. GAULT. 

PAY $13 TO $23 PER nONTHl 

AKD $KK) BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR! 

Pay. Rations and Uniforms furnished from date 
of enlistment. My Headquarters for Recruiting 
are at the Camp. ' 

This Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. 
Rorbach. 

Capt. JAS. A. GAULT, 
Lieut. J. HEMSTREET. 

Recruiting Officers. 



RALLY TO THE RESCUE! 

OUR FLAG IS IN DANGER. 

Volunteers Wanted for the 

WADSWORTH GUARDS, 

The Crack Regiment of the .state, and now in 
camp at Camp Union, Geneseo, N. Y. 

COMPANY D. 

Commanded by Capt. ZOPIIAR SIMPSON, an 
old resident of Gene.^co. and a member of the old 
54th Keginiem This Regiment is to be attached 
to tieneral Wadsworth's Brigade. 

PAY $13 TO $23 PER MONTH, 

AND 8100 BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR ! 

A few more good men will be received by mak- 
ing application at once to Hollis .\nnis, Le Roy, 
and at the Headquarters of the Company, on the 
Camp Ground at Camp Union. Be sure and ask 
for Co. D's Quarters, and enlist in a good Com- 
pany. 

Pay. Rations and Uniforms furnished from date 
of enlistment. 

This Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. 
Rorbach. 

Capt. Z. SIMPSON, 
Lieut. C. H. Y'OUNG, 

Recruiting Officers. 



Vol un t eers W a n t e d I 

FOR COMPANY B. 

Commanded by Capt. L. H. DAY. andattached 
to the Wailsworlh (iuards, which Regiment is to 
be attached to Gcnl. Wadsworth's Brigade, 

Capt. Day offers great inducements to volun- 
teers to join his Company now in camp at Camp 
Union, Geneseo, Livingston countv, N. Y. 

I have now about 70 men enlisted, and only 
want a few more good men to complete the Com- 
pany. 

PAY $13 TO $23 PER HONTH ! 

AND SlOO BOUNTY AT CLOSE OE THE WAR! 

Pay, Rations and Uniforms {urnishe<l from date 
of enlistment. 

Persons can enlist by applying at Snyder's 
Hotel. Springwater. and to H. L. Arnold. Co'nesus 
Center, or at Headquarters of Company B, on the 
Camp Ground, at Camp Union. 

Be sure and ask for Company B. if you want to 
enlist. 

This Regiment is Commanded by Col. Jno. 
Rorbach. 

Capt. L. II. DAY. 

Ueut. H. A. WILEY, 

Recruiting Officers. 



ATTENTION. VOLUNTEERS. 
FALL IN, FALL IN. 

And enlist in 

COnP AN Y c. 

Under Capt. STEPHEN L. WIS<;.of Pike. Wyo- 
ming county, ami whose Company is now attach- 
ed to the Wadsworth Guards, and "now in camp at 
Camp I'nion, Geneseo, and one of the best com- 
panies on the ground, and the Color Company of 
the Regiment, and 

Only a few more Men Wanted ! 

To fill the Company full. Apply soon, as the 
best chances will be titken. 

PAY $13 TO $23 PER MONTH, 

AND $100 BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR! 

Pay. Rations and Uniforms furnished from date 
of enlistment. 

Persons can enlist by applying to Rev. D. 
Ru.ssell, Pike. Wyoming county; or at the Tent of 
Company C on the Camp Ground, where we 
make our Headtiuarters. 

This Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. 
Rorbach . 

Capt. STEPHEN L. WING, 
Lieut. HENRY RUNYAN, 

Recruiting Officers. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



431 



RECRUITS WANTED 

F-OR THE WADSWORTH GUARDS. 

To be attached to Gen. Wadsworth's Brigade. 

A few Good rien Wanted 

To fill lip my Company, 

COMPANY E, 

and commanded by Capt. H. C. LATTIMORE, 
formerly of Avon. 
Great inducements offered to good men to join 
my Company. 

PAY $13 TO $23 PER HONTH I 

AND SlOO BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR ! 

Pay. Rations and Uniforms furnished from date 
of enlistment. 

My Heivdquarters for recruiting is on the Oamp 
Ground, where we are now in camp, at Camp 
Union, Livingston county, X. Y. 
B^ Be sure and ask for Capt. Lattiraore's Com- 
pany, (Company E ) and enlist at once. 

This Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. 
Rorbach 

Capt..H. C. LATTIMORE, 
Lieut. W. T. LOZIER, 

Recruiting Officers. 



WAR, WAR, WAR ! 

COJIE ONE, COME ALL ! 

And enlist in a first class Company, 

COMPANY A , 

Commanded by Capt. H. G. TUTHILL, of Nun- 
da, and Lieut. L C. skinner, the first company 
organized, and in a tirst class Regiment, 

THE WADSWORTH GUARDS, 

Are now in camp at Carap Union, Geueseo, and 
are to tje attached to Gen. Wadsworih's Brigade. 

Tfiis Company is now organized and nearly full, 
consequently only a Few More VolunteersWanted 

PAY $13 TO $23 PER HO NTH ! 

AND SlOO BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR ! 

Or time of discharge, and all other emoluments 
received by any other Regiment. Pay. Rations 
and Uniforms furnished from date of enlistment. 
Volunt' ers may enlist and be forwarded to the 
Camp bv applying lo S. .A. Ellis, 78 State Street, 
Rochester, or at our Tent on the Camp Ground, 
where we are now quartered at Camp Union, 
Geneseo, Livingston County, N. Y 

Capt. H. G. TUTHILL, 

Lieut. L. H. SKINNER, 

Recruiting Officers. 



By the last of February 1862, ten organized companies were in bar- 
racks, w-ith a total of 683 enlisted men and 20 commissioned 
officers, all of whom had been mustered into the United States service 
by Captain E. G. Marshall. 

At the request of the ofificers in charge of the depot, the regiment 
thus formed was ordered to Albany, and on the 25th day of February, 
1862, left Geneseo amid the cheers and tears of thousands, who had 
assembled to bid them God-Speed. Arriving at Albany, they went 
into barracks in the suburbs of the city, remaining there until about 
the 20th day of March. On the 4th day of March an order was issued 
consolidating the regiment thus under the command of Col. Rorbach, 
into seven companies, also consolidating with the companies already 
formed a skeleton regiment then in camp at the neighboring city of 
Troy, under the command of Col. John J. Viele, and containing in all 
about 300 men. who afterwards composed companies H, I and 
K of the 104th, the seven companies from Geneseo being lettered from 
A to G inclusive. The total strength of the regiment thus 
formed was 1040 men and the following is a roster of the commissioned 
officers as taken from the order organizing the regiment, which was 



432 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



issued from the office of the Adjutant General of the State, and the 
field and staff commissioned, on the 8th day of March, 1862: 



Colonel, John Rorbach, 
Lieut. Col., K. Wells Kenyon, 
Major, Lewis C. Skinner, 
Adjutant, Frederick T. Vance, 

Company A. 
Capt. Henry G. Tuthill, 

ist Lieut. 

2d " Albert S. Haver. 

Company C. 

Capt. Stephen L. Wing, 
ist Lieut. Henry Runyan, 
2d " Nelson J. Wing. 

Company E. 
Capt. H, C. Lattimore, 
ist Lieut. Wm. F. Lozier, 
2d " Wm. L. Trembley. 

Company G. 
Capt. James A. Gault, 
ist Lieut. John P. Rudd, 
2d " John R. Strang. 

Company I. 
Capt. John Kelley, 
ist Lieut. J. J. McCaffrey, 
2d " Chas. W. Fisher. 



Quarter-Master, Henry V. Colt, 
Surgeon, Enos G. Chase, 
Asst Surgeon, Douglas S. Landon, 
Chaplain, Uaniel Russell. 

Company B. 
Capt. Lehman H. Day, 
ist Lieut. Henry A. Wilev, 
2d " Homer M. Stuil. 

Company D. 
Capt. Zophar Simpson, 
ist Lieut. Jacob H. Stull, 
2d " Geo. H. Starr. 

Company F. 
Capt. Gilbert G. Prey, 
ist Lieut. Luman F. Dow, 
2d " W. J Hemstreet. 

Company H. 
Capt. James K. Selleck, 
ist Lieut. E. B Wheeler, 
2d " Thos Johnston. 

Company K. 
Capt. John C. Thompson, 
ist Lieut. John H. Miller, 
2d " Wm. C. Wilson. 



Leaving Albany March 20th, and remaining one night at the Park 
Barracks in New York City, the regiment, after a very long and ted- 
ious journey, arrived at Washington late in the evening of the 22d, 
where for the first time the inen had the experience, so common in 
after years, of sleeping upon the open ground, or the still more filthy 
depot floor. Next day it was transferred to barracks at Kalorama 
Heights, three miles from the Capitol, and there remained about 
three weeks during which time arms (Enfield Rifies) and accoutre- 
ments were issued to the men, and ceaseless drill went on. 

In the early part of April the regiment was attached to the brigade 
commanded by Gen. Abram Duryee, which was being collected in 
camp at Cloud's Mills, a short distance from Alexandria, Virginia, 
and there it went into camp in the literal tented field for the first time. 
The brigade was composed of the 97th, 104th and lOSth N. Y. and the 
107th Pa. regiments. Remaining here for about a month, special at- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 433 

tention was given to drilling and maneuvering, both by companies, 
regiments and brigade, and the 104th became exceptionally perfect in 
its drill, so that, under the skillful command of Col. Rorbach, it formed 
a square from line of battle in less than twelve seconds, which Gen. 
Duryee, formerly Colonel of the N. Y. Seventh Regiment, acknowl- 
edged was equal, if not superior, to anything that could be done by 
that famous militia regiment. 

Soon after the first of May another forward step was taken, and the 
whole brigade was moved to Catlett's Station, Virginia, to be in 
position for the forward movement which it was then contemplated 
Gen. McDowell should make from Fredericksburg. While encamped 
at Catlett's Station the regiment was presented with a magnificent 
stand of colors, guidons, &c., by Mrs. General James S. Wadsworth, 
in recognition of the compliment paid to her gallant husband in the 
name of the regiment, "The Wadsworth Guards." The United 
States flag, which formed part of this stand of colors, bearing many a 
rent and battle stain, was torn from the staff and destroyed by corpor- 
al James Thompson, one of the color bearers, on the first day of July, 
1863, at Gettysburg, Pa., to prevent its falling into the hands of the 
enemy during the retreat to and through the city on that day ; the 
State flag, a beauitful silk banner, was borne through safely, and is 
now in the archives of the State at the office of the Adjutant General 
in Albany. On the 24th day of May the regiment was suddenly de- 
tached from the brigade, and ordered to proceed by rail to Thorough- 
fare Gap, and join the command of Brig. Gen. Geary, which arrived 
at the Gap on the morning of the 26th. In the afternoon 
of the same day Gen. Geary, fearing that his brigade was 
about to be overwhelmed by the forces of Gen. Jackson, then operat- 
ing in the Shenandoah Valley, gave orders to retire hastily to 
Manassas, and the movement began at once. Gen. Duryee had prohi- 
bited the wagons of the regiment from coming to the Gap, and as the 
railroad was abandoned on the forenoon of the 26th, the regiment 
had no means of removing its tents, stores and camp equipage, and 
was forced to leave everything behind which could not be carried on 
the persons of the men. By the personal order of Gen. Geary, such 
stores, &c. left behind were burned by a company of the 1st Michi- 
gan Cavalry, to prevent their falling into the enemy's hands. Thus, 
it will be seen, that an event which at the time caused many harsh 



434 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and unjust reflections on the regiment was one for which neither the 
regiment nor any of its officers were in the remotest degree respon- 
sible. 

The march to Manassas Junction was long and severe, and, in 
view of the fact that several of the companies had been engaged in a 
reconnoitering expedition all the forenoon, it is not surprising that 
everything which could be abandoned was parted with on the march, 
and most of the regiment, officers as well as men, arrived at Ma- 
nassas with nothing left but the clothing which they wore, and the 
arms and accoutrements upon their persons. 

On the 28th of May the regiment was again ordered to Catlett's 
Station, where it remained for about three weeks as an independent 
command, picketing all the adjacent country; Gen. Duryee, returning 
to Catlett's Station about the middle of June with the other regi- 
ments of the brigade, made some changes in the camp grounds, re- 
moving the 104th to a low, marshy section, which resulted disas- 
trously to the health of the regiment. 

On the 5th of July the brigade was moved to Warrenton, and on 
the 22d of the same month to Waterloo, where it was attached to 
Gen. Rickett's division of McDowell's corps. 

On the 5th of August Gen. Pope, with his "headquarters in the 
saddle" began the famous advance into the heart of the enemy's 
country. Passing through Culpepper, the battlefield of Cedar Moun- 
tain was reached on the evening of the 9th, too late, however, for the 
regiment to take any special part in the struggle of that day. The 
enemy retiring across the Rapidan, the advance was continued to 
that river, where the regiment remained until the 18th of August, 
when began the retrograde movement, which brought the whole army 
under Gen. Pope, shattered and dispirited upon the plains of Manassas, 
within the defences of Washington. 

In the retrograde movement of the army which began August 18th 
the regiment recrossed the Rappahannock River, took a position 
near the railroad bridge crossing that stream, and at this point was 
exposed to a sharp artillery fire. Leaving there, it was on duty 
one night as guard at Gen. Pope's headquarters, and then proceeded 
to Thoroughfare Gap, accompanied by the whole of Gen. Rickett's 
division, which was ordered to seize and hold the Gap. But when the 
advance reached the Gap early in the afternoon of August 28th, the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 435 

enemy was found to be already in full possession; indeed, as it after- 
wards transpired, more than half of the Rebel army was there con- 
fronted by this single division. Keeping up a bold front until after 
night-fall, Gen. Rickett began a retreat to the Manassas battle-field, 
which was reached on the evening of August 29tli, after an e.xhaust- 
ing march of about thirty miles. The next day the regiment, being 
on the left of the brigade and nearest the enemy, suffered quite severely 
from a sharp musket-fire of the enemy concealed in a dense under- 
growth, losing one ofihcer (Lieut. John P. Rudd) and a number of 
men killed and wounded in a very short time. It was then ordered to 
retire behind an embankment and hold its position, which was success- 
fully done notwithstanding a fierce attempt to dislodge it. The 
brigade of Gen. Duryee, to which the regiment was attached, was 
moved to a new position; it remained here until late in the after- 
noon, when it was compelled to retreat before the murderous fire of a 
whole division of the enem_y. This retreat continued with the rest of 
Pope's army to Centerville, the regiment having lost during the day 
five killed, forty-one wounded and forty-eight missing; most of the 
latter were afterwards found to have been taken prisoners, although 
some were never heard of again, and were undoubtedly killed at the 
commencement of the retreat. 

A march to Fairfa.x Court House, a hurried advance to Chantilly 
on September 1 in a terrific thunderstorm and the retreat to 
Washington follow^ed. After four days in the vicinity of Washington 
and Maryland, a campaign began, of which the first important event 
was the battle of South Mountain on the 14tli of September. While 
Reno's attack was progressing in front, Duryee's brigade was ordered 
to the extreme right, and charged up the mountain side, the 104th 
leading the attack through nettles and tangled underbrush, and over 
steep and ragged rocks, with an impetuosity so great that they had 
gained the crest of the hill and secured a position on the flank of the 
enemy almost before it occurred to the latter that they were in danger 
of an attack from that quarter, and this, coupled with the partial suc- 
cess of the attack in front, caused a precipitate retreat of the Rebels 
from that part of the battlefield. 

On the evening of the 10th of September position was taken upon the 
field at Antietam, and the men lay down upon their arms for a few 
hours. At early dawn the line was formed and the attack began 



436 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

under the immediate eye of Gen. Hooker. Duryee's Brigade had 
been designated as reserve the night before, but now found itself 
up on the front and without any reserve. Advancing steadily, in a po- 
sition absolutely without any shelter, they were met with a terrific 
storm of iron and lead, which at last rendered it beyond the power of 
mortal men to advance further, and the men lay down for temporary 
shelter. Twice they were driven sullenly back, but rallying again 
each time with desperate energy, they again advanced and held their 
line until the arrival of reinforcements, about 10 a. m., when they 
were withdrawn. Near the close of the afternoon the severity of the 
enemy's cannonade betokened an immediate advance of the Rebel 
forces, and the 104th with other regiments were hurried forward into 
position to repel the attack. Rut none came, and so ended the battle, 
a drawn game, in what should have been a great Union victory, had 
the other corps carried out their orders with the punctuality and vigor 
which characterized the attack of Hooker's Corps. The loss in this 
engagement was killed 9, wounded 67. 

To this period of marches and battles succeeded the inactivity of 
camp life at Mercersville, Md.. until the 26th of October, when anoth- 
er forward movement began, and crossing again into Virginia, the 
7th of December found the regiment on the banks of the Rappa- 
hannock River, a few miles below Fredericksburg. During these 
marches Gen. McClellan had been relieved from, and Gen. Burnside 
placed in command of the army; Major Gen. John F. Reynolds 
was now Corps Commander; Brig. Gen. John Gibbon was in com- 
mand of the Division, and Col. A. R. Root of the 94th N. Y. V. 
of the Brigade, while Col. Prey had succeeded Major Skinner in the 
command of the regiment. 

Crossing the river on the 12th, the regiment went into action below 
Fredericksburg on the 13th of December. The brigade, having been 
in reserve, was ordered to drive the enemy out of a sunken railroad 
track, which they did by a gallant bayonet charge, capturing about 
200 prisoners and driving the Rebels far into the woods beyond. 
Coolly reforming the regimental line, which had been broken by the 
impetuosity of the assault, the regiment moved to the right of the 
brigade and there held its position till ordered to retire, which was 
done slowly and in good order, removing all wounded. 

The loss of the regiment at Fredericksburg was, killed 5, wounded 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 437 

45, missing 3, of which latter number 2 were afterward ascertained to 
have been killed. 

During the night of the 14th of December the army was silently 
withdrawn to the north bank of the river, and after a fevi^ days of 
waiting in temporary camps, the division of which the regiment formed 
part was sent into winter quarters near Belle Plain, Virginia, where 
it remained until about the first of May following, the quiet of the 
winter being only once interrupted by that episode, known ever since 
as "Burnside's Mud March," which took place on the 20th day of 
January, 1863. 

On the 28th of April the regiment left winter quarters and soon 
arrived at almost precisely the same point on the Rappahannock 
River where it crossed before the battle of Fredericksburg, and there 
a part of the first corps was thrown across the river under the com- 
mand of Gen. Wadsworth, while the rest of the corps, including this 
regiment, remained in reserve upon the north bank until the forenoon 
of May 2d, when the whole corps was dispatched to reinforce the 
portion of the army under Gen. Hooker, who was then in position at 
Chancellorsville, leaving Gen. Sedgwick with the sixth corps at 
Fredericksburg. Just as the men had gone into bivouac, after cross- 
ing the river at United States Ford, there came a sudden order to 
move at once and rapidly to the front, still a couple of miles distant, 
and as they went forward through the gloom and dusk of the evening 
they learned of the disaster which had occurred to the eleventh corps 
and of its precipitate and inglorious retreat. The ground which had 
been lost was gradually retaken from the Rebels who, dispirited by the 
loss of Jackson, had fallen back. On the early morning of May 5th 
the river was recrossed, and the march continued toward Fredericks- 
burg. Again the regiment went into camp near the bank of the 
river at White Oak Church, and remained there until the middle of 
June, when the movement began that culminated in Gettysburg. 

Nothing noteworthy occurred with reference to the march of the 
regiment, until the order came on the 28th of June, announcing that 
Gen. !Meade had relieved Hooker, and was in command of the army. 
At this time the regiment had crossed the Potomac, arriving at 
Frederick City, Maryland, on the evening of the 29th, and pressed 
on from there to Gettysburg, where it arrived in the early morning 
of July 1st. Buford's cavalry command was already engaged with 



438 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the enemy at some distance beyond Seminary Ridge, and the several 
divisions of the corps — AVadsworth's leading — were hurried forward to 
his support. But almost with the first dash of the infantry forces oc- 
curred the great disaster of the day — the death of Gen. Reynolds, the 
corps commander. It is doubtful, however, even if he had been spared 
to direct the battle of the first day, if it would have resulted different- 
ly in its main features, as the disparity in the forces so rapidly in- 
creased, that by the middle of the afternoon the Union army was 
outnumbered almost three to one. With a persistence and tenacity 
worthy of all praise, the first corps clung to the line of Seminary 
Ridge, prolonging the line of battle towards the right by utilizing 
all the reserve, until at last the whole corps was in one line of battle, 
the 104th being upon the e.xtreme right and resting upon the Mum- 
masburgh Pike, at some distance beyond which were deployed two 
divisions of the eleventh corps. All along the line of Seminary 
Rid.;e, from ten o'clock in the forenoon until after four o'clock in the 
afternoon, waged a hotly contested battle; our forces bravely hold- 
ing their own, and the heavy reinforcements enabling the enemy to 
obtain closer and better positions. 

During the last hour of this time the loss to the regiment had been 
severe, as it was subjected to an enfilading fire of the enemy at close 
range, under which the coolness and steadiness of the men were 
worthy of all praise. At last, however, the advance of Ewell's fresh 
corps along the York and Carlisle roads drove back, with some loss 
and much confusion, the divisions of the eleventh corps which were 
on the right, and gave to the Rebel hosts free access to the flank and 
rear of the first corps. Slowly and sullenly it fell back upon the 
city, preserving its order substantially until the retiring forces be- 
came massed in the streets, closely followed by the Rebel infantry, 
which had poured in their fire with deadly effect, producing a good 
deal of confusion as different commands became entangled in the now 
hurried retreat, and by a sudden dash of the Rebel forces a good 
many prisoners were taken just as the rear of our troops entered the 
streets of the city. Soon, however, Cemetery Hill was reached, upon 
which Gen. Howard had placed one of his divisions supported by 
several batteries, and behind these the remnant of the first corps 
withdrew to gather itself together. Here was presented a pitiful 
scene, three officers and forty-three men only of the regiment answer- 



HISTORY OF LIMNGSTON COUNTY 439 

ing to their names at the first roll-call. The number from the regi- 
ment killed in the whole battle was fifteen; wounded, eighty-six, and 
missing", mostly taken prisoners, ninety-four; at least nine tenths of 
these casualties occurred on the first day. During the rest of the 
battle the first corps was held in reserve, brigades and regiments be- 
ing thrown in here and there, as they were needed, and thus it hap- 
pened that the brigade took a part in the first fierce struggle on th6 
evening of the 2d of July, when Sickles' corps was almost over- 
whelmed, and again on the 3d it was called upon to occupy suc- 
cessively several distinct points where danger seemed to be great; 
finally taking part in the repulse of Pettigrew's division in the after- 
noon, and being in plain sight of the wonderful charge made by 
Pickett's division. On the night of the 3d of July the battle was 
over. Soon the Union Army resumed its former position along the 
Rappahannock river in Virginia, and for many months no event of 
importance occurred. 

Before the winter of 1865 set in nearly two hundred and fifty recruits 
were added to the regiment to fill up the shattered ranks, and half 
that number of its men re-enlisted as "Veteran Vokinteers." All 
thought of further movement was for the time abandoned, and at- 
tention was given to making a proper disposition of the army for its 
own protection and for comfortable winter quarters. To this end, 
the brigade, of which the 104th formed a part, was moved forward 
about December 20th to Mitchell's Station, in the immediate vicinity 
of the Cedar Mountain battlefield, where it did outpost and picket 
duty far in advance of the rest of the army, until the opening of the 
spring of 18'i4. In the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, 
made during the winter, the first corps ceased to exist, and the regi- 
ment became a part of the fifth corps. Gen. G. K. Warren in command. 

About the first of May, 1864, signs of an immediate movement of the 
army became apparent, and on the 4th of that month the Army of the 
Potomac, scattered from the point occupied by the brigade to which the 
104th belonged back to Centreville, was put in motion in a vigorous 
movement "on to Richmond." The 5th corps, of which the regiment 
then formed a part, lying nearest to the Rapidan, had the advance, 
crossing that river at Germania Ford about noon, and directing its 
march towards Chancellorsville, reaching a point known as"01d Wild- 
erness Tavern" in the evening and bivouacking there. 



440 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

To follow the history of the regiment through the forty days which 
succeeded this, would be but to repeat the history of the army. Tak- 
ing an honorable and active part in the battles of the Wilderness, 
the several engagements at Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna 
River and Bethesda Church, as the flanking movement went on, it so 
happened that at Cold Harbor the regiment in common withHhe whole 
5th corps, had but little part in the unsuccessful struggle there. But in 
the forty-three days which elapsed between the crossing of the Rapidan 
and James rivers, there were but five days in which the regiment was 
not under fire, though not of course actually engaged with the enemy 
everyday. The total losses during this time were, killed 6; wounded 
37; missing 3. At least one-third of the men composing the regi- 
ment, when it began the movement just detailed, were recruits who 
had joined in the fall of 1864 and had consequently never been under 
fire before, but by its end they too had become veterans. 

On the 16th of June the regiment crossed the James and was hur- 
ried forward to the front of Petersburg, in the hope that by a sudden 
attack the city might be captured before Lee had divined the move- 
ment and was able to send reinforcements. An attack had been 
made, however, on the 15th by the corps under the command of Gen. 
W. F. Smith, which had been successful in carrying the defences on 
the south of the city, garrisoned by a feeble handful of troops, and 
there was nothing to prevent the capture of the city, when suddenly 
about 7 P. M. the advance was suspended until next morning, and 
during the night Rebel reinforcements from Lee's army poured in, and 
a hastily constructed inner line of earthworks confronted it upon its 
arrival. On the morning of the 18th the regiment was moved to the 
right, and to the 104th N. Y. and the 12th Mass. was given the task 
of capturing the Petersburg & Norfolk Railroad, which they did in 
splendid style, in the face of a heavy artillery fire at short range, the 
charge of the 104th on that occasion being probably the most 
brilliant achievement in its entire service. Not content with cap- 
turing the railroad, they pushed forward to a considerable distance be- 
yond, and then, deploying as skirmishers, drove the Rebel skirmishers 
inside of their earthworks, and for a time, by picking off the e.vposed 
artillerymen, silenced the battery which had so annoyed them during 
the charge, enabling the line of battle to take possession of the rail- 
road track without loss. The point where this battery stood 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 441 

was nearly the exact position of the afterwards celebrated "Crater." 
On the 26th of June the regiment again moved "by the right flank" 
to the Jerusalem Plank Road, where its brigade constructed and gar- 
risoned Fort Warren, afterwards officially designated as Fort Davis, 
in the vicinity of these two forts of euphonious designation — Forts 
Hell and Damnation. Here the regiment remained, doing constant 
picket and skirmish duty, but taking no part in the general engagement, 
until about the 18th of August, when it was relieved by a division of 
colored troops, and went of? again "by the right flank," this time in a 
successful attempt to capture and hold the Weldon Railroad. 

The losses from the time the regiment crossed the James River to 
the beginning of the movement upon the Weldon Railroad were, 
killed 6, wounded 32, missing 2; thus making the total loss, from the 
time of the commencement of the Wilderness campaign, about 90 
officers and men, to which depletion must be added the sick, who had 
necessarily been sent away to general hospitals, as no sufficient pro- 
vision could be made for them with the regiments during such active 
campaigning. The total strength of officers and men present for duty 
on the morning of the 18th of August was a little under 200, in addi- 
tion to which the regiment had just received about 100 recruits, who 
were not yet armed, and of course were left behind when the move- 
ment of that day began. On that morning the regiment broke camp, 
and, making a long detour to the south west, struck the Weldon 
Railroad a few miles north of Ream's Station, and took possession 
of it for several miles with but little opposition. This secured and 
partially destroyed, it began on August 19th to take position across 
the railroad with a view of holding it permanently and more effec- 
tually cutting off the supplies furnished to the Rebel army in Peters- 
burg from North Carolina and Eastern Virginia. 

The division of the 5th corps, to which the regiment belonged, then 
commanded by Gen. S. W. Crawford, held the right of the line of the 
corps, and its brigade was on the e.xtreme right of the division. A 
gap of about two miles was left between the main army and the 
right of the 5th corps, which was to have been protected and occupied 
by the 9th corps. That command was, however, dilatory in reaching 
its position, and the Rebels, with their perfect knowledge of the 
ground, seeing the opening, immediately thrust Mahone's division 
through the gap, concealed by the dense woods, until it reached the 



442 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

rear of this brigade. Suspecting some such movement, the 107th Penn- 
sylvania regiment had been ordered out of the trenches, which the 
regiment had hastily constructed, to proceed to the right and by deploy- 
ing as skirmishers prevent any surprise from that quarter until the 9th 
corps could reach their position. But the attack on the front of the 
regiment just at that time was renewed with great vigor, for the pur- 
pose of diverting attention from Mahone's movement; the order was 
not obeyed, and the officer commanding that regiment was obliged to 
report that he was unable to perform the movement. The 104th 
N. Y., was then ordered out for the same purpose, and without a 
moment's hesitation, under a galling fire, drew out of the trenches 
and began a rapid movement, by the right and rear of the brigade, 
to the point indicated. The route ran through a dense forest filled 
with underbrush, where it was frequently impossible to see more than 
a few yards ahead. After iiaving gone about one-fourth of a mile 
moving by the flank, the regiment suddenly and unexpectedly en- 
countered Mahone's division, by whom they were almost immediately 
surrounded. There was no way of retreat, except as single individ- 
uals might steal away through the underbrush, and no help could be 
expected from any source in time to be of avail, as no one else yet 
knew that Mahone was there. After a few minutes of sharp fighting, 
which was, however, of no avail, and in which a few were wounded 
but none killed, it is believed, every commissioned officer and nearly 
every enlisted man there present were captured and sent into the 
Rebel lines, by the same route over which the Rebels had entered its 
lines, there soon to be joined by over 1,000 men of Crawford's division, 
who were subsequently captured by Mahone in the same rear attack. 
Nine commissioned officers of the 104th being already prisoners in 
the hands of the Rebels (captured mostly at Gettysburg), the regi- 
ment was left absolutely without a single field or line officer present 
for duty, and so remained during the whole fall and winter follow- 
ing. Its ranks were filled by recruits, until it again numbered about 
250 enlisted men present for duty. Capt. Graham, of the 39th Mass., 
was assigned to its command, and the regiment was ordered on duty 
at corps headquarters, where it remained until after Lee's surrender. 
About the last of April, 1865, the regiment was restored to its former 
brigade, and accompanied the army on its return to the vicinity of 
Washington, where it remained without further incident of note until 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 443 

the 17th day of July, when it was mustered out of the service of the 
United States and ordered to Elmira. N. Y., there to be paid off and 
finally discharged, all of which was accomplished on the 29th day of 
the same month, and the regiment then ceased to exist. 

The following is a list of the officers of the regiment at the time of 
its muster out, viz: 

Colonel, John R. Strang. 

Major, William C. Wilson. 

Surgeon, Charles H. Richmond. 

Chaplain, Alfred C. Roe. 

Co. A, Captain, Cornelius Timpson. 1st Lieut. Theron W. 
Cookingham. 

Co. B, Captain, Adam Dixon. 1st Lieut. James Cullen. 

Co. C, Captain Jasper M. Griggs. 1st Lieut. Francis S. Bates. 

Co. D, Captain . 1st Lieut. Alvah Lard. 

Co. E, Captain, William L. Trembly. 1st Lieut. Francis Palmer. 

Co. F, Captain, Austin N. Richardson. 

Co. G, Captain, James A. Gault. 

Co. H, Captain , 1st Lieut. Joseph C. Cury. 

Co. I, Captain . 

Co. K, Captain, Edwin A. Tuthill. 1st Lieut. John R. Jarvis. 2d 
Lieut. Charles L. Isaacs.^ 

THE 104TH REGIMENT AT GETTYSBURG. 

An address delivered by Colonel John R. Strang, at the dedication 
of the monument of that Regiment, at Gettysburg, Sept. 4, 1888. 

Comrades and Friends: 

We stand to-day upon one of the great and historic battlefields of 
the world. Great, both in the size of the armies engaged and the 
casualties they sustained ; historic in the results of the contest here 
waged, which marked the beginning of the overthrow of treason and 
rebellion, and the restoration of peace to a reunited country. Here 
the tide of armed rebellion reached high-water mark, and, though 
Hearing success, was flung back in ruin and defeat. 

And it is one of the proud memories of our lives that we had a part 
in that defeat. For that reason we are here today, to commemorate 
by the aid of a grateful Commonwealth the part we had in the con- 

2. The foregoing sketch of the 104th is takeu from the address of Colonel John R. Strang, of 
Gencsto, delivered at the regimental reunion at Silver I^ake, August 26, 1879. 



444 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

flict which raged over these hills, along these walls, and in this very 
grove, and to dedicate this monument to the memory of those who 
here gave their lives and shed their blood for their country, and for 
the preservation and establishment of liberty and freedom throughout 
all of its broad States, from sea to sea, and from the great lakes to 
the gulf. 

It is no small thing, my comrades, to have such a memory in our 
lives; to know that we had a part, not small nor inconsequential, in 
the deeds which were done here. True, we did not win the fight ; 
but none the less it is true that the desperate valor and heroic tenacity 
of the First Corps upon this ground, made it possible for the re- 
mainder of the Army of the Potomac to reach that position upon 
Cemetery Hill which the keen eye and soldierly instinct of Hancock 
selected for the field of battle, where the fight was fought and won. 
Were it not for the First Corps the name of Gettysburg itself would 
be unknown in the annals of the war, except as the location of a 
skirmish between the Union cavalry and Lee's advancing forces. 

On the 1st day of July, 1863, the First Corps of the Army of the 
Potomac stood along this hill, few in number as compared with the 
Rebel forces which confronted it, yet firm in the patriotism which 
endowed it, and in the determination to hold its position until the 
needed reinforcements should arrive. It was driven back, but not de- 
feated; more than decimated, but not demoralized. Its trusted com- 
mander, Reynolds, and many brave officers and men freely gave their 
lives, or suffered cruel wounds; but honor was preserved. Not until 
the ever increasing hosts of Lee's army pressed upon it from front, flank 
and rear, did it slowly retire through the town to Cemetery Hill, fighting 
its way with such desperate courage and stubborn tenacity, that the 
Rebel forces, though outnumbering it more than three to one, did not 
dare that night to follow up the success they had so hardly won. 

This is the one great battlefield of the War of the Rebellion which 
has, by apparently unanimous consent, been chosen to signalize by 
appropriate governmental action, the patriotism, valor and fortitude 
of the Union army. Grateful States have vied with each other in 
the erection of monuments to commemorate the valor of the living, 
and to perpetuate the memory of the patriot dead; and ere long the 
principal positions of each distinct command which took part in this 
great conflict will be designated by monument and tablet of granite 
or of bronze. But even these monuments, enduring as the skill of 
mtin can make them, shall crumble into dust before the pen of history 
shall have ceased to record what was done here. 

The One Hundred and Fourth Regiment of New York Infantry 
whose monument we dedicate to-day, was a part of the First Brigade, 
Second Division, First Army Corps. Willing volunteers who came 
because their country needed them and called, its members left the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 445 

farms, the fields, the shops and the homes where their boyhood had 
been spent, and became true American soldiers. Veterans they had 
been made on the fields of Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg and 
Chancellorsville; inured to the hardships of the march and camp, and 
the exposure of the picket line, on this field they illustrated the 
patriotism which possessed them, and with a devotion to their coun- 
try and the cause for which they fought, clung to this hill until sup- 
port to the right and left of them was gone, and then slowly retired, 
fighting as they went. 

The regiment had become reduced in numbers, so that only about 
330 officers and men were in line when the battle began; and of that 
number nearly two-thirds did not return with thecorpsover Cemetery 
Hill that night, but are accounted for by the figures upon this monu- 
ment, — 11 killed, 91 wounded, 92 captured and missing. These 
figures are taken from the official report made at that time, to which 
we are confined by the rules of the Commission, and before it was 
possible to ascertain the fate of many who were reported wounded or 
missing, as we had no access to this portion of the battlefield, nor to 
the hospitals in the town until the 5th day of July. The actual loss 
of the regiment, as finally ascertained, and including the casualties of 
the second and third days' battles, Avas: killed in action or died of 
wounds, 25; other wounded officers, 8; enlisted men, 73; captured or 
missing, and not otherwise accounted for, 93; making a total of 199. 

Of the killed and wounded 7 belonged to the color guard, which 
consisted of 8 men, one only escaping unhurt. Color Sergt. Maurice 
Buckingham of Company C was shot dead early in the engagement, 
and Color Sergt. William H. Shea of Company I was mortally 
wounded. The State flag presented to the regiment by Mrs. General 
Wadsworth was borne in safety from the field by Sergt. David E. 
Curtis of Company D notwithstanding he was slightly wounded; and 
he afterwards carried it, until severely wounded at Spottsylvania. 
The United States colors were passed from one to another as the 
bearers were successively killed or wounded, until they came into the 
hands of Sergt. Moses Wallace of Company E, by whom they were 
torn from the staff and destroyed to prevent capture by the enemy. 
Lieut. Thomas Johnston of Company D was the only officer killed, 
and while it is impracticable here to give the names of all those who 
were killed or severely wounded, I may mention in the latter class the 
names of Lieut. Col. H. G. Tuthili, Capt. H. A. Wiley and Lieut. 
James Vv'. Dow, without invidious distinction. 

It would be impossible for me to give, after so long a time, a clear 
and detailed statement of the movements of the regiment during the 
whole of the battle, for on the second and third days the corps was 
used in fragments by brigades and divisions, here and there, as the 
pressing need for reinforcements seemed to require. On the evening 



446 HISTORY (W LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of the second day, our division had a part in recovering the line, and 
saving some of the artillery near the "Peach Orchard," where Gener- 
al Sickles' desperate engagements had taken place just before. On 
the third day we were just in rear of Cemetery Hill during the furi- 
ous cannonade, which none of us who were there will ever forget, and 
at its close were rapidly moved to the right, and then across Cemetery 
Hill to the left, arriving there just in time to see Pettigrew's Rebel 
Division, which was to have supported Picket, broken and put to flight 
by our artillery fire, and to witness as silent but an.xious spectators 
a part of the splendid charge of Pickett's Division, and its crushing 
repulse by the Second Corps. 

But my memory of the fir^^t day's scenes is tolerably clear, and hav- 
ing refreshed it by the recollection of others, among whom I may men- 
tion Colonel Prey and Captain Starr, it has seemed to me appropriate 
to recount those scenes more fully here. We had bivouacked, for a 
day or two before the battle, in the vicinity of I^mmettsburg, Md., 
leaving there in the early morning of July 1st, under the command of 
Gen. John F. Reynolds, with orders to proceed to Gettysburg. Before 
reaching the town, General Reynolds learned that Butord's Cavalry 
was already engaged with Rebel infantry and needed support. So 
we were pushed on as rapidly as possible, our brigade having the rear 
of the corps that day, and coming in sight of Seminary Ridge about 
11 o'clock in the forenoon, we learned that General Reynolds had been 
killed. Wadsworth's and Doubleday's Divisions were already en- 
gaged, and our division, under General Robinson, was placed in reserve 
near the Seminary building, being employed for a part of the time 
until afternoon in the construction of temporary breastworks from 
rails and other movable materials, a little to the west of the building. 

The rapid and continuous advance of the Rebel force under Gen. A. 
P. Hill, from the west, and General Ewell, from the north, soon made 
it necessary to extend our line of battle to the north, in order to cover 
the Mummasburg Road, alcng which Ewell's forces, if unopposed, would 
gain the right and rear of the First Corps and cut it off from the 
town. Ab.nit 1 o'clock the Second Brigade of our division, under 
General Baxter, was thus used to prolong the line of battle to the 
right, along the ridge and to the west of it, finding the Rebel troops 
alreadv nearing, and in position to prevent their further advance 
along the road. At about the same time the Eleventh Corps began to 
arrive upon the field, and leaving a division upon Cemetery Hill as a 
reserve, two of its divisions were pushed out on the north of the town 
to oppose the expected advance of Ewell's Corps from that direction. 
This disposition left a long space between the right of the First 
Corps and the left of the Eleventh, and right through the middle of 
that space ran this Mummasburg Road, by which Rode's Division of 
Ewell's Corps was seeking to reach the town. Iverson's Rebel Bri- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 447 

gade had the advance down the road, but was handsomely repulsed by 
Baxter's Brigade, aided by Cutler's Brigade of Wadsworth's Division, 
a large part of Iverson's men being killed wounded or captured. 
The check was, however, only temporary, and reinforced by the bri- 
gades of Daniel and O'Neal the Rebels again advanced, and partly 
seized the stone wall running along the ridge, southerly from the road. 

To repel their attack and hold the line at this point, the First Bri- 
gade under General Paul, which was the sole remaining reserve of the 
First Corps, was double-quicked to the right, and ordered to take 
position to the right of Baxter's Brigade, faring partly to the west 
and partly to the north. The Thirteenth Massachusetts was on the 
right of the brigade, with our regiment ne.Kt to it. Coming rapidly 
into line we encountered a destructive fire from the Rebel forces shel- 
tered in the grove and behind the stone wall, and a considerable part 
of our loss in killed and wounded was sustained while we were in this 
position. Finally, under the personal lead of Colonel Prey, we charged 
over the stone wall, dislodging and driving back the Rebel forces in 
confusion, quite a number of prisoners being taken by the companies 
of our regiment under conmiand of Captains Wiley and Di.xon. It 
was now nearly 3 o'clock, and the whole plain to the north and west 
of the town seemed to be filled with the advancing Rebel forces. The 
angle between the First and Eleventh Corps was once more made the 
scene of a determined attack, but without success, the Rebels being 
driven back. We followed them for a short distance beyond the wall, 
retiring immediately, however, to our former position, in view of their 
overpowering numbers, and keeping up a constant and well-directed 
musketry fire upon such of them as were within reach. The brunt of 
this attack fell mainly upon our brigade; but we were aided in re- 
pulsing it by the enfilading fire from two of the regiments of Ba.xter's 
Brigade. 

Prior to this time General Paul had been severely wounded, Ibsing the 
sight of both eyes. The two senior colonels were successively wound- 
ed, and the brigade had been practically without any commander for 
some time, until at this point Colonel Prey took command by order 
of General Robinson, and retained it until the close of the first day's 
engagement. 

An open space of 300 yards or more still remained between the right 
of the First Corps and the left of the Eleventh, perceiving which, 
part of Rodes' Division was massed for attack under shelter of the 
Mc Lean buildings and shrubbery, north of the Mummasburg Road. 
We had no reserve left to fill this gap, and I was now directed by Col- 
onel Prey to find the nearest brigade or division commander of the 
Eleventh Corps, and represent to him the position of affairs, and the 
danger which was apparent, that the enemy thus massing at Mc- 
Lean's would penetrate our lines through this opening, which if dong 



448 HISTORY OF LIVIXGvSTON COUNTY 

in sufficient force would immediately render the position of both corps 
untenable. I was unable to find either of those commanders, but de- 
livered my message to a staff officer and the commanding officer of 
the nearest Eleventh Corps troops, and then returned to the regiment. 
Before reaching it, on looking back, I saw that the right of the 
Eleventh Corps was rapidly being driven back, and its brigade near- 
est us was changing front to the right, in order to protect its flank and 
line of retreat, instead of coming to our aid. The anticipated advance 
upon our right immediately took place, and being left without any 
protection on that flank, we were subjected to a murderous enfilading 
fire, and obliged to fall back and change front to the right in order to 
protect our rear. The Rebel advance from the west was also renewed 
with resistless numbers. Gen. A. P. Hill's Corps, comprising about 
one-third of Lee's army, closing in upon the First Corps from that 
direction, while two divisions of Ewell's Corps assailed us from the 
north. We were slowly driven back to the town and through its 
streets, and having been at the extreme right of the corps, a good 
many of our men were cut off and captured before they could reach 
the town. 

Arriving at the rear of Cemetery Hill about 6 o'clock, we gathered 
together what remained of our regiment and found that we numbered 
3 officers and 43 men. Of course, in the con-fusion of the retreat a good 
many men had become separated from their commands. Others who 
had been cut off and captured in the streets or in the hospitals where 
they had gone with wounded friends, made their escaf)e and rejoined 
us, so that on the morning of the second day our numbers 'had in- 
creased to about lOU officers and men. According to General Robin- 
son's report the total loss of our division in the first day's figlit was 
l,fifiO out of about 2,.S()0 engaged, or two-thirds of the whole command. 

Comrades, I have thus given you in a brief, and perhaps somewhat 
imperfect way, the record of our regiment on that eventful day. I 
am proud of it, and so is each one of you. We did our duty and we 
did it well. Many of our best and bravest officers and men went down 
to death that day, giving their young lives for their country and the 
flag they loved so well ; many more received grievous wounds from 
which they are yet suffering; others, by the fortune of war, were pris- 
oners in the hands of the enemy, and after days of alternate hope and 
fear, as they were held almost in sight of the battlefield, were at last 
hurried along across the Potomac and into the horrible prison pens at 
Richmond, Salisbury, and Andersonville, where starvation and disease 
were more deadly than the storm of iron and lead upon the battlefield, 
and where even death was welcomed as a benefactor. 

We gather here today at the end of a quarter of a century, proud in 
the memory of the past; thankful to God for the results of the day we 
commemorate, and rejoicing as we realize all that our favored land is 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 449 

to us, a worth)' heritage to those who fought and bled for her, and 
to their children to all generations. The day is not without its feeling 
of sadness, as we recall the names of the patriot dead and the deeds 
which they did here. The ties were strong which bound us together 
as we stood side by side in many battles, and endured the trials and 
privations of a soldier's life. Instinctively our eyes and our thoughts 
turn to yonder beautiful but silent city of the dead, where so many of 
our comrades lie, filling honorable, though they may be unknown, 
graves. We dedicate to their memory this stone of enduring granite, 
and we give it over to the care and keeping of our great State of New 
York. Watch over it tenderly, O Empire State! Crown it with 
flowers on each Memorial Day, and with laurel for the deeds of the 
living and the dead, as we, who were friends and comrades, keep their 
memory green, until, one by one, we are gathered home, and greet 
each other upon the distant shore of eternal peace and rest. 



EIGHTH NEW YORK VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 

On July 22, 1861, the day after the Bull Run disaster, a tidal wave 
of patriotism rolled over the entire North from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific coast, leaving its impress on every loyal heart, and a deep-seat- 
ed feeling that the Rebellion must be put down and the Union pre- 
served intact, regardless of cost, in treasure and precious lives. 
On that day two members of Company F, Fifty-fourth Regiment, New 
York State Militia (Rochester City Dragoons), met on the street in 
Rochester, and, as a matter of course, conversation turned on the sub- 
ject that was uppermost in all minds. Both expressing the intention 
of adding their mite by offering their services, and lives if necessary, 
in the preservation of the Union, one suggested the feasibility of re- 
cruiting a regiment of cavalry. They parted to meet the next day, 
and after a few meetings and discussions the two men went to Albany 
to interview Governor Morgan. They received authority from him to 
raise a regiment of cavalry to serve three years, or during the war. 
They returned to Rochester and immediately opened a recruiting of- 
fice. They secured the county fair grounds and buildings for barracks 
and camps. 

Ten companies were organized, drilled and mustered into the 
United States service November 23, 1861. November 28th, the reg- 
iment left Rochester for Washington under command of Col. Samuel 



450 " HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

J. Crooks, where it remained as [part of the force in defence of the 
Capital until March 9, 1862. 

During this time rumors werelJrife that the military authorities 
thought they were getting more cavalry than was needed, and that a 
number of regiments which had not been mounted would be disband- 
ed or reorganized as infantry. Colonel Crooks having resigned, the 
officers arrived at the conclusion that if some cavalry officer of the reg- 
ular army, of well-known ability, were appointed to the command of the 
regiment it would enhance the prospect of their retention as amounted 
organization. They unanimously joined in a request to General Stone- 
man, then in command of the cavalry, to recommend some tried officer 
of this description for the colonelcy, setting forth the fact that the regi- 
ment was composed of a superior body of men, and, if fully equipped 
and commanded by an officer of well-known skill, it would be a credit 
to the army and^ render efficient service to the country. He com- 
mended their course and complied with the request. The wisdom of 
this action on the part of the officers was fully demonstrated after- 
wards by the glorious career of the regiment. 

March 9, 1862, the regiment broke camp at Washington, and was 
placed on guard along the upper Potomac and canal from Edwards 
Ferry to Point of Rocks. April 6th it was ordered to Harper's Ferry 
and guarded the railroad from that point to Winchester until May 24th, 
the time of Banks' retreat before Jackson, when it fell back to Harper's 
Ferry. In anticipation of an attack on this place the men volunteered 
for this occasion to take muskets and help defend the place. They 
were furnished with muskets and forty rounds of ammunition, and in 
this shape marched up to Bolivar Heights and took position on the ex- 
treme right of the line of battle there formed, and were the last recall- 
ed when the line was withdrawn the same night. 

They were then posted on Maryland Heights where they were en- 
gaged in picket duty until about the 23d of June, when they were 
ordered to Relay House, near Baltimore, for the purpose of being 
mounted and fully equipped. Here they were joined by Capt. B. F. 
Davis, of the First U. S. Cavalry, who had been commissioned as 
colonel of the Eighth New York Cavalry, at the request of the officers 
of the regiment, upon the recommendation of General Stoneman. The 
regiment remained at Relay House, the men drilling assiduously until 
the fore part of September, when they were ordered to Harper's Ferry, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 451 

from which point they were daily reconnoitering up to the night of the 
14th of September, when they accomplished their ever memorable es- 
cape from that place. 

Harper's Ferry at this time being completely invested on all sides, 
and it being a foregone conclusion that the place would surrender, 
Colonel Davis received the reluctant consent of Colonel Miles, who 
was in command, to make the attempt at saving the cavalry by with- 
drawing them and forcing their way through the enemy's lines. Soon 
after dark on the night of the 14th of September, the Eighth New York 
Cavalry, the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry and a portion of the First Mary-- 
land Cavalry, all under command of Colonel Davis, crossed the pon- 
toon bridge to the Maryland side of thePotomac and commenced their 
perilous night march. A little before daylight on the morning of the 
15th, they captured Longstreet's ammunition train on the Hagerstown 
Pike, about three miles from Williamsport, which they turned and 
hurried along at breakneck speed for Greencastle, Pa. , reaching there 
about the middle of the forenoon. Then, proceeding more leisurely, 
the train, consisting of some 75 to SO wagons and some 300 horses and 
mules, moved on to Chambersburg. The brigade rested at Greencastle 
that night, and on the next day joined McClellan on the battlefield of 
Antietam. Colonel Davis was brevetted major, U. S. A., on the rec- 
ommendation of General McClellan, for conspicuous conduct in the 
management of the withdrawal of the cavalry from Harper's Ferry at 
the surrender of that place. 

About the 1st of October the regiment took the advance along with 
other cavalry in pursuit of the Rebel army, which was falling back to 
the Rappahannock River, by way of the Shenandoah. \'alley, and 
the turnpike leading south on the west side of the Blue Ridge Moun- 
tains. After crossing the Potomac River at Berlin, the first engage- 
ment in which the regiment participated was at Snickersville, on the 
27th day of October, 1862, when it dashed boldly up the Pike leading 
through the Gap. It had barely covered a quarter of the distance to 
the Gap when a concealed battery opened on them with canister and 
compelled them to fall back, which they did in good order. 

Then came in rapid succession the engagements at Philomont, Union- 
ville, Upperville, Barbee's Cross Roads, Sulphur Springs, Amissville, 
Corbin's Cross Roads and Jefferson. Those of Philomont, Unionville, 
Upperville, Amissville and Jefferson were sharp skirmishes in which 



452 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the regiment lost quite largely in killed and wounded; while that at 
Barbee's Cross Roads was a savage one while it lasted, and first gave 
the regiment that confidence in itself which it afterwards maintained 
to the close of the war. It was the first fair charge of cavalry against 
cavalry of any magnitude in which it had engaged, and the enemy was 
completely routed. 

A part of the regiment was dismounted and sent ahead to skirmish 
and dislodge a portion of the Rebels who were also fighting dismounted 
and endeavoring to hold our advance in check. While our dismounted 
men were skirmishing behind a stone wall, Colonel Davis led the re- 
mainder over a small knoll and formed them in a hollow, out of 
sight of the enemy. They were but just formed when a large regiment 
of Rebel cavalry came charging down upon them. Before the Rebels 
had reached the brow of the knoll the command "Charge!" was given, 
and in a moment the mounted part of the regiment charged so unex- 
pectedly and so impetuously that the enemy broke and fled in the 
wildest disorder, leaving many of their number in our hands, dead, 
wounded or prisoners. An extract from General McClellan's report 
of this engagement reads: "A largely superior force charged Colonel 
Davis' Eighth New York Cavalry, but were gallantly met and repulsed. " 

At Jefferson the regiment participated in its last engagement for the 
year 1862. The weather was growing quite cold, and the men w-ere 
not as yet furnished with shelter tents. They were obliged to lie out 
all night on the damp ground, and nearly all the time were denied the 
privilege of fire. Their sufferings were not inconsiderable. But they 
were made happy by being ordered into regular camp at Belle Plain, 
from whence they were sent at intervals to do picket duty on the Rap- 
pahannock River, which formed the dividing line between the two 
armies. 

At an early date in 1863 active operations again began on the part 
of the regiment which had been strengthened by the addition of three 
new companies, recruited at Rochester by Maj. William H. Benjamin 
during August, September and October, 1862, he having been detailed 
from the regiment for this duty. Up to June 9, 1863, the day of the 
cavalry fight at Beverly Ford, the Eighth Cavalry had participated in 
fourteen different engagements of more or less importance, losing in 
killed, wounded and missing about SO men, the greater part of the 
losses occurring at Independence Hill, March 5th, and Freeman's Ford, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 453 

April 15th. At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville they were en- 
gaged several days in operations around the right flank of our own and 
the left flank of the Rebel army, coming inside of our line over the 
breastworks on the extreme right a little before sunset May 4th, and 
that night fell back with the main body of the army. 

The great cavalry battle at Beverly Ford, June 9, 1863, deserves 
special mention. In this battle the regiment took the leading part, 
and lost more men in killed and wounded than any other regiment en- 
gaged. Before it was fairly light they dashed across the Ford and in- 
to the very midst of the Rebel camps. During the whole fight the 
Eighth was in the thickest of it, winning much glory, but at the ex- 
pense of many gallant officers and men. It was here, and in the first 
dash, that the gallant Colonel Davis fell mortally wounded at the head 
of his regiment. His loss was deeply deplored, not by his own regi- 
ment alone, but by the entire cavalry corps. Lieut. Col. William L. 
^larkell was promoted to the vacancy, and became colonel of the regi- 
ment. From Beverly Ford to Gettysburg the regiment was marching 
and skirmishing almost daily. 

Late in the afternoon of June 30lh, the regiment, leading the ad- 
vance of the First Brigade, First Division, Cavalry Corps, entered 
Gettysburg, passed through the town, and bivouacked near the Semi- 
nary in an open field on the left of the Cashtown Pike, from which one 
squadron, advancing about a mile, established a picket line across and 
on both sides of the Cashtown Road. About 7 o'clock on the next 
morning, July 1st, the officer commanding the squadron on picket 
gave notice that the enemy^^in strong force was advancing on his pick- 
ets from the direction of Cashtown. The brigade was formed in line 
of battle as soon as possible about a mile in front of the Seminary, 
and three squadrons deployed as skirmishers were advanced to the sup- 
port of the picket line now being driven back by the enemy. 

The fighting soon became general and sharp along the whole line, 
our skirmishers stubbornly resisting every inch of the enemy's advance, 
although the Confederates were there in overpowering numbers. In 
a short time the line was compelled to fall back to the next ridge, less 
than a quarter of a mile in the rear. The skirmishers fighting stub- 
bornly in the meantime behind fences and trees and our artillery do- 
ing good execution, the advance of the enemy was retarded, and this 
line was maintained until about 10 o'clock, when the First Corps, the 



454 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

advance of our infantry, came up and relieved the Cavalry Brigade in 
its unequal contest with the enemy. When we consider that two di- 
visions of Hill's Corps were held in check for three hours by so small a 
cavalry force, it becomes unnecessary to say anything more about their 
gallantry and fighting qualities. The regimental monument of the 
Eighth New. York now stands on the spot the regiment occupied when 
relieved by the First Corps, on what is now known as Reynolds 
Avenue, and a few rods in rear of the spot where General Reynolds 
was killed. 

In the afternoon the enemy, being strongly reinforced, extended 
their flanks, and made a desperate attempt to turn our left. They ad- 
vanced in three strong lines, when our brigrade was ordered forward 
at a trot and deployed. Half of the command was dismounted 
and placed behind a portion of a stone wall on a ridge of woods, with 
the Seminary on our right. The enemy being close upon us, we open- 
ed an effective, rapid fire with our breech-loading carbines, which 
killed and wounded so many of their first line that, after a short, 
heroic struggle to continue and advance, they could stand it no long- 
er and fell back on the second line. Our men kept up the fire until 
the enemy, in overwhelming numbers, approached so near that, in 
order to save our men and horses, we were obliged ti> mount and fall 
back rapidly to the next ridge, carrying our wounded with us. The 
stand we there made against the enemy prevented our left flank 
from being turned, and saved a division of our infantry. 

After Gettysburg, while Lee was falling back toward Richmond, 
our experience was a repetition of that after the Antietam battle, ex- 
cept that the engagements were more frequent and severe. Hanging 
on to Lee's flank, watching every opportunity to harass and punish 
his retreating troops, we were marching and fighting almost daily. 
From Gettysburg, until the last of November, when the active cam- 
paign was closed and the camp established near Culpepper, the reg- 
iment participated in twenty-six different engagements, some of 
which were mere skirmishes and others were quite severe cavalry 
fights, losing in killed, wounded and missing during the time men- 
tioned something over 150 men. On February 27, 1864, Colonel 
Markell resigned, and Lieut. Col. ^\'illiam H. Benjamin succeeded to 
the command. In due time he was commissioned colonel. 

From the beginning of the year 1864 to the time of the battle of the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 455 

Wilderness, the regiment took part in only two engagements; but 
from that time on the predictions of a lively campaign were verified, 
and a day passed without a fight of more or less severity was the excep- 
tion: the regiment distinguished itself by many gallant acts. During 
March, 1864, the regiment, which had up to that time been in the 
First Divison, Cavalry Corps, A. P., became a part of the Second 
Brigade of the Third Division. The regiment accompanied Sheridan 
on the great raid at Richmond, and took an active part in nearly 
every engagement. After the raid it was in three quite severe 
engagements, in one of which, at Hawes Shop, Colonel Benjamin, 
while gallantly leading the regiment, was wounded. 

The Eighth went to Petersburg, and did picket duty in the vicinity 
of Prince^George Court House until the date of General Wilson's raid. 
Accompanying the raid the regiment lost heavily, on June 22d, cut- 
ting its way [through the Rebel right at Ream's Station, on the 23d, 
at Black and Whites, to near Nottoway Court House, where the bri- 
gade being cut off from the main command had an afternoon and all 
night's battle, sustaining a loss of 90 men. On the 24th it succeeded 
in joining]the command at Meherrin Station, on the Danville Rail- 
road; on the 25th, to Roanoke Creek; and at night, to Staunton 
River; 27th, to Meherrin River; 28th, to Stony Creek Station, on the 
Weldon Railroad, in rear of the Rebel lines, where all the afternoon 
and night it was trying to cut its |,way through, but was 
again headed off by the enemy and forced to make its way back 
south nearly to the North Carolina line. After enduring untold 
hardships, it at last found its way into the Union lines, the regi- 
ment losing nearly one-third of its number. 

August 8th, the regiment was shipped to Washington and proceeded 
to Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley, where it was conspicuous 
in all the ''gallant engagements [under Sheridan, and the Eighth 
won special mention from both the division and corps commanders. 

On October 29, the expiration of its term of enlistment, those en- 
titled thereto were ordered to Rochester to be discharged and muster- 
ed out. Many of the men and officers re-enlisted, and, together with 
those whose term had not expired, were consolidated into a battalion of 
eight companies and retained in the service. April .^0, 1865, four new 
companies were formed of recruits mustered in for one and two years, 
and the regimental organization was again completed. Lieut. Col. 



4S6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Edmund ^1. Pope, original captain of Company A, was commissioned 
colonel, February 14th, and he ably commanded the regiment until the 
close of the war. 

On the 27th of February, 1865, the regiment was on the march 
southward from Winchester, and on March 2d. encountering the 
enemy in force at Waynesborough under General Early, a sharp battle 
ensued, resulting in a signal victory for our side, leaving in our hands 
about 1,500 prisoners, 5 pieces of artillery and 10 battle flags. Major 
Compson, who commanded the regiment in this engagement, was 
awarded a Medal of Honor for the capture of a battle flag. The 
Waynesborough affair over, the march to Petersburg was continued, 
and the command took a prominent part in the last and effective cam- 
paign of the war. 

This regiment received the flag of truce sent in by General Lee at 
Appomattox, June 9, 1865. During its term of service it lost in killed, 
wounded and missing 794 men; participated in over 100 engage- 
ments, and earned its enviable reputation on many a hard-fought 
field. But few regiments in the service have furnished as bright a 
page for history as the Eighth New York Volunteer Cavalry.' 

The following-named officers were killed while gallantly fighting in 
the ranks of the regiment: 

Col. Benjamin F. Davis, at Beverly Ford, Va. 

Capt. Benjamin F. Foote, " Beverly Ford, Va. 

Capt. Charles D. Follett, " Gettysburg, Pa. 

Capt. James McNair, * " Nottaway Court House. 

Capt. James A. Sayles, " Nottaway Court House. 

Capt. Asa L. Goodrich, " Namozine Church. 

Lieut. Henry C. Cutler,* " Beverly Ford, Va. 

Lieut. Benjamin C. Efner, " Beverly Ford, \'a. 

Lieut. James E. Reeves, " Beverly Ford, \'a. 

Lieut. Richard S. Taylor, " Strawberry Hill. 

Lieut. Carlos S. Smith, " Broad Run. , 

Lieut. Benjamin F. Chappell, " Five Forks. 

*Both of these officers were from Livingston County. Lieutenant 
Cutler was killed June 9, 1863. Captain McNair was killed June 23, 
1864. 

1. The foregoing sketch of the Eighth N. Y. Cavalry is taken from the address of Colonel 
William I,. Marshall delivered at the dedication of the raouninent of that regiment at Gettysburg, 
June 9, 1889. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 457 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH NEW YORK 
VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

In the summer of 1862, a call having been made for 300,000 more 
troops, the State Government made each Senatorial district a reg- 
imental district, with a military camp in each one, at some designated 
point. 

The counties of Livingston, Wyoming and Allegany, comprising 
the Thirtieth Senatorial district, were thus made a regimental dis- 
trict, with the camp at Geneseo. On the meeting of the Senatorial 
committee, however, a resolution was adopted requesting the Governor 
to change the location of the camp to Portage. This was accordingly 
done, the place of rendezvous being fixed near the famous high bridge, 
and the enlistment of recruits proceeded with such rapidity, that early 
in August a sufficient number of men had enrolled themselves in the 
three counties to form a full regiment, and the 130th Regiment N. Y. 
V. I. was organized and mustered into service September 3d, 1862. 
Companies B and K were from Livingston county; G and I from Liv- 
ingston and Allegany counties, C and D from Wyoming county; E, 
F and H from Allegany county, and A from Allegany and Wy- 
oming counties. The organization was completed by the election of 
the following officers : 

Colonel— William S. FuUerton. 

Lieutenant Colonel — Thomas J. Thorp. 

Major — Rufus Scott. 

Adjutant — George R. Cowee. 

Quarter-Master — Abram B. Lawrence. 

Surgeon — Benjamin T. Kneeland. 

Company A — Captain, James E. Bills; First Lieutenant, John P. 
Robinson; Second Lieutenant, Charles L. Daily; 

Company B — Captain, Howard M. Smith; First Lieutenant, S. 
Herbert Lancey ; Second Lieutenant, Samuel C. Culbertson. 

Company C — Captain, Rowley P. Taylor; First Lieutenant, Oscar 
R. Cook; Second Lieutenant, Samuel U. Waldo. 

Company D — Captain, Jacob W. Knapp; First Lieutenant, Leon- 
ard Wilkins; Second Lieutenant, Jared M. Bills. 

Company E— -Captain, Wheeler Hakes; First Lieutenant, Samuel 
F. Randolph; Second Lieutenant, Elias Horton, Jr. 



458 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Company F — Captain, Jeremiah Hatchi; First Lieutenant, Samuel 
A. Farman; Second Lieutenant, Alexander K. Thorp. 

Company G — Captain, Alanson B. Cornell, First Lieutenant, 
Charles L. Brundage; vSecond Lieutenant, G. Wiley Wells. 

Company H — Captain, Joel Wakeman; First Lieutenant, Ina 
Sayles; Second Lieutenant, Sartwell E. Osgood. 

Company I — Captain, James Lemen; First Lieutenant, Russell 
A. Britton; Second Lieutenant, Franklin S. Adams. 

Company K — Captain, Andrew L. Leach; First Lieutenant, James 
O. Slayton: Second Lieutenant, Edmund Hartman. 

Colonel Fullerton resigned before the regiment left the county, and 
on the day that it started for the front — September 6th — Alfred Gibbs, 
at the suggestion of General McClellan, whose classmate he was at 
West Point, was made Colonel by the Governor's appointment. Col- 
onel Gibbs brought with him to his task the experience of twenty years' 
service in the regular army. 

It is suitable to record here the fact that Livingston was the first 
county to furnish its quota for this regiment, having responded with 
alacrity and cheerfulness to the call for help which came from an im- 
perilled government, and it was said with just pride that "the patri- 
otic fervor of her sons continues unabated, and their response to the 
call for men is still answered by hundreds who unreluctantly sacrifice 
the comfort, \_happiness and allurements of home for the stern experi- 
ence of the camp. " 

The regiment arrived at Suffolk, Va., September 13th, 1862. A 
camping ground had been selected for it in the immediate vicinity of 
the Dismal Swamp. The hospitals in town were soon filled with sick, 
and, notwithstanding the most skillful medical treatment, many fell 
victims to the fatal malaria of the swamps. The regiment, neverthe- 
less, was rapidly perfected in military discipline. 

Reconnoissances in large force were pushed as far as the Black 
Water, which, however, generally failed to develop any considerable 
force of the enemy in that quarter. In one of these expeditions the 
celebrated Pittsburg Battery was recaptured from the enemy in a 
spirited engagement at Bethlehem Church. During these marches 
the strength and endurance of the men was sorely tested. Oftentimes 
a hundred miles of burning sands were traversed, with three day's 
rations carried in haversacks, and straggling was unknown. In order 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 459 

that Suffolk might with safety be made a base of supplies for future 
operations, immense earthworks were thrown up, which completely 
environed the town; pending their completion, autumn and earl y 
winter wore away. Large details for picket duty became necessary, 
for the country was infested with guerillas. 

On the 30th of January, 18fi3, the regiment was aroused at the hour 
of midnight to take part in a secret expedition commanded by Gen- 
eral Corcoran. The troops, numbering eight thousand in all, with a 
proper proportion of cavalry and artillery, were soon moving noise- 
lessly over the road leading to Carsville. After a rapid march of ten 
miles the enemy's videttes were driven in upon the main force, com- 
manded by Gen. Roger A. Pryor, encamped at Deserted Farm. 

Then ensued an artillery duel which, for precision 'and rapidity of 
firing has seldom been equalled, never surpassed, in the experience of 
those who participated. 

A dozen guns or more on either side were worked with a zeal which 
gave promise of annihilation to either party. 

The pyrotechnic display, in the midnight darkness, possessed all the 
elements of sublimity and terror. ^By the fitful light of bursting 
shells could be seen the ghastly features of the dead and dying, and 
the ground strewn with slain horses, while riderless ones galloped 
over the field, trampling under foot friend and foe. At the com- 
mencement of the engagement the infantry were held in reserve, save 
those ordered to support the artillery, and but little effort was made 
by General Corcoran to flank or dislodge the enemy, all attention 
being absorbed by the terrific combat of the artillerists. 

The morning dawn witnessed the exciting spectacle of the Rebel 
army ii) full retreat, with the whole Union force close upon its heels, 
and from whose clutches it only escaped by the passage of the Black 
Water and the destruction of the bridge. This battle, though costly 
in life and limb, was invaluable in the confidence it gave the men in 
their ability to stem the torrent of battle without demoralization. 

Their courage was put to a still further test. On the llth day 
of April Longstreet appeared before 'Suffolk, with an army 
estimated at forty thousand men. And now the wisdom of Major 
General Peck became manifest in the careful attention he had given 
to the defense of Suffolk. 

Ascending a signal tree of great altitude, Longstreet beheld a for- 



460 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

midable line of earthworks confronting his army in every direction, 
and surmounted by a hundred guns of large calibre. From the num- 
ber of encampments visible, it might be inferred that General Peck 
commanded an army but little inferior to his own in numbers. 

After an investment of the town for twenty days, with repeated 
failures to break through the Federal lines, he raised the siege and 
hastily decamped, though not in time for the rear of his army to 
escape a severe punishment. During the siege a successful sortie 
resulted in the capture of a six-gun battery, together with the 
cannoniers. 

Untoward events at Fredericksburg compelled the abandonment 
for the time of operations menacing Richmond and its communica- 
tions from the south, together with the withdrawal of the troops from 
Suffolk. Passing by unimportant incidents, we next find the reg- 
iment on board transports, en route for Yorktown. Lee's army has 
assumed an offensive attitude, and is already moving on Maryland 
and Pennsylvania. An army of twenty-five thousand men, under 
the immediate command of Major General Keyes, is started up the 
Peninsula — the manifest purpose of the expedition, a diversion in 
favor of the Army of the Potomac, which, weakened by two hard- 
fought battles at Fredericksburg, and by expiration of term of enlist- 
ment, is in danger of being overpowered by the Army of Northern 
Virginia, superior in numbers, and elated by partial success. 

Keyes' command is moved with great celerity up the Peninsula, 
notwithstanding the wretched condition of the roads by reason of 
frequent rains and travel of the previous year. Halting a day at 
White House for supplies, Keyes pushes on to Bottom's Bridge, where 
his army is brought to a stand. Col. Spear, with the 11th Pa. Cav- 
alry, dashes up to Hanover Court House and captures Brig. Gen. W. 
H. F. Lee, one hundred [irisoners and a large number of army 
wagons. 

While the battle of Gettysburg is being fought and won, the army 
on the Peninsula is lying idle, and the golden opportunity is lost. 
The plan of the campaign, magnificent in its conception, miserably 
failed in its execution. The troops on the Peninsula are now ordered 
to join the Army of the Potomac, which has just covered itself with 
glory at the battle of Gettysburg. By unparalleled feats of marching, 
through mud and constant rain, the army arrives at Yorktown on the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 461 

noon of the third day from the reception of the order. Transports 
are in readiness to convey the troops to Washington, and in two days 
the 130th N. Y. disembarks from the cars at Frederick, Md., the bal- 
ance of the Brigade having been ordered to New York City to assist 
in quelling the riot. Lee's army, though sorely punished, has re- 
crossed the Potomac at Falling Waters. 

By a forced night march, the 130th New York overtakes the Army 
of the Potomac at Berlin, and is assigned to duty at Army Head- 
quarters, under command of Brigadier General Patrick, Provost-Mar- 
shal General. 

It shares in the exciting race of the two armies, on parallel roads, as 
far as Warrenton, Va., when this regiment, whose soldierly conduct, 
while on foot, has elicited especial commendation from Generals Peck, 
Sykes, and finally Meade himself, is transferred into the mounted ser- 
vice, by special orders from the War Department, bearing date of 
July 28th, 1863, and by the Governor of the State of New York is 
designated as the 1st Regiment of Dragoons, New York State \'olun- 
teers. 

Temporarily withdrawn from the Army of the Potomac, the regi- 
ment is ordered to Manassas, where it is allowed only a month to 
adapt itself to the cavalry service. To this end, Col. Gibbs, himself 
a cavalry officer, bends his whole energies. Drills of eight hours a day 
are instituted, together with nightly recitations from the tactics by 
the officers and non-commissioned officers. By a singular coincidence 
the instruction here received is soon to be tested, in the fiery ordeal 
of battle, on the very drill-ground. 

On the 13th of October, the regiment, while on its way to rejoin the 
Army of the Potomac, encounters the corps trains, the teamsters urg- 
ing the jaded mules to their utmost speed with whip and voice, for the 
army is falling back from the Rapidan to the defences at Centreville. 

The 2d Corps turns on the enemy, too closely pursuing, and at 
Bristoe Station inflicts a terrible blow, strewing the ground with 
corpses, capturing a battery and many prisoners. After a rest of two 
days, the army resumes the offensive, and is again in readiness to 
deliver battle. The Reserve Cavalry Brigade takes the lead. Col. 
Gibbs commanding, his own regiment having the advance of the Bri- 
gade. Crossing Bull Run, on the night of October 17th, it encounters 
the enemy's cavalry on the Plains of Manassas. 



462 r: HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Jets of flame, leaping from pistol and carbine, light up the horizon, 
and reveal the' presence of the foe in line of battle. Notwith- 
standing the great disparity in numbers, the leading squadron returns 
the enemy's fire, pouring in volley after volley in rapid succession, 
with accompanying shouts of defiance. Meanwhile, the other squad- 
rons have, one by one, come into line, and the rattle of small arms 
becomes incessant. The horses fretting under the restraint of the 
bit, and unused to the din of battle, are controlled with the utmost 
difficulty. The enemy, sheltered by earthworks, thrown up by Beau- 
regard in 1861, still maintain their position. A charge is necessary to 
dislodge them ; the word is given, and the line advances at a pace 
continually accelerated until it reaches its climax in the charge. The 
enemy give way, are driven to Bristoe Station, and four miles of the 
Orange and Alexandria railroad saved from destruction. 

The army of the Potomac moves steadily forward, rebuilding the 
destroyed portions of^the"railroad ; at Rappahannock Station gathers 
up a thousand prisoners drives the army of ^Lee over the Rappahan- 
nock, over the Rapidan, and goes into winter quarters in its former 
position. The winter of 1863-4 is consumed in frequent reconnois- 
sances and the usual routine of picket duty. 

A new order of affairs is inaugurated in April, 1864, for Grant con- 
trols and directs all movements of the armies of the United States. 
Let us now follow the fortunes of this regiment so far as it is identified 
with the operations of the cavalry under Major General Sheri- 
dan. In the month of May, 1864, the regiment crosses the 
Rapidan, four hundred strong — the Rebellion arrogant, defiant 
and full of vitality. Every 'section of Virginia has been visited 
— her fairest fields have been drenched with the blood of heroes 
— horse and horseman have slaked their thirst in every consid- 
erable stream in the State. 

In the month of May, 1865, this regiment appears again on the 
banks of the Rapidan — one-half of its number slain or disabled — the 
Rebellion utterly crushed in the dust. 

The first engagement, which occurs on the 7th of May, at Todd's 
Tavern, is of the most sanguinary character. At 3 P. M. the regi- 
ment is dismounted and moved across the country for more than a 
mile at the "double quick," when the enemy, are met. With a 
terrible yell, the Dragoons go to work, loading and firing the 



ii 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 463 

Spencer carbine with the utmost rapidity and with deadly effect. 

The air seems filled with leaden missiles from either side. For 
awhile the issue is doubtful, for the support comes up tardily ; but 
still the desperate, though unequal conflict, is kept up with unabated 
fury. Night closes in upon the scene. Over eighty of the Dragoons 
lie upon the ground either killed or severely wounded. The support 
has arrived and the day is won. 

An Aid-de-Camp, who witnessed the affair, remarked to General 
Sheridan: "I never saw men fight with such desperate valor as did the 
1st New York Dragoons; the men fought like demons." 

On the moining following, the battle is renewed with great fury. 
The enemy is dislodged from his first line of works and driven on to 
Spot tsyl van ia. 

The Cavalry are now relieved by Warren's Corps and got in readi- 
ness for "Sheridan's Raid to^Richmond." 

A gallant officer. Captain Ash, of the 5th U. S. Cavalry, loses his 
life while leading the infantry into battle. On the morning of the 
9th General Sheridan sets out with twelve thousand cavalry, with the 
design of interrupting the enemy's communications with his rear. 
At Beaver Dam, on the eve of the same day, he destroys a locomotive, 
train of cars and several miles of the Virginia Central Railroad, to- 
gether with ten days' rations for Lee's entire army. 

At Yellow Tavern, on the 11th, he fights Stuart's Cavalry, kills 
their leader, and passes within the first line of the defences of Rich 
mond. 

Halting until midnight, Sheridan's column is again in motion, and 
making for Mechanicsville. 

At daybreak, the men, reeling in their saddles for want of sleep, are 
suddenly aroused by the explosion of torpedoes under the feet of the 
horses. 

At Meadow Bridge, for awhile, the enemy dispute the crossing of 
the Chickahominy, but are driven off by Gibbs' and Devin's Brigades; 
Gregg opens with his artillery and scatters the militia hovering abput 
his rear. Near Mechanicsville a spirited affair occurs, in which the 
1st New York achieves an important success, without the loss of a 
man. It happened in this wise: a regiment of the Brigade is sent 
forward mounted, but being hard pushed by the enemy dismounted, 
is obliged to fall back, closely followed by the exultant foe. Lieut. 



464 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Col. Thorp observing the situation, hastily gives the command to his 
men, "Prepare to fight on foot." They quit their horses, go forward 
at a run, discharging their carbines at every leap, and shouting vo- 
ciferously. The enemy, surprised at the suddenness of the onset, 
hastily retire, with a loss of fifty prisoners. 

Crossing the Chickahominy again at Bottom's Bridge, Sheridan 
procures supplies at HaxalTs Landing, on the James, and, crossing 
the Pamunkey at White House, rejoins the Army of the Potomac at 
Chesterfield Station. 

Grant is on the point of executing a flank movement, and Sheri- 
dan is ordered to proceed with pontoons to Hanover Town, bridge the 
Pamunkey at that point, and hold it until the arrival of the infantry. 
He carries out his instructions without serious opposition, at the 
river; crosses his cavalry and engages the enemy sharply at Hawe's 
Shop on the 28th, where General Gregg loses heavily. The Rebel cav- 
alry, after making a slight stand at Old Church, are driven on tow- 
ards Cold Harbor. 

Meanwhile Lee has hurried forward Anderson's division of infantry 
to this point, and his whole army is following in their footsteps. 

Sheridan pits against this division of infantry his cavalry, dismount- 
ed, and the afternoon of the 31st is consumed in heavy skirmishing. 

As the result of the day's work, the enemy are forced out of their 
breastworks, and driven a mile beyond, with a loss of several hundred 
prisoners, in addition to the killed and wounded. 

During the night Sheridan receives orders to hold the ground al- 
ready gained at all hazards. His men, though supperless, are sleep- 
ing soundly from excessive weariness still grasping the bridle reins. 

At three o'clock on the following morning the men are aroused from 
their slumbers, and, without waiting to prepare the morning meal, are 
put on the line. To each brigade is assigned its own front, which 
it must hold in any emergency. Lieut. Col. Thorp establishes a defen- 
sive line on the crest of a hill, in front of which is a heavy belt of tim- 
ber. Fence rails are hastily piled up as a shelter for the men, and a 
slender barricade is thus formed co-extensive with the front of the 
brigade. Scarcely is this work completed, and the men closely dis- 
posed behind it, when a brigade of South Carolina troops, six regi- 
ments in all, emerge from the woods in front of the barricade in three 
lines of battle. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 465 

Gibbs' men lie quietly behind the barricade, reserving their fire un- 
til the enemy are only fifty yards off, when they (the enemy) are 
greeted with a terrific volley from the carbines of the dismounted 
troops, which throws the first line into consternation, and compels the 
remaining two lines to lie down, or skulk behind the trees to avoid 
the terrible shower of leaden hail. A second time they form and ad- 
vance with a similar result. Again a third, only to be driven back in 
wild disorder. To add to the horror of the scene, the woods take fire 
from exploding shells thrown from Williston's Battery, and the shrieks 
of Rebel wounded are first heightened, then stifled by the flames. 

The 6th Corps coming up to the assistance of the cavalry is already 
in sight, and is greeted with lively demonstrations of joy on the part 
of the men, with the novel accompaniment of music from the band of 
the 1st New York Dragoons, which has been discoursing national airs 
with great gusto during the entire engagement. The cavalry having 
been relieved by the infantry at Cold Harbor, Sheridan taking the 1st 
and 2d divisions, crosses the Pamunkey and sets out on a second raid, 
with instructions to cut the Virginia Central railroad near Gordons- 
ville, and, if possible, cross the Blue Ridge and join Hunter moving 
on Lynchburg. Directing his course westward, via Aylett's and 
Childsburg, he strikes the railroad at Trevillian Station, where he 
fights the whole of the enemy's cavalry on the 11th of June, routing 
them, with heavy Joss on the side of the enemy, in killed and wound- 
ed, together with six hundred prisoners. In addition he destroys tour 
miles of railroad. On the second day his further progress westward is 
checked by Early 's infantry, brought by railroad from Gordonsville. 
Charge after charge is made with almost superhuman valor to dislodge 
them from a position taken up behind a railroad embankment, but 
without success. Sheridan's loss is severe — the casualties in the 1st 
N. Y. Dragoons alone amounting to eighty-eight killed and wounded. 

Lieut. Col. T. J. Thorp, while desperately fighting at great odds, is 
overpowered and taken prisoner. Sheridan retires during the night, 
bringing oft his prisoners and most of his wounded. His return march 
is associated with much suffering on part of the prisoners and wound- 
ed men. No rain has visited the country for thirty days. The road 
is filled with minute particles of dust, as in winter time with mud. to 
the depth of four inches. The line of march can be determined at a 
great distance by an immense cloud of dust completely enveloping 



466 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the column and hiding man and horse. Many of the prisoners fall out 
by the roadside from utter exhaustion; the remainder are carried 
through on horseback, regiments being dismounted from time to time 
for this purpose. 

At West Point, on the York River, transports are in readiness to 
convey the wounded to hospitals. Sheridan, rejoining the Army of 
the Potomac, is sent to the assistance of Wilson's division of cavalry 
returning from the destruction of the Danville Railroad. Sheridan 
turns about at Ream's Station, goes into camp at Light House Land- 
ing, and is allowed a whole month to recruit his animals and reclothe 
his men. 

A demonstration north of the James, at Deep Bottom, together 
with an ineffectual effort to take advantage of the explosion of the 
mine and charge into the City of Petersburg with his cavalry, con- 
cludes the operations of Sheridan with the Army of the Potomac for 
the year 1864. 

Events transpiring in the Middle Military Department call for a 
Couiviaudcr and additional troops. The 1st and 3d Cavalry Divisions 
are hurried to Washington on transports; hence to Pleasant Valley, 
Md. Sheridan now moves up the Valley with three corps of Infantry 
— 6th, 8th and 19th — and has at his disposal three divisions of Cavalry 
— Merritt's, Wilson's and Averill's. 

Early retires from Maryland, falling back on Fisher's Hill. Two 
days previous to its occupation, while Sheridan's Cavalry are endeav- 
oring to cut off the retreat of Early, the 1st New York Dragoons en- 
counter a division of Infantry at Newtown, and maintain alone for an 
hour an unequal contest, with the loss of thirty men. 

Early having received reinforcements at Fisher's Hill, Sheridan de- 
clines battle, and withdraws his army to the vicinity of Harper's 
Ferry. 

After several weeks spent in manoeuvering, he succeeds in bringing 
on a general engagement at Winchester on the 19th of September. 
Let us briefly recall some of the incidents of this terrible battle, 
which resulted in a disastrous defeat to Early, and left four thousand 
of our dead and wounded on the field. The morning of the 19th 
opened with the heavy roar of artillery and rattle of musketry, for 
Sheridan, crossing the Opequan, has hurled upon the army of Early 
three Corps of Infantry. Wilson's Division of Cavalry is on the left 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 467 

flank, while Averill is at work on the extreme right. Merritt's Divi- 
sion is held in reserve until 3 P. M. The battle, raging with the ut- 
most desperation, is still undecided, and our infantry are sorely 
pressed. At this critical moment Merritt is ordered to charge with 
his entire Division. 

"To horse!" is sounded, and regiment after regiment is rapidly 
deployed in line of battle. Fortunately the conformation of the coun- 
try is favorable to cavalry movements, for, with the exception of a 
few ditches and dilapidated stone walls, which can easily be cleared at 
a leap, there are no obstructions. Steadily the line advances in the 
direction of Bunker Hill, and now the pace is rapidly increased from 
a walk to a trot, from a trot to a gallop, and still the formation is as 
carefully preserved as though the men were passing in review. The 
Division and Brigade commanders ride in front of the line, while bat- 
tle flags and guidons are gayly floating on the breeze, and bugles con- 
tinually sound the advance. Midway on the field the enemy's cav- 
alry come out to meet the advancing column; but after the first shock 
of battle, they disappear as does the morning mist before the rising 
sun — nor halt, until night and darkness overtake them many miles 
from Winchester — and now ensues a scene which language can but 
feebly portray, and which may well be called the Carnival of Death. 
Suddenly upon the vision of the Rebel infantry flash four thousand 
sabres, glittering in the sunlight, while the solid ground is shaken by 
the tread of the approaching column. From a combative force, they 
are quickly converted into a crowd of demoralized fugitives. On the 
part of Merritt's men there is a feeling of supreme exultation, as, 
rising in their stirrups, they ride straight at the doomed horde, deal- 
ing blows lustily about the head and ears of the devoted wretches. 
Scores of the Confederates threw themselves upon the ground, and in 
piteous tones sued for their lives; others stood as if rooted to the 
ground with terror, still grasping their muskets. Here and there a 
single cavalryman could be seen bringing to the rear a squad of pris- 
oners, their eyes dilated with terror, their lips covered with foam 
from utter exhaustion. In their anxiety to secure prisoners, many of 
the men passed by battle flags, the capture of which is regarded highly 
honorable. In this manner the 1st New York and other regiments of 
the brigade gather up more by far than their own number. Only a 
few men were missing from the 1st New York Dragoons at night, and 



468 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the bodies of these were found and buried on the most hotly-contested 
ground, and far to the front, by those who followed after for that 
purpose. A long score of wrong and injustice was on that day wiped 
out in blood, for, when the sun went down, scarcely a sabre was sent 
home to its scabbard bloodless. 

Events immediately following the battle of Winchester are vividly 
impressed upon the memory of those who participated ; the hurried 
flight of Early to Fisher's Hill — the masterly strategy of Sheridan, by 
which his army is dislodged with the loss of twenty-three pieces of 
artillery and thirteen hundred prisoners — the retreat kept up, while 
the rear-guard of the Rebel army is constantly harassed by a small 
portion of Devin's Cavalry Brigade, consisting of detachments of two- 
regiments. Every town on the route is a scene of a battle and a Fed- 
eral victory. The pursuit is kept up for more than a hundred miles, 
when Sheridan is reluctantly compelled to desist for want of supplies. 
Returning, he carries out the instructions from Grant: "To make the 
Valley (once the Eden of America) a desert," as an effectual barrier 
to future raids into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Dividing his cav- 
alry into detachments, every plantation is visited, and only the dwelling 
escapes the torch. As on former occasions this line of march was in- 
dicated by heavy clouds of dust, so now it is marked by volumes of 
flame leaping from barn and storehouse. With reckless audacity 
Early, having gathered up reinforcements, makes his appearance 
again in rear of the retiring army. His cavalry hovering too near, 
are run back by Merritt and Custer from Tom's Brook, a distance of 
twenty-five miles, with the loss of their entire train and all their guns 
save one. 

Sheridan halts his army midway between Widdletown and Stras- 
burg while Early settles down on Fisher's Hill. With the precedent 
of terrible defeat at Winchester, will the latter again offer battle? The 
sequel is too well known to need repetition in the main, and we con- 
fine ourselves to a few words in relation to the part sustained or wit- 
nessed by the cavalry in the battle of Cedar Creek on the I'Hh of Oc- 
tober. The "assembly" is sounded at daylight in Merritt's and Cus- 
ter's Divisions, and whole regiments are deployed with drawn sabre 
to arrest the flight of fugitives from the 8th and 19th Corps. The 
thunder of artillery and a rattle of musketry follow close upon the 
heels of the stragglers, accelerating their flight. Although the fjth 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 469 

Corps makes an obstinate resistance, the entire army is forced back 
two miles beyond Middlelown, when Sheridan appears on the field, 
having just come up from Winchester. Never before did so much de- 
pend upon one man. The two divisions of cavalry have just been 
massed on the left of the pike preparatory to a charge, which shall 
either break the enemy's lines and interrupt the pursuit, or result in 
overwhelming disaster. The charge is deferred for several hours while 
the scattered infantry are returned to their commands. dismounted 
cavalrymen are put on to the skirmish line and arrest the refluent tide 
of battle. 

Two hostile lines of battle now confront each other, stretching 
across the entire valley, Sheridan, confident of his ability to convert 
defeat into victory, proceeds to carry into execution the plans he has 
already formed. Custer with his division is sent to the extreme right 
with instructions to hurl his cavalry upon a limited portion of the 
enemy's line and affect it with a panic, when, upon a given signal, 
Sheridan with the rest of his army will cause this panic to communi- 
cate itself along the whole of the enemy's lines. 

The plan, simple in its conception, was successful beyond the expec- 
tation of the Commanding General himself. At 4 P. M. the battle 
is renewed with unwonted fury. The 1st Division has the right while 
the infantry occupy the centre. The decisive moment for the charge 
has been indicated. The 6th Corps goes forward with an impetus 
characteristic of a determination to win the day. The other corps vie 
with it in impetuosity. The enemy open on the charging column with 
fifty pieces of artillery, filling the air with frying missiles; with won- 
derful precision shells are thrown into the solid masses of advancing 
infantry and exploding, scatter and lift up mangled corpses high in 
the air. In another place might be seen a headless cavalryman still 
clinging to his sabre with a death grip. . 

Only once does the line falter, when subjected to a scathing fire of 
musketry from the enemy posted behind a stone wall. The survivors 
push on, and with the bayonet drive the opposing force from the wall. 
The enemy no longer make a stand. The men, alike indifferent to 
the threats and entreaties of their oiificers, seek safety only in flight. 

A miserable rabble, they plunge into the stream, and, crossing, 
hurry on through Strasburg towards the mountains, with Sheridan's 
Cavalry close upon them. Over forty guns, together with a large 



470 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

number of army wagons abandoned on the road and in town, fall in- 
to the hands of the cavalry. Devin's Brigade having the advance, is 
occupied until midnight in securing these trophies. The ground over 
which the battle has been fought, presented a sad spectacle, for the 
loss on both sides was severe. By the side of the road leading to 
town, lay a wounded Confederate, a fair-haired youth, who had ar- 
ranged his bed as if for sleep. Alas! for him, it was the sleep that 
knows no waking. His features, wonderfully pale, seemed strangely 
beautiful in repose. 

The battle of Cedar Creek terminated the important engagements 
of the year. The cavalry, however, are allowed but little rest or re- 
laxation. Expeditions are organized, reconnoissances made, and 
swollen streams forded far into winter. 

The expedition to Gordonsville, which resulted in the capture of 
two pieces of artillery by the Dragoons, will be remembered for the 
severity of the cold, by which the feet of many of the men were froz- 
en. At length a brief respite is allowed the cavalry. The 2d Brigade 
go into camp for a month at Lovettsville, Va. On the 24th of Febru- 
ary, 1865, the brigade is again ordered to take the field. On the sec- 
ond night out the 1st New York bivouacs in an open field near Win- 
chester, while a shower of rain drenches to the skin. Usually at night 
the horses are made fast to a stake driven in the ground; unfortu- 
nately at this time the ground was frozen so that the stake could not 
be driven, and the men were compelled to lie down in front of the 
horses with the reins attached to the wrist. Some of the soldiers gave 
vent to their feelings in expressions of discontent, while others pre- 
served a moody silence. 

Sheridan, leaving Winchester with ten thousand cavalry, arrives at 
Staunton in four days, defeats and captures the remnant of Early's 
army at Waynesboro; crosses the Blue Ridge at Rock Fish Gap. The 
authorities at Charlottesville come out to meet him, with the surrender 
of the town. Destroying the railroads meeting at that point, he con- 
tinues his march to the James River. All the locks of the canal are 
ruined for a distance of seventy miles. Already he has left behind him 
five thousand horses floundering hopelessly in the mud. 

The long marches by day and night along the James will not be 
soon forgotten by those who shared them, nor the amusing spectacle 
of negroes flocking to the banks of the river to gaze upon Sheridan 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 471 

and his followers with as much curiosity as was manifested by the 
aborigines at the landing of Columbus. 

Sheridan, having replaced in part the loss of his animals with mules 
and farm horses, turns about and destroys the Virginia Central Rail- 
road from Frederick's Hall to Beaver Dam; burns the bridges at 
Taylorville and Hanover; destroys the railroad again at Ashland, and 
returns to the Army of the Potomac via White House and Deep Bot- 
tom. The 5th Corps and Gregg's Division of cavalry having been 
added to Sheridan's command, he makes a demonstration upon the 
South Side Railroad, and on the 1st of April wins the memorable and 
decisive victory at Five Forks after a day's fighting of the most ob- 
stinate character. Who shall recount the repeated charges of the 
dismounted cavalry, rushing upon the enemy's works in the face of a 
storm of shot and shell rending and felling the largest trees of the 
forest? The days of the Rebellion are already numbered. Passing by 
the battles of vSutherland Station, Amelia Court House, and Sailor's 
Creek, with the immense capture of prisoners and munitions of war, 
we find Sheridan on the eve of the 8th of April at Appomattox Sta- 
tion, having intercepted Lee's retreat to Lynchburg with his cavalry 
and having his infantry close at hand, after two days of hard 
marching almost entirely without food. 

The gallant Custer captures at the Station three trains of cars and 
locomotives, besides twenty-five pieces of artillery taken from the 
train. Lee halts his army for the night at Appomattox Court House. 
On the morning of April 9th the dismounted cavalrymen are with- 
drawn from the skirmish line, and mounted up for a charge. Several 
corps of infantry are slowly encircling Lee's army, and a hundred 
cannon frown upon him from the surrounding heights. Upon Lee is 
forced the alternative of surrender or annihilation. Already the 
cavalry are moving on ^him, and the fighting becomes more 
and more animated, when suddenly the stillness of the Sabbath 
succeeds the roar of artillery, and an aide-de-camp rides along the line 
communicating the joyful news of the surrender of Lee and his entire 
army. The announcement is greeted by the tired cavalry men with 
tumultuous cheering, which is caught up and repeated again and 
again by corps after corps.' 

I. I am iudebted for tlie foregoiug sketch of this regiment to the iinknowu author of the "Repi- 
mental History of the First New York Dragoons," published at Washington in 1.S65. [Editor.] 



472 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The regiment participated in forty-five engagements; captured 
1,533 prisoners, 19 pieces of artillery, 21 caissons, 240 artillery horses, 
40 wagons and ambulances, Kio draught animals and 4 battle flags. 
The casualties were as follows: 

Number of officers killed in battle, 4. 

" " men " " " 155. 

" " officers wounded " " 24. 

men " " " 204. 

" officers dead from disease, 1. 

men oO. 

The First N. Y. Dragoon Monument Association was incorporated 
June (>, 1903, for the purpose of erecting at Portage a monument to 
perpetuate the memory of the soldiers of this regiment who fought in 
the war of the Rebellion. H. O. Holly, E. R. Robinson, Robert Rae, 
A. B. Lawrence, D. W. Harrington and Rufus C. JefTerson were in- 
corporators. The certificate of incorporation states that meetings 
are to be held on June 30th of each year. 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH NEW YORK 
VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

When the 130th Regiment was organized, as hertofore described, 
two or three hundred more men had enlisted than were required 
to fill it to the maximum numlier. The Senatorial Cnmmittee im- 
mediately authorized Colonel James Wood, Jr.; of Geneseo, to recruit 
and organize from the same — the XXXth Senatorial district, another 
regiment, and enlistments continued with unabated zeal. War meet- 
ings were held throughout the county, patriotic citizens made sub- 
stantial additions to the National and State bounties, and towns vied 
with each other in friendly rivalry in filling their quotas. Colonel 
Wood's authority was granted in August. In one month all the men 
for the regiment were in camp at Portage, and there was a surplus of 
nearly four hundred recruits in the district. The regiment was mus- 
tered into the service of the United States on September 26th, 1862, 
with the following officers: 

Colonel — James Wood, Jr. 

Lieutenant Colonel — Lester B. Faulkner. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 473 

Major — David C. Hartshorn. 

Adjutant — Campbell H. Young. 

Quarter-Master — John T. Wright. 

Surgeon — B. L. Hovey. 

1st Assistant Surgeon— E. Amsden. 

2d Assistant Surgeon — C. F. Warner. 

Quarter-Master Sergeant — Richard W. Barney. 

Commissary Sergeant — Jacob S. Galentine. 

COMPANY A— Captain, A. T. Cole; 1st Lieutenant, M. M. 
Loyden; 2d Lieutenant, Johrj W. Webster. 

COMPANY B— Captain, Edward H. Pratt; 1st Lieutenant, John J. 
Bailey; 2d Lieutenant, Nicholas V. Mundy. 

COMPANY C— Captain, A. A. Hoyt; 1st Lieutenant, Wells 
Hendershott; 2d Lieutenant, Emerson J. Hoyt. 

COMPANY D — Captain, A. Harrington; 1st Lieutenant, Myron 
E. Bartlett; 2d Lieutenant, Russel G. Dudley. 

COMPANY E— Captain H. B. Jenks; 1st Lieutenant, James G. 
Cameron; 2d Lieutenant, Seth P. Buell. 

COMPANY F— Captain, J. H. Burgess; 1st Lieutenant, John 
Galbraith; 2d Lieutenant, Charles H. Wisner. 

COMPANY G— Captain, Sidney Ward; 1st Lieutenant, Orange 
Sackett, Jr. ; 2d Lieutenant, Kidder M. Scott. 

COMPANY H— Captain, E. H. Jeffres; 1st Lieutenant, Edward 
Madden; 2d Lieutenant, Anson B. Hall. 

COMPANY I— Captain, Henry L. Arnold; 1st Lieutenant, Frank 
Collins; 2d Lieutenant, George M. Reed. 

COMPANY K— Captain, A. F. Davis; 1st Lieutenant, George H. 
Eldredge; 2d Lieutenant George Y. Boss. 

The regiment was composed of five companies from Livingston 
county, three from Wyoming county and two from Allegany county. 

Leaving Portage October 2, 1862, it moved to Virginia, wherq it 
was assigned to Smith's (Second) Brigade, Steinwehr's (Second) Di- 
vision, Eleventh Corps, then encamped in the vicinity of Fairfax 
Court House. Its first experience under fire occurred at Chancellors- 
ville, where it sustained a slight loss. It was not actively engaged in 
this battle, for the brigade, then under command of Gen. F. C. 
Barlow, was absent on a reconnoissance at the time the Eleventh 



474 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Corps was attacked. After the battle the regiment returned to its 
camp near Brooke's Station, on the Aquia Creek Railroad. 

Remaining in camp about six weeks it started June 12, 1863, on 
the Gettysburg campaign. After a series of long and toilsome 
marches the regiment arrived at Emmettsburg, Md., on June 29th, 
having marched twenty-two miles that day, and thirty-eight miles 
within the preceding twenty-four and one-half hours, over roads heavy 
with mud and rain and blocked with wagon trains. Leaving Boons- 
boro Gap at 4:40 p. m., on Sunday June 28th, and moving by way of 
Frederick, the column arrived at Emmettsburg at 5 p. ra., on the 29th, 
having accomplished this remarkable march of thirty-eight miles 
without any straggling or murmurs of complaint. (Jn the 30th there 
was a general muster of the army, at which the One hundred and 
thirty-sixth reported 23 officers and 529 men present for duty, includ- 
ing non-combatants. 

On July 1st the Eleventh Corps was ordered to Gettysburg, pur- 
suant to a plan for a concentration of the left wing of the army at 
that point. The corps started in the morning, with Col. Orland 
Smith's Brigade — to which the One hundred and thirty-sixth New 
York belonged — bringing up the rear. This brigade was then com- 
posed of the following additional regiments: 

33d Massachusetts Col. A. B. Underwood, 

55th Ohio Col. Charles B. Gambee, 

73d Ohio Lieut. Col. Richard Long. 

On arriving at Gettysburg, General Steinwehr, the division com- 
mander, halted the brigade and formed it in line of battle, by bat- 
talions in mass, in rear of Cemetery Hill, the rest of the corps, ex- 
cept Wiedrich's Battery, having passed through the town and en- 
gaged the enemy in the open fields on the farther side. Smith's Bri- 
gade advanced through the cemetery to the front of the hill overlook- 
ing Gettysburg, from which position it was apparent that the Union 
troops — First and Eleventh Corps — were retreating and falling back 
through the streets to Cemetery Hill. Colonel Smith placed his four 
regiments so as to resist any attack which might be made on the 
hill. But the long line of the brigade, with its waving colors and res- 
olute appearance, caused the Confederate generals to hesitate until 
the opportunity for a successful attack was lost. 

Smith's Brigade held this very important and exposed position at 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 475 

the base of Cemetery Hill during the fighting of the two succeeding 
days. The One hundred and thirty-sixth was on the left, 
where it held the extreme left of the Eleventh Corps line, and joined 
the right of the Second Corps. It lay along the Taneytown Road be- 
hind a stone wall that bounded the west side of the road, and at the 
base of the western slope of Cemetery Hill, from whose crest the 
Union batteries at times delivered a heavy fire over the regiment. 
From his position on the Taneytown Road, which at this point is very 
near the Emmettsburg Road, Colonel Wood sent out most of his men 
as skirmishers and sharpshooters who, during the second and third 
days' fighting, were subject to a continuous and deadly fire from the 
Confederate sharpshooters occupying positions at close range. 
Some of the men of the One hundred and thirty-sixth occupied 
houses in the outskirts of Gettysburg, the line of the Eleventh run- 
ning along the eastern edge of the town. This skirmishing and 
sharpshooting was so active and continuous that the regiment, with- 
out participating in any other fighting, lost 106 men killed and 
wounded during the second and third days. Some of these casualties 
occurred in the great cannonade which, on the third day, preceded 
Longstreet's assault on the Second Corps. Many of the Confederate 
gunners directed their fire against the Union batteries on West Cem- 
etery Hill which, in turn, were firing over the heads of the men in the 
One hundred and thirty-sixth. 

After Gettysburg the regiment participated in the pursuit of Lee's 
retreating army, and with its corps returned to Virginia. In Sep- 
tember (1863) the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were ordered to 
Tennessee to relieve General Rosecrans' army which was then shut up 
in Chattanooga without any line of supplies. Arriving in Tennessee 
the legiment was placed on guard duty along the Nashville and 
Chattanooga Railroad, between Anderson and Tantalon. On October 
26th it was relieved, and rejoined the brigade at Bridgeport. On the 
28th it was engaged in the famous midnight battle at Wauhatchie, 
where the brigade marched to the relief of Geary's Division of the 
Twelfth Corps, but encountered the enemy on the way, the Confed- 
erate brigade of General Law — Hood's Division, Longstreet's Corps 
— having occupied a high hill that commanded the road. Under 
orders from General Steinwehr, three regiments of Smith's Brigade, 
numbering in all about 700 muskets, charged up the steep declivity in 



476 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the darkness. They had received orders not to fire, but to use the 
bayonet only. The five Confederate regiments under Law, about 
1,800 strong, abandoned the crest of the hill after a brief resistance, 
leaving the line of their retreat strewn with rifles, swords, hats, caps 
and haversacks. 

In the following month, on November 23d, the regiment was en- 
gaged in the battle of Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tenn., in 
which Lieut. Charles F. Tresser was mortally wounded. It then 
marched with the Eleventh Corps to the relief of Burnside's army 
which was besieged at Kno.wille, Tenn. This was a long march, 
during which the men suffered for lack of tents and blankets, and 
were obliged to forage on the country through which they passed for 
rations and subsistence. One man died from exposure. The corps 
returned to Chattanooga on December 17th, and the men reoccupied 
their former camp on Lookout Valley, where they remained during 
the winter. 

In April, 1864, the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were consolidated, 
forming a new corps, the Twentieth, the command of which was 
given to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. Lender this arrangement the 
regiment was placed in the Third Brigade, Third Division. The 
brigade, which was commanded by Colonel Wood, of the One hundred 
and thirty-sixth was composed of the following additional commands: 

20th Connecticut, Col. Samuel Ross, 

33d Massachusetts, Lieut. Col. Godfrey Rider, 

SSth Ohio, Col. Charles B. Gambee, 

73d Ohio, Maj. Samuel H. Hurst, 

26th Wisconsin, Lieut. Col. Fred C. Winkler. 

The Division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, 
formerly Chief of Staff, Army of the Potomac. 

Breaking camp on May 1, 1864, the regiment started with Sher- 
man's army on the Atlanta campaign. With faces turned southward 
the men commenced the long victorious march on which there was to 
be no retracing of their footsteps. The enemy's forces were first en- 
countered at Buzzard Roost and Rocky Face, Ga. They were driven 
from their position, an action in which the One hundred and thirty- 
sixth participated, with but slight loss. 

On May 15, 1864, the regiment was actively engaged at the battle 
of Resaca, Ga., in which it sustained a loss of eighty-one in killed 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 477 

and wounded. In this battle Butterfield's Division captured a bat- 
tery of four brass Napoleon guns, — twelve-pounders. After daily 
skirmishes, the principal ones occurring at Cassville, Dallas, New 
Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Pine Knob, Lost Mountain and 
other localities, in some of which the fighting involved the whole regi- 
ment, the division found itself in position July 20th, at Peach Tree 
Creek. Here the line of the Twentieth Corps was attacked by the 
Confederate army under General Hood, which made repeated and 
desperate assaults on the Union position only to be repulsed with 
terrible loss. The men of the One hundred and thirty-sixth bore an 
honorable part in this battle, during which one of their number, Priv. 
Dennis Buckley, of Company G, captured the battle flag of the Thirty- 
first Mississippi, knocking down the Confederate color bearer with the 
butt of his musket and wrenching the colors from his grasp. While 
Buckley was waving the captured flag defiantly at the ranks of the 
enemy a bullet fired at him struck the flagstaff, glanced, and hit him 
in the forehead, killing him instantly. A year or more after the war 
closed the War Department gave a Medal of Honor to be delivered to 
the mother of Dennis Buckley, in recognition of his heroism at the 
battle of Peach Tree Creek and the capture by him of one of the 
enemy's flags. 

On the morning of July 22d the brigade advanced within two miles 
of Atlanta, where it occupied various positions during the siege that 
followed. For six weeks the One hundred and thirty-sixth lay in the 
trenches before the city under fire daily, many of the men being 
killed or wounded while in the works, which, towards the close of the 
siege, were advanced to within close range of the enemy's lines. The 
Confederate troops evacuated Atlanta during the night on September 
1st, and the Twentieth Corps, now under command of General 
Slocum, entered the city and took possession. "Atlanta was ours, 
and fairly won." 

With the occupation of the city came a period of rest and quiet for 
ten weeks, a grateful respite from the privations and dangers of the 
previous campaign. On November 15, 1864, refreshed and strength- 
ened by its stay at Atlanta, the regiment started with Sherman's 
army on the March to the Sea. The corps was under the command of 
Gen. A. S. Williams, General Slocum having been placed in command 
of the left wing, which, composed of the Fourteenth and Twentieth 



478 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Corps, was designated the Army of (Georgia. The division was com- 
manded by Gen. William T. Ward, who had succeeded General 
Butterfield while on the Atlanta campaign; the regiment was under 
Lieutenant Colonel Faulkner. 

The army arrived in Savannah December 11, 1864, and immediately 
laid siege to the city, which was evacuated on the 21st. After a 
month's stay in Savannah the army started northward Jan- 
uary Id, 1864, on the campaign of the Carolinas, arriving at Golds- 
borough, N. C, on March 24th, after a march of 454 miles, part of 
which was made over difficult roads and over many rivers and swamps, 
some of which had tu be waded. In crossing the Edisto River 
the men waded half a mile in water from twelve to thirty-six 
inches deep. Skirmishing with the enemy was a frequent occurrence, 
while a general engagement with Johnston's army occurred at Aver- 
asborough, N. C, March 16, 1865, and at Bentonville, N. C, March 
19-21, 1865. In the fighting at Bentonville Lieut. Col. H. L. Arnold 
who was in command of the regiment was very severely wounded. 
During the campaign in the Carolinas the brigade was commanded by 
Gen. William Cogswell, formerly colonel of the Second Massachusetts, 
an able and fearless officer. 

Leaving its camp near Goldsborough N. C, on April li»th, the regi- 
ment started on its last homeward march. Passing through Rich- 
mond, Va., May 11th, and then the battlefields of Chancellorsville and 
Spottsylvania, it arrived at Alexandria on the 19th. On the 24th it 
marched proudly in the final Grand Review at Washington, and 
thence out the Bladensburg Pike, where it encamped while waiting 
for its muster out.' 

FOURTEENTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY. 

Recruiting for the 14th N. Y. Heavy Artillery began in June, 1863, 
with headquarters at Rochester, N. Y. The regiment was raised prin- 
cipally from the Counties of Yates, St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Mon- 
roe, although every part of the State was represented. The organiza- 
tion was completed January 4, 1864, with the following officers, field 
and staff; Col. E. G. Marshall; Lieut. -Col., C. H. Corning; Major, W. 

I. The sketch of this regiment above giveu prepared by Hou. Kidder M. Scott of Geueseo, and 
Major J. J. Bailey of Dausville, is from the published volume, "New York at Gettysburg." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 479 

H. Reynolds; Major, Job C. Hedges; Major, W. W. Trowbridge; 
Surgeon, I. V. Mullen; Ass't Surgeon, Luther Philips; Ass't Surgeon, 
James M. Oliver; R'g't Q. M., Adolph Shubert ; Adj't, C. H. Van 
Brackle. 

The regiment was employed in garrisoning the harbor of New York, 
at Fort Richmond — headquarters of the regiment — Sandy Hook, Fort 
Schuyler, Willett's Point, and Fort Hamilton. It remained there until 
April 22, 1864, when it was ordered to the defense of Washington, 
where it was assigned to the Ninth Corps, Gen. Burnside com- 
manding, and joined the corps at Warrenton Junction, Va. Here it 
was made a part of the Provisional Brigade under command of Col. 
Marshall. 

May 2 it marched for the Rapidan, and after halting at Brandy 
Station till the last train was sent over that road to Alexandria, it 
pushed forward, and crossed the Rapidan about 2 o'clock a. m.. May 
6, and was assigned to the duty of holding the ford. 

About noon of that day it was sent forward, and arrived at the 
battle ground of the Wilderness early in the afternoon. Line of 
battle was formed and advanced to a suitable position for intrenching. 
This position was occupied till the night of May 7, when it was 
evacuated and the regiment arrived at the Ny River on May 11, and 
took an active part in that fight and in the battle of Spottsylvania 
C. H., May 14, 15, 16, 17. 

It marched to the left with the army, forded the North Anna 
River May 24, and threw up works just in season to check the enemy 
after he had suceeded in driving in Gen. Leslie's brigade. 

The regiment occupied an advanced position on Tolopotomy Creek, 
and on June 2 constituted the rear-guard of the army as it swung 
away to Cold Harbor. The army was attacked in the rear at about 5 
p. m., and the 14th wheeled into position at the edge of the wood; a 
brigade giving way on its left exposed it to a severe enfilading fire of 
both musketry and artillery; three times it was driven, and each time 
it rallied and retook its position; and only when the darkness of 
night concealed every movement did it give up its advanced, unsup- 
ported position and join the rest of the army. 

In this fight the regiment lost heavily. Lieut. Bently was mortally 
wounded and died that evening. Lieut. Tolman was wounded, Capt. 
Kiefer was killed, and Lieuts. Lemmon and Wentworth were captured. 



480 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The 14th supported the 5th Mass. Batter\- at Bethesda Church, 
June 3, and held the flank of the army at Cold Harbor, June 5, 6, and 
7, where Lieut. -Col. Corning was accidentally shot by his servant. 

It crossed the James River early in the morning of June 15, and 
about 5 p. m. of June 17 charged the enemy's works in front of 
Petersburg, meeting stubborn resistance, and captured the works; but 
the ammunition failing, it was driven out with great loss. Maj. Job 
C. Hedges, than whom no braver or gallant officer ever lived, was 
instantly killed while leading his battalion in that charge; Col. 
Marshall, Capt. Underbill, Lieuts. Russell and Spencer were wounded. 
Maj. Reynolds, Capts. Pemberton and Jones, Lieuts. J. H. Thomp- 
son, Coylan, Pifford, Snyder and Norton were taken prisoners. The 
loss of enlisted men was 113. 

After thi.s the regiment lay in the trenches before Petersburg, con- 
tinually under a heavy fire from sharpshooters and artillery, till July 
30, when it had the honor to lead the assaults upon the Crater, being 
the first regiment to plant its colors on the enemy's works there, cap- 
turing a stand of rebel colors. 

Here Col. Marshall and Lieuts. Faass and Wing were captured; 
Lieut. Hartley was killed; Lieuts. Curtis and Service were wounded, 
and there was a loss of 37 enlisted men. Capt. Underbill was killed 
June 20; Lieuts. Piggott and Morrow were wounded July 29. 

Maj. Geo. M. Randall assumed command of the regiment, Aug. 18. 
On Aug. 15 it had moved to the left and occupied the line in front of 
Fort Hell. Aug. 19 it moved to the Weldon Railroad, and took an 
active part in the engagements of that day, and Aug. 21 Major 
Randall, Capt. L. I. Jones and Lieuts. Shubert and Jewett were 
wounded. In the engagement of Aug. 19 the colors fell five times, 
the bearers being shot, and each time they were promptly seized and 
carried forward. The loss in enlisted men was 45. It intrenched, and 
remained until Sept. 30, when it took part in the battle of Poplar 
Grove Church, where Lieuts. Backus and Eddy were wounded and 
20 enlisted men were lost. 

It engaged in the battle of Pegram Farm Oct. 2; took part in the 
reconnoissance of Oct. 8 on the Boydton Plankroad; returned to camp 
Oct. 9, and remained until Oct. 26, when it moved forward in line of 
battle, as far as Hatcher's Run, and supported Crawford's Division of 
the Fifth Corps. In this engagement the regiment sustained no loss. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 481 

The object of this movement having been accomplished, the regi- 
ment fell back with the army, to the position occupied previous to the 
movement. It remained there until December 2, when the corps re- 
lieved the Second Corps on Petersburg front, the regiment occupying 
Forts Stedman and Haskell, where it remained until March 25, 1865, 
suffering meanwhile daily losses from the enemy's sharpshooters and 
artillery. 

The day of March 25 had not yet dawned when the enemy, having 
massed heavily in silence in the night, broke through the lines to the 
right and left of Fort Stedman, and when discovered had already 
passed the line. Beset on all sides and hemmed in, the regiment 
fought desperately an enemy whose whereabouts could only be dc; 
termined by the flash of their muskets. In less than an hour the 
fort was completely surrounded, and the enemy came swarming in 
at every possible place, and over the breastworks. Still the gallant 
14th did not yield; from one bomb-proof to another they contested 
hotly every inch of ground. It was yet so dark that in the fort 
it was impossible to distinguish features, and to calls for officers and 
comrades the enemy answered. It almost hailed musket balls, and 
in hand-to-hand fights the butt of the musket and the bayonet were 
freely used; still the regiment held its ground; and only when over- 
whelmed and completely overpowered, when success was plainly im- 
possible, did the remnant of the garrison cut their way through and 
rejoin the remainder of the regiment in Fort Haskell. Again and again 
did the enemy's infantry attempt to capture Fort Haskell, but each 
time they were repulsed with heavy loss. After having been thus en- 
gaged for over five hours, the regiment, supported by the 57th Mass. 
and 3d Md., charged upon the works captured by the enemy, driv- 
ing them out of Batteries 10 and 11 and recapturing Fort Sted- 
man, with many prisoners, and the colors of the 26th S. C. 
Capt. Houghton and Lieut. Piggott were wounded. Capt. Foote, 
Ass't Surgeon Morse, Lieuts. McCali, Lockbraner M. Backus, White 
and Kelsey were taken prisoners. Loss in enlisted men, 229. 

The regiment remained in the works until April 3, when it moved 
forward at 5 a. m. and occupied the city of Petersburg; crossed the 
Appomattox and encamped; broke camp April 5; recrossed the 
Appomattox River; marched through the city of Petersburg, and en- 
camped two miles out. Broke camp April 7 and marched to Wilson's 



482 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Station on the Southside Railroad, and remained until about April 
22, when it marched to City Point and embarked for Alexandria. 
Soon after arriving there it was ordered to Tennallytown, D. C, June 
17 it was detached from the Ninth Corps and ordered to the defense 
of Washington, occupying Forts Reno. Kearney, DeRussey, Bayard, 
Simmons, Mansfield and Sumner. 

August 16 it received orders to be mustered out. The regiment had 
connected with it nearly 2,800 men and returned with about 600. 

THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEER 

INFANTRY. 

The 13th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry was organized 
at Rochester, N. Y., by Colonel Isaac F. Ouinby, accepted by the 
State May 8th, 1861, and mustered into the United States Service at 
Elmira, N. Y., May 14th. The companies were recruited principally 
at Rochester, Dansville' and Brockport. 

The Dansville Company became Company B of the regiment and 
was composed of the following officers and enlisted men: 

Captain — Carl Stephan, Dansville 

First Lieutenant — George Hyland Jr.. 

Ensign— Ralph T. Wood 

First Sergeant — Henry R. Curtis " 

Second " — George W. Hasler " 

Third " —Mark J. Bunnell 

Fourth " — Duane D. Stilhvell 

First Corporal — ^George B. Dippy 

Second " — George ^I. Morris Conesus. 

Third " — Wm. H. Drehmer 

Fourth " — A. J. Hartman Dansville 

Adams, James, Wayland Brownell, Hiram, Rogersville 

Allen, Samuel, Dansville Carpenter, A. W., Dansville 

Alverson, Edward C, Dansville Conklin, Munroe, Conesus 

Arwin, Charles A. .South Dansville Conrad, Philip. Perkinsville 

Ash, Jacob, " " Cook, Daniel, Haskinville 

Avery. Charles F., Wayland Cook, Orrin H., Dansville 

Bean, Charles Y., Groveland Corbin. A., Wayland 

I. Several compauies were afterward recruited at Dansville which became attached to the 13th 
regiment. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



483 



DeForrest, George, Dansville Moose, Merrit, Sparta 

Deitcr, John T., Dansville Morris, Joseph, •' 

Demerit, Charles, South Dansville Morris, Lester B., Sparta 

Dipple, C. W., Dansville Opp. Jarob, Dansville 

Dutcher,C. Wellington, Dansville Phelps, Lester, 

Easterbrook, Stephen, Wayland Prentice, Charles, 

Eldridge, John, Springwater Prentice, Warren, 

Fenstermacher, Endress, Dansville Richardson, A., 



Fitch, M. Hark), 
France, William, Ossian 
Freed, Solomon, Sparta 
Galbraith, Pat, Groveland 
Goodwin, William, Dansville 
Hatch, David G., Conesus 
Johnson, John. West Sparta 
Jones, Edward, Dansville 
Jones, John R., Sparta 
Jones, Thomas, Dansville 
Kemp, George ()., Dansville 
Kctchum, George E., Rogersville 
Ketchum, Richard, '' 

Kinney, A., Sparta 
Lauterborn, M., Dansville 
Lerts, F. G., Groyeland 
Lookins, George, Dansville 
Lozier, D. P., 
Maginley, Henry, Sparta 



Roberts, F. M. 
Roberts, Sidney E., Sparta 
Root, Charles, South Dansville 
Scott, Henry C, Dansville 
Seyler, Charles, Jr., Dansville 
Shafer, Samuel, " 

Slate, John, " 

Snyder, James F., Springwater 
Stanley, Geo. B., Dansville 
Steffy, Joseph, Sparta 
Stett'y, William, Byersville 
Stout, Charles, Dansville 
Tiffany, W. C, 
Toles, George C, 
Wellington, E., South Dansville 
Werth, J., Springwater 
Westerman, Louis, Wayland 
Wilson, George, South Dansville 
¥7right. Miles O., Dansville 
Wright, N., Ossian 



Mitchell, N. A., Springwater 
This company left Dansville for Elmira May 3. 1861. 

The regiment left the State May 30th, 1861, and served at Wash- 
ington, D. C, from May 31st, 1861; in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 
Army of Northeastern Virginia from July 16th, 1861; at Fort Cor- 
coran, D. C, from August 4th, 1861; in Martindale's Brigade, 
Porter's Division, Army of the Potomac, from October ISth, 
1861; in the same Brigade and Division, 3d Corps, A. P., from 
March 13th, 1862; in the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps 
A. P., from May, 1862; Companies "H" and "K" as Provost 
Guard from May, 1863; and on May 14th, 1863, under command 
of Lieut. Colonel Francis A. Schoeffel, the regiment was mus- 
tered out at Rochester, having lost during its service in killed, 
wounded and missing a total of 405. It participated in the following 
battles, viz: Blackburn's Ford, Va., July 18th, 1861; Bull Run, Va., 



484 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

July 21st, 1861; Siege of Yorktown, Va., April 5th to May 4th, 
1862, including Warwick and Yorktown Roads April 5th; Hanover 
Court House May 21st and 27th; Seven Days' Battles including 
Mechanicsville June 26th; Gaines's Mills or Cold Harbor and Chicka- 
hominyjune 27; Peach Orchard and Savage Station June 29th; White 
Oak Swamp, Glendale or Charles City Cross Roads and Malvern Cliff 
June 30th; Malvern Hill July 1st; Pope's Campaign including 
Manassas Junction August 29th and Second Battle of Bull Run, 
August 30th, 1862; Maryland Campaign including South Mountain, 
Md., vSept. 14th, Antietam. Md., Sept., 17th and Sheperdstown, Md., 
Sept. 20th, 1862; Hartwood Church, Va., Dec. 1st, 1862; Fredericks- 
burg, Va., Dec. 11th to 15th, 1862, the main battle being fought on 
the 13th; Richard's Ford, Va., Dec. 30th and 31st, 1862; Chan- 
cellorsville, Va., May 1st to 5th, 1863. 

The strength of the regiment, at Manassas (Bull Run) was 600, loss 
12 killed, 26 wound.ed, 27 missing. 

On August 4th, 1861, Colonel Quinby having resigned. Colonel John 
Pickell of Frostburg, Md., assumed command. On the first of 
October, 1861, tlie regiment was detailed on special guard duty at 
the aqueduct and ferries opposite Georgetown, and relieved on the 
8th of March, 1862. March 10th, under General Fitz John Porter 
commanding the Division, the troops joined in the second advance on 
Manassas. Lieut. Colonel Stephan was in command of the regiment, 
Colonel Pickell having been honorably discharged. 

While at Fairfax C. H., the plan of campaign was changed, and on 
the 21st of March the regiment embarked with the Army of the 
Potomac, under General McClellan, at Alexandria for Fortress 
Monroe. 

The regiment arrived at Hampton village March 24th, thence 
to New Market and there encamped until April 4th, furnishing regular 
picket details. 

Arrived in front of Yorktown April 5th, and immediately went into 
action as skirmishers and as a support to the batteries engaged. 

April 7th the entire regiment was ordered to do picket duty, the de- 
ployments effected under cover of darkness and in a cold and severe 
storm. Then followed the siege of Yorktown. It was while before 
Yorktown that Colonel Marshall assumed command of the regiment. 
During the thirty days of the siege it furnished over twenty details 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 485 

for pickets, several for fatigue and a number of scouting parties. 
Special details were made by General Fitz John Porter, who frequent- 
ly commended the regiment for the efficient character of its service. 

Embarked at Yorktown May 8th, and arrived at West Point on the 
York river on the 9th ; thence to within 18 miles of Richmond via 
Cumberland, White House and Tunstall's station. 

While near Richmond, the regiment was detached for special duty 
by command of General Porter, the main army moving forward along 
the Chickahominy. 

The important and delicate military nature of this special duty and 
the high compliment again paid the regiment, will be seen from the 
following extracts from a letter received b)- Colonel Marshall: 

"Head Quarters Fifth Provisional Army Corps, 
Camp at Cold Harbor, Va., May 22, 1862. 
Colonel Marshall, Commanding New York Volunteers: 
Colonel: — -The Commanding General directs you, in compliance 
with orders from general headquarters, to move to-morrow morning 

with your regiment ti> Old Church, on the road to Hanover 

The object of your command is to secure the army from attacks in 
rear or flank by parties of the enemy passing down this branch of the 
river, and to patrol the country between the turnpike and river, and 
for this purpose the Commanding General relies on your vigilance and 
that ol the officers and men under you. You will keep him informed 
of everything about you and communicate often with him: you will 
obtain all information of the enemy possible at Newcastle and Han- 
over, and what force, if any, is beyond the river. You are authorized 
to employ guides." 

The battle of Hanover C. H., was fought on the 27th of May; the 
Thirteenth being in advance of the detached brigade and supporting 
Griffin's battery, was one of the first regiments in the fight, this com- 
mand alone taking 91 prisoners, 84 stands of arms, 55 sets of accoutre- 
ments and 3 chests of medical stores; with a loss of only seven wound- 
ed, one mortally 

On the 29tri ot May the regiment returned to Old Church and on 
the 31st joined the army on the Chickahominy. Here it encamped at 
Gaines's House, doing picket and fatigue duties until the 26th of 
June, when, at the battle of Mechanicsville, the^Thirteenth occupied 
the position on the e.xtreme right. 



486 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

On the next day the regiment was early in position at Gaines's 
Mills. Twice the enemy advancing in heavy column were splendidly 
repulsed by the well directed and murderous fire of the Thirteenth. 
The regiment captured a stand of colors from the Seventh Tennessee 
Batallion. The strength of the Thirteenth at the battle of Gaines's 
Mills was 400; of these 97 were killed, wounded and taken prisoners. 

It is gratifying to know that in the archives at Albany, the follow- 
ing words of Col. Marshall are recorded: 

"I must here speak of the coolness and gallantry during this en- 
gagement of Major Frank A. Schoeffel; Captain George Hyland; 
Captain Jerry A. Sullivan; Captain Charles Savage, and of the brav- 
ery and efficiency of Adjutant Job C. Hedges." Major Schoeffel was 
subsequently promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel. 

Forced marches brought the regiment to the James at Scotches 
Neck, and on the 30th of June it was ordered out as a reserve in the 
battle of Turkey Bend, the prelude of Malvern. Standing to arms all 
night at Malvern Hill, in the morning the regiment fell back to the 
support of batteries, taking position and holding it during the day on 
the immediate heights. 

Here again we find commendations of the Colonel for the bravery, 
coolness and courage of the men of his regiment. He says; 

"I must also speak of the excellent conduct of (here follows the 
names of those already mentioned) Captain Albert G. Cooper, Cap- 
tain Charles C. Brown and Lieutenant Henry Lomb, since promoted 
to be Captain." 

On July 2d, the regiment reached Harrison's Landing where the 
water was so bad that much sickness resulted. July 31st the- camp 
was shelled by the enemy at night and one man. Private Bemish, was 
mortally wounded. 

August 14th, the regiment embarked at Newport News with Gen. 
Porter; disembarked at Aquia Creek, and proceeded thence by forced 
marches to Manassas Junction. 

August 3()th Bull Run was reached, and the regiment worn with 
fatigue and hunger engaged the enemy. If the Thirteenth had before 
this fought bravely, they now fought with desperation, but in vain; 
the men tell rapidly, killed and wounded. On the night of that day, 
the regiment fell back on Centerville; thence, September 2d, to the 
fortifications near Washington. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 487 

September 12th, the regiment was again on the march on the Mary- 
land campaign. 

. At Sharpsburg September 16th, and 17th the battle of Antietam was 
fought, the regiment being on reserve with Gen. Porter. On the 18th 
it was deployed on picket duty in front of Gen. Burnside's position. 

September 20th it crossed the Potomac, but was repulsed by an 
overwhelming force of the enem}' and recrossed the river under heavy 
fire. The regiment remained in camp at Sharpsburg until October 30th, 
when it was again on the march, this time for Fredericksburg, arriv- 
ing at the Rappahannock November 19. Here it remained in camp until 
December 11, and crossed the river at noon on the 13th under fire. 
During the battle of Fredericksburg Colonel Marshall was severely 
wounded. The loss in this battle was quite severe. Out of 298 of- 
ficers and men 5 were killed, f)3 wounded and 17 taken prisoners. 

The report closes with these words: 

"The service rendered the country by this command has not been 
slight. The Thirteenth N. Y. Vols, will not be forgotten as long as 
Manassas, YorktowH, Hanover, Mechanicsville, the Banks of the 
Chickahominy, Turkey Bend, Malvern. Bull Run, Antietam, Sharps- 
burg, Shepardstown, and Fredericksburg are numbered as fields 
whereon brave men fought nobly and died willingly for the protection 
of our national honor and unity."' 

The following is a roster of officers of the 13th Regiment at the 
time of muster out, May 13, 1863:- 

Colonels— E. G. Marshall, (D) Isaac F. Quinby, (D) John Pickell, 
(D). 

Lieutenant Colonels — Francis A. Schoeffel, Carl Stephan. 

Majors— George Hyland, Jr., (D) Oliver L. Terry (D). 

Captains — William Downey, A. G. Cooper, Charles C. Brown, Mark 
J. Bunnell, Eli'jah M. Cooley, (D) VVillard Abbott, Henry Lomb, 
John Weed, (D) Jerry A. Sullivan, (D) Robert F. Taylor, (D) Horace 
Boughton, (D) Edwin S. Gilbert, (D) Hiram Smith, (D) Adolphus 
Nolte, (D) Henry B. Williams, Eugene P. Fuller, (D) George C. Put- 
nam, (D) Ralph T. Wood, (D) Alfred H. Hulburt, Lebbens Brown, 

1. The foregoiug account of the 13th Regimeut is from the files in the Adjutant General's office 
at Washington, D. C. and from the Adjutant General's office at Albany. 

2. Those marked D are dead. 



488 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

(D) Clark S. Benjamin, (D) John II. Pickell, Henry (Seek, (D) Clar- 
ence D. Hess, (D). 

First-Lieutenants — James Hutchinson. S. S. Partridge, Job C. 
Hedges, (D) Wm. R. McKinnon,(D) James H. Wilson, Homer Foote, 
Ernest P. Becker, Edward Martin, (U) John Marks, (D) John M. 
Richardson, James E. Williams, (D) Charles J. Powers, (D) Mont- 
gomery Rochester, Henr\^ R. Curtiss, John Weiland,(D) Mortimer F. 
Stillwell, (D) Robert Stewart, Richard Schreiber, (D) John M. Kirk, 
Henry W. Scott, Charles Hamilton. 

Second-Lieutenants — A. Davis, (D) James Stevenson, (D) Henry J. 
Gifford James K. Burlingame, (D) L. G. Gibson, (D) Sumner Aus- 
tin, John Fichtner, Henry I. Wynkoop, John Cawthra, Conrad Kueh- 
ler, Thomas Jordan, W. J. Hynds, Edward Hamilton. 

Surgeon — David Little. 

Assistant-Surgeon — George W. Avery, (D). 

Chaplains — John A. Bowman, John D. Barnes. 

THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEER 

INFANTRY. 

The 33d Regiment included two companies from Geneseo and 
Nunda, the former being Company E and the latter Company F. It 
also included two companies from Seneca Falls and one each from 
Palmyra, Waterloo, Canandaifjua, Buffalo, Geneva and Penn Yan. 
The organization of the regiment was effected May 21st, 1861, at 
Elmira, with Robert F. Taylor as Colonel. On the 8th of July the 
regiment left for the front and during its term of service participated 
in the battles of Yorktown, Malvern Hill, Fair Oaks, Williamsburg, 
Lee's Mills, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg, and in 
many minor engagements and desperate skirmishes. The regiment 
was mustered out June 2d, 1863; accompanying the' order for this 
purpose was an address from General Sedgwick in which he said: 

"The General commanding the corps congratulates the officers and 
men of the Thirty-third New York Volunteers upon their honorable 
return to civil life. They have enjoyed the respect and confidence of 
their companions and commanders; they, have illustrated their term 
of service by gallant deeds, and have won for themselves a reputation 
not surpassed in the Army of the Potomac, and have nobly earned the 
gratitude of the Republic." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 489 

The following extracts are from letters written to the editor of the 
Nunda "News" by Captain McNair, from Banks' Ford, Virginia, 
early in May, ISbS, and give a vivid picture of the strenuous work of 
this regiment: 

"Sunday we were ordered to storm the works in rear of Fredericks- 
burg, where General Sumner lost so heavily in I lie former battle. 
This was done effectually, under a heavy fire of infantry directed 
principally against the 77th and 33d New York, and the loss in both 
Regiments was large. The 33d lost seventy-four in killed and 
wounded; many of the wounds, however, were slight. 

"Our own Company are again called to mourn the death of one of 
our noblest and best. William Crossett was instantly killed in the 
moment of victory, cheering on the men to the enemy's works. Ser- 
geant McDuffie was struck with a shell, not seriously wounded. Nor- 
ton Bardwell, of Grove, was shot through the breast, I fear a fatal 
wound, although he was in excellent spirits when taken to the hos- 
pital, and may recover. Dibble was shot through the arm, but was 
able to walk, and was sent to the hospital. 

"After the heights were captured the corps marched forward some 
three miles in order to communicate with General Hooker, according 
to his order, but met a large force under Hill, and a fierce fight en- 
sued, in which General Brooks occupied the front. During the night 
the Rebels received large reinforcements and attacked us early in the 
morning with a large force. They marched across the plain in open 
view, with two lines of battle, seemingly enough to sweep everything 
before them. Our Brigade were holding the front at this point in a 
good position. The enemy had approached within good range, when 
a well directed fire broke their line and the whole force scattered in 
confusion across the plain. You will hear more fully from this gallant 
and glorious battle in the General's report. A perfect calm now en- 
sued for several hours--a calm ominous of preparation on the part of 
the enemy for a final effort. Hooker having been checked, a large 
force under Jackson came down to attack us. At four o'clock the 
battle opened again — the fiercest, and for the 33rd, the hardest 
fought, the most fatal and the most glorious in which we have been 
engaged. The whole force of the Rebels was thrown upon the left 
flank held by our brigade. The 20th New York were on the skirmish 
line, sustained by the 33d New York. For several minutes their en- 
tire fire was directd upon the 20th and 33d. We held them in check 
until the forces in rear were properly in position when wp retired 
under a fire the fiercest I have ever witnessed. The enemy came on, 
cheering as if assured of certain victory: but suddenly the Vermont 
brigade rose from a ravine and poured volley after volley into their 
lines; then with a cheer and a charge the Rebel hosts were scattered 
to the winds, and our skirmish line reestablished at dark in its former 



490 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

position. The battle in our front yesterday was a great success. 
Why we are across the river again this morning giving up all our ad- 
vantages won by as brave and successful fighting as the war has 
shown, it is General Hooker's business to explain. If the army has 
failed in its object, no one will fail to acknowledge that General Niel's 
brigade did their whole duty nobly and successfully. But we have 
done it with a sacriHce of life wiiich will carry sorrow to many a heart. 
Under all the circumstances, however, we consider ourselves fortunate 
still. No one expected that a fraction of the regiment would escape. 
But what cared we, when the salvation of the army was at stake. 
And here I affirm solemnly to yt)u, to the honor of your noble sons 
and brothers, that the final order to retire was never so reluctantly 
obeyed. There were men who refused to obey, and stood their 
ground until wounded or captured by the enemy. With mingled feel- 
ings of sorrow and gratitude to the brave boys who have proved their 
devotion to their country with their blood, I record the casualties of 
the Company : 

"Robert Watson, wounded in two places, not dangerous. Albert 
Watson, wounded through ankle and left at Hospital. Eugene Beach, 
wounded ill arm, not dangerous. Philander Merithew, missmLi, but 
re|)orted wounded. Charles Newman, slightly wounded. \Vm. 
Piper, wounded, reported seriously. John Skillens, wounded slightly. 
Jerry Morrison, wounded severely in face, not dangerous. Michael 
Clark, missing. David Evans, missing. Corporal James Haver, 
missing, but seen after the battle. Warren Franklin, the same. 
John Franklin, missing. John Reid, missing. James Norris, mis- 
sing. Jonathan Greenwood, missing, but seen afterwards, unhurt. 
Wm. Nolan, the same. Warren iStreeter, missing. 

"I yesterday wrote you, stating as near as possible the loss of the 
Company. Since, the result has changed materially by several re- 
turning who were reported missing. The report is now as follows: 

"On Sunday William Cosnett was instantly killed; Norton Bard- 
well died Monday night; Dibble badly wounded in shoulder; Smith, 
slight, in ear; McDuflie, slight, in groin: making two killed, three 
wounded; total, five On Monday, Albert Watson shot through 
ankle; William Piper wounded in left side of body, doing well when 
last heard from; Philander Merithew reported wounded; Jerry Morri- 
st)n wounded, not badly; Michael Clark missing: Corporal Wilson 
wounded, not badly; John Franklin, Eagle, missing; John Reid, 
Corning, missing; David Evans, Nunda, missing. 

"These last four were in the ranks while we were fighting. When 
we retired they may have been taken prisoners. None of our boys 
saw them after the command to retire. Corporal James Haver was 
not wounded. One of our boys w^as with him when he was some dis- 
tance from the firing. He was so exhausted that he fainted. His 
comrade brought him some water, and, as the enemy had retreated, he 



ii 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 491 

left him comfortable in the rear, near the Hospital. When we finally 
fell back we could not find him, but suppose he crossed the river, 
which is probable. James has in a peculiar way the heart-felt sym- 
pathy of his comrades, and our earnest prayer is that he is safe. 
Sunday morning he was called hastily to the side of a dying brother, 
Wilbur. He had the satisfaction of being allowed to attend his brave 
brother in his last moments, and attended to his burial, then returned 
to avenge his death. I have since found that he was quite sick before 
and during the battle of Monday, but he uttered no word of com- 
plaint, and fought among the bravest. We shall rejoice to hear that 
he is really safe. 

"Thus our loss on Monday was but three badly wounded, two 
slightly, and five missing. I cannot express my thankfulness for this 
wonderful escape from what seemed almost certain death. The Regi- 
ment was thrown forward as a forlorn hope, trusting that by desper- 
ate fighting we might hold the enemy in check until the left could be 
strengthened. During thirty long minutes we stood with seven com- 
panies against two regiments advancing upon us. They were held at 
bay, and half the number shot down, when a regiment to the left of 
us giving away, the enemy were rapidly flanking us, when we were 
ordered to fall back on the run. Behind us was a ravine from which 
the land sloped upwards. As the Regiment passed over this ground 
It was exposed to a raking fire and here suffered most. Company 
F fortunately kept the ravine as closely as possible, which accounts 
for our fortunate escape. The Regiment suffered a loss of 147 killed, 
wounded and missing; Company F, ten in all, with but seven cases, so 
far as we know. Hooker is falling back and everything looks badly 
at present. It was a fatal, outrageous blunder of some one in leaving 
the heights, which we had fought so hard to storm, wholly at the 
mercy of the enemy. However things may terminate, we can have 
the pride of knowing that we did all that could be asked of men." 

TWENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEER 

INFANTRY. 

The 27th Regiment, organized at Elmira May 21st, 1861, was com- 
posed of ten companies from seven different counties of the State. 
The two companies from Livingston were Company G of Lima, 
Captain James Perkins, numbering eighty-one officers and men, and 
Company H of Mt. Morris, Captain C. E. Martin, numbering eighty- 
three officers and men. Henry W. Slocum of Syracuse, a West Point 
graduate and a veteran in the regular service, was made Colonel; 
Joseph J. Chambers of White Plains, Lieutenant Colonel, and Joseph 



492 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

J. Rartlett of Binghamton, Major. On the 29th of June the members 
of the regiment received their uniforms, equipments and guns, the 
guns being old smooth-bore muzzle-loading. Harpers Ferry, caliber 
fifty-eight. 

On the 10th of July the regiment left Elmira for Washington, arriv- 
ing there on the 12th. One night was spent in the Capitol, and the 
ne.xt morning the regiment was quartered in barracks on Fratiklin 
Square in Washington City. July 15th the regiment was marched 
out on the Georgetown road about a mile, and the day was spent in 
target practice, each soldier firing twenty rounds. It is probable that 
none of the men had ever before loaded a gun according to army 
tactics, and the mistakes were many and ludicrous. In the language 
of one of the veterans of the regiment, "The old muskets kicked like 
a mule, and we returned to camp at night with lame shoulders."' The 
next day orders were received to march, and the long bridge into 
Virginia was crossed in quest of the enemy. They were found at Bull 
Run July 21st, and here the 27th Virginia regiment was encountered, 
and the first engagement occurred, which resulted in the retreat of 
the enemy and a loss of two men killed, seven wounded and nineteen 
captured in Companies G and H. It ne.xt met the Sth Georgia, which 
fell back till reinforced, when the 27th was repulsed and took refuge 
under a hill. It was soon ordered to charge a battery stationed on a 
knoll; this it did under a heavy fire which told fearfully on its ranks. 
Colonel Slocum was wounded, the color guard reduced from nine to 
two and the movement was abandoned. It retired from the field in 
good order, but on reaching the road its ranks were broken and it 
participated in the confused retreat to Washington. August 14th it 
encamped near Alexandria, where Colonel vSlocum was promoted 
Brigadier-General, and Lieutenant-Colonel Chambers resigned. Major 
Bartlett was made Colonel, Captain Adams, Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
Captain Gardiner, Major. September 12th the regiment, having 
been assigned to Slocum's brigade, with the lOth New York and 
Franklin's division, commenced the construction of Fort Lyon, and 
on the 14th of October went into winter quarters four miles north 
of it. 

March 13, 18*')2, the division with wliicli it was connected was 
attached to General McDowell's (1st) corps. April l^th the divisions 
of Generals Franklin and Smith were detached from McDowell's 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 493 

corps, and May 7th were organized as the Oth corps, under General 
Franklin, General Slocum succeeding Franklin in command of the 
division. This arrangement was not subsequently changed during 
the term of service of the 27th, although the officers in command were 
changed, General Bartlett succeeding to the command of the bri- 
gade. General Brooks to that of the division and General Sedgwick 
to that of the corps. 

April 12, 1862, the division to which the 27th belonged embarked 
on transports, and on the alternoon of the 23d sailed to Fortress 
Monroe. On the 24th it encampeil on the Peninsula about seven 
miles from Yorktown, in the siege of which it participated.' Jlay Sth, 
the day succeeding the evacuation of Yorktown, it went with other 
forces to the head of navigation on York river and landed under cover 
of the gunboats, which dispersed the Rebel cavalry and infantry 
skirmishing on the shore. The 27th were the first to. land, and as the 
enemy was near, si.'c companies were deployed as skirmishers, the 
others acting as a reserve. Picket tiring was opened and continued 
during the night. The regiment lost several in killed and wounded, 
and captured a few prisoners. On the morning of the 7th the enemy 
surprised the Union troops while at breakfast, but were repulsed after 
a sharp engagement with the loss of one of their batteries. 

(Jn Thursday, the 22d of May, a reconnoissance was made in which 
the 27th participated; and from this time until June 29th it was 
actively engaged, most of the time in skirmishing, in connection with 
McClellan's Peninsular campaign. On the afternoon of the 27th, the 
second of the Seven Days' Fight, it crossed the Chickahominy to the 
support of General Porter, who was strongly pressed by an overwhelm- 
ing Rebel force, and took part in the desperate encounter of t3aines' 
Mill. The 27th went into action about 5 P. ls\.. on the e.\treme right 
of Porter's corps, drove the enemy from his position by a bayonet 
charge, and captured a large number of prisoners. They held their 
position till dark, when Porter withdrew his forces and joined in tlie 
retreat towards Harrison's Landing. The regiment lost in this en- 
gagement 179 men killed, wounded and missing. At Charles City 
Cross Roads, on the 30th of June, it skirmished and supported bat- 
teries; and at ^Malvern Hill, July 1st, was early sent into action on the 
right of the army to prevent a flank movement. 

The regiment remained at Harrison's Landing till about the middle 



494 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of August, when, McClcllan having been ordered to withdraw his 
army to the support of General Pope in repelling Lee's sortie through 
Maryland, it retraced its steps down the Peninsula, and embarked at 
Newport News for Alexandria. Thence it was sent to the support 
of Pope, and arrived at Centerville on the night of the 30th of 
August, in time to cover Pope's retreat from the second battle of Bull 
Run, but too late to afTect the issue of that desperately fought con- 
test. It followed the retreat and went into camp at Fort Lvon. 

The regiment was engaged in the battle of South Mi>iintain. Sep- 
tember 14th, acting as skirmishers and routing a Rebel batterv; and 
, in that of Antietam, with its horrible carnage, three days later, but, 
though supporting batteries and being under heavy fire all day, suf- 
fered no loss. It joined in the pursuit of Lee, and on the l.'^th of 
December, shared with the army under Burnside, who superseded 
McClellan in comniaiul November 8th, in the terrible disaster of 
Fredericksburg. The 27th was the first regiment to cross the Rappa- 
hannock in the left grand division of the army. Burnside withdrew 
his army from this memorable field on the 15th, and the 27th spent 
the winter in camp at White Oak Church. In the latter part of April 
it was again engaged at Fredericksburg, under Sedgwick; and on the 
3d of May, in the disastrous defeat at Chancellorsville, under Hooker. 
From this time it guarded Banks' Ford till the expiration of its term 
of service. May 13, 1803, General Sedgwick directed the muster 
out, which took place at Elmira, May 31, 1863. 

The regiment was actively engaged in thirteen battles, viz: First 
Bull Run, West Point, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Goldsborough 
Farm, Charles City Cross Roads, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, 
Second Bull Run, Crampton Pass, Antietam, Fredericksburg and 
Fredericksburg Heights. The total enlistment of the regiment was 
1165; mustered out May 31st, 1S(>3, 566; killed in action, 42; died of 
wounds, 17; died of disease, 67; discharged for wounds and disability, 
234; transferred to other commands and by promotion, 69; deserted 
and dropped, 170. The total enlistment of Company G. was 123; 
mustered out May 31st, 1863, 49; killed in action, 8; died of disease 
in service, 11; discharged for wounds and disability, 27; transferred 
to other commands and by promotion, 15; resigned, 2; deserted, 11. 
The total enlistment of Company H was 104; mustered out May 
31st, 1863, 44; killed in action, 3; died of wounds and disease in 



HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 495 

service, 7; discharged for wounds and disability, 22; transferred to 
other commands and by promotion, 10; deserted, 18. Many of those 
mustered out reenlisted in the 1st Veteran Cavalry and served during 
the war. Of Company G there were in September, 1904, but fifteen 
survivors and of Company H but five survivors. ^ - 

Besides those in the organizations mentioned many recruits were 
furnished by the county for other regiments. Among them were the 
24th Artillery (of which Lee's Battery was a part), the 75th, 89th and 
18th Regiments, 8th Heavy Artillery, Harris' Cavalry, and regiments 
from other States. Others, again, entered the Navy, and won 
enviable records there. The total number who entered the Union 
service in regiments other than those raised in the county is unknown, 
but it was certainly several hundred. 

Such, in brief, is the war record of Livingston, and imperfect and 
incomplete as it is here set down it yet reveals a spirit of the truest 
loyalty among the people of the county, and presents an example ot 
labor and sacrifice, of bravery and patriotism, which the Nation well 
could emulate. The people gave freely of men and money, and in the 
darkest hours of the struggle they never faltered. Even when their 
loved sons fell like forest leaves before the rude blast, they did not 
waver, but closing up the fearful breach with others as dearly beloved, 
they watched with aching but brave hearts for the final issue of the 
strife. And when it came they deemed the victory a glorious one, 
though it had cost thousands of lives and millions of treasure, and 
though there was scarcely a home that was not mourning the loss of 
father, brother or lover ; and tears and sorrow attested the horrible 
havoc ot war. 

1. The foregoing sketch of the 27th Regimeut is iu part from matter furnished by Benjamin S. 
Coffin, Esq., and from Mason's History of I.i%'ingston County. 



4% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



CHAPTER TWENTY. 

• 

THE HISTORY of the war period in Livingston county was 
probably not unlike that of most rural counties in the North. 
The people bore the ordeal with the patience and fortitude 
befitting their well tried patriotism, and proceeded with their usual 
vocations with such composure as they could command in the'presence 
of the stirring and trying events of that time. Intense earnestness 
and eagerness in every detail of the struggle was manifested by the press 
and public. The gift by the county of fathers, husbands, sons and 
brothers made it easy to spare whatever was required to sustain our 
arms and provide in any other needed direction. In every village 
and hamlet measures were being constantly devised to raise funds in 
aid of the various agencies established for the improvement of the 
condition of the soldier. A characteristic dis[>lay of this universally 
generous spirit is found in the following letter of a correspondent of 
the "Livingston Republican," written from Fowlerville in May, 1864: 

"Our citizens have been moving, pursuant to resolutions adopted at 
a meeting held at the Congregational Church in this village on Sab- 
bath evening last, to canvass our village and vicinity to secure aid for 
the Christian Commission, which has resulted as follows: 

Cash collected $282.00 

Hospital stores 163.00 



§445.00 
"A large amount of lint and bandages was prepared, our district 
school devoting two hours each day since the meeting in scraping 
and picking lint. And, in fact, nearly every family has been engaged 
in the same noble enterprise of preparing lint and bandages, and a 
large quantity is now ready for shipment, together with dried fruit, 
hop and feather pillows, shirts, drawers, etc. Our ladies met yester- 
day at the church, upon which our glorious flag was floating, to pre- 
pare and pack the articles, all of which are now ready for delivery. 
The ladies of our village have kept u|) an organization since the war 
commenced, and have met weekly to labor for the wants of the sol- 
diers, and have sent forward repeatedly the effects of such service, 
and have contributed largely to the amount of hospital stores sent or 
prepared at this time. The territory canvassed embraced the second 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 497 

election district of the town of York, about one-fourth of the town, 
and we feel gratified at the success of the effort and hope the 
remainder of the town may succeed equally well. A meeting called 
by our Supervisor was held at York Centre last evening for the same 
purpose, at which meeting our efforts were reported and gave good 
impetus, no doubt, to our friends in the other parts of the town; and 
we trust that a much larger sum may be realized still from our town. 
Thus are the people demonstrating their earnest regard for the noble 
nien who are defending our homes and country; and while such 
determination and interest is thus manifested by the Government and 
the people, victory must crown the effort, which may God grant. 

"I notice that other towns are moving in the same direction and 
reporting their success through your paper, and I think the effect is 
good upon the public mind, that they may know how the people feel 
and act. We have succeeded quite to our satisfaction, and have really 
accomplished more than we expected when we commenced. Almost 
every one has done something, but there are a few who refuse, which 
is characteristic; one of our ablest farmers refused to give a cent, and 
I understand even would not allow his little daughter to stop after 
school to pick lint with the other children. Need any one be told 
what political party such a man belongs to? But we do have such 
men in the country, and we as a community are not wholly exempt. 
But, thank God, we are not dependent upon such men. There are 
enough without them to master this infernal Rebellion and save our 
glorious inheritance, as I fully believe; and when that is done, where 
will such men then be? In the slough of infamy most assuredly." 

Another instance may be referred to, showing that this sentiment 
took quite as energetic hold in official quarters: 

At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors held in February 
1864, Hon. Charles H. Carroll, then President of the Livingston 
County Agricultural Society, was appointed a committee to purchase 
a mammoth steer raised by William G. jMarkham, of Avon, in aid of 
the fair of the New York State Sanitary Commission. The purchase 
was to be made from funds raised by general subscription. The 
supervisors of the various towns headed a list for each town, and the 
same was given to the members of the Ladies Soldier's Aid Society in 
each town to circulate. It appeared that the purchase of the same ox 
was in contemplation by Monroe County for the same object, and, to 
forestall this, Jasper Barber purchased the ox for one thousand dollars. 
It will be interesting to observe that this ox, called the "Pride of 
Livingston," was bred by William McKenzie, of York ; when two 
years old he was sold to M. S. Downing, of Avon, and the next year 



498 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

he was sold to Mr. Markham. At six years old he weighed thirty-six 
hundred pounds and was pure white in color. It is said that Barnum 
afterwards bargained for his hide, and had it stuffed for exhibition 
purposes. The ladies raised $769.00, Mr. Markham contributing 
enough more to make up $1,000.00. The ox was taken to New York 
by a committee and presented to the managers of the F"air, by whom 
it was sold for $1,000.00. 

As already stated, the officials of the county and of the various 
towns omitted no means, however seriously they might draw upon the 
public resources, to provide Livingston's full quota under the various 
calls of the President, and to maintain the families of the men during 
their absence. 

At the town meetings held in 1861 the Republicans elected 
twelve of the seventeen members of the Board of Supervisors. At 
the annual meeting held in November Ezra W. Clark, of Conesus, was 
appointed chairman. Nothing noteworthy was done at this meeting, 
except to alter somewhat the town line between the towns of Spring- 
water and Sparta, by including in the town of Springwater all lands 
lying east of the Story Road, so called, which had theretofore been 
within the boundaries of Sparta. 

A People's Union county ticket was in the field in the fall of this 
year, the candidates on that ticket being Walter E. Lauderdale for 
Sheriff; Norman Seymour for County Clerk; lUitler Spencer for Ses- 
sions Justice; Almeron Howard for Superintendent of the Poor; Amos 
A. Hendee for Member of Assembly in the first district, and John S. 
Wiley for Member of Assembly in the second district. No Democratic 
county ticket was nominated, and no People's Union State ticket was 
nominated, so it was expected that the People's Union county ticket 
would attract the support not ordy of Democrats but of malcontent 
Republicans. The entire Republican county ticket was elected, how- 
ever, by majorities from 200 to 700. 

A special session of the Board of Supervisors of the county was held 
August 20th, 1862, to take the first action respecting the payment of 
bounties, and at that meeting the following resolution was adopted: 

RESOLVED, That the Treasurer of this county be and he is here- 
by authorized to pay upon the order of the Supervisors, respectively, 
such sums for bounty purposes to volunteers enlisting since July 2, 1862, 
as the said Supervisors may respectively call for; and that the Treas- 




General Wadsworlh and staff. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 499 

urer be and he is hereby authorized to borrow on the credit of the 
county a sum sufficient for this purpose, and that the sums thus called 
for by the Supervisors shall be assessed upon and collected from such 
towns respectively. 

^t this session Orson Walbridge was appointed chairman, and at the 
annual meeting following he was chosen permanent chairman of the 
Board. 

For the first time since the organization of the Republican party a 
County Judge was elected by that party at the fall election in 1863, 
Solomon Hubbard, then of Dansville, receiving a majority of about one 
thousand over George Hastings, who was the incumbent of the office. 
Hamilton E. Smith, a Republican, was elected Assemblyman in the 
first district over Chauncey Loomis, by a majority of 941, and Jona- 
than B. Morey was elected in the second district over Alonzo Brad- 
ner by a majority of ICi. 

At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors held in February, 
1864, the Treasurer was authorized to issue the bonds of the county 
and borrow money thereon to pay a bounty of $300 to all volunteers 
enlisting under the call of February 1st, lS(i4, for 200,000 additional 
volunteers; and at a special meeting held July 22d the Treasurer was 
authorized to issue the bonds of the county in such amount and for 
such time as the supervisors of the respective towns might require, to 
fill the quota of their towns, under the call of July 18th for 500,000 
volunteers, by the payment of $300 to each volunteer for three years, 
$200 for one year, and $25. for expense money. 

The intelligence of the death of Brigadier General James S. Wads- 
worth on Friday, May 8th, 1864, while leading a gallant charge in the 
battle of the Wilderness, plunged the people of the county into pro- 
found gloom. An account of this noble man, whose life for many 
years formed a conspicuous part in the history of this county, and 
particularly of Geneseo, elsewhere appears in this volume. His 
remains arrived in New York May 19th, and were taken to the City 
Hall there, where they remained until the next day; they were then 
removed to the Erie Railroad, Governor Fish, General Dix and others 
acting as bearers. They reached Geneseo, escorted by a detachment 
of the Third Regulars, the Seventh National Guards and the Veterans 
Corps. Adjutant-General Sprigg accompanied the remains to Gene- 



500 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

seo, where they arrived May 21st, and were interred in the cemetery 
there with appropriate ceremonies. 

Special town meetings were held throughout the county during the 
year 1864 and generous bounties were offered by the towns, as a 
further means of promptly making up their quotas, under the several 
calls of that year for volunteers. 

The Presidential campaign of 1864 was a long and very energetic 
one in Livingston, and everywhere the loyal sentiment of its people 
found earnest and unreserved expression. Many mass meetings were 
held, and the best speakers addressed large and interested audiences. 
At a meeting held at Genesee, October 26, 1864, Senator Wilson, of 
Massachusetts, was one of the speakers. The Lmcoln electors received 
a majority of 1027; Governor Fenton a majority of 1065, and the 
Republican county ticket a majority of about 1000. 

The highest flood in the Genesee Valley before or since occurred 
March 17th, 1865. The freshet began on March 15th, and reached its 
highest point on the 17th. The flats in the neighborhood of Genesee 
presented the appearance of a vast lake. Very great damage was 
done; fences were in many parts destroyed, and all the bridges above 
Mt. Morris were carried away. There was no railroad communication 
with the outside world for nearly a week. The damage done by this 
flood in Rochester was estimated at several millions of dollars. The 
entire business portion of the city on the west side of the river was 
from four to six feet under water. The Genesee \'alley Railroad 
bridge near the south line of the city and the Central Railroad bridge, 
just above the falls, were carried away. About two hundred feet of 
the Genesee Valley Railroad track near the city was washed away and 
ever a mile was submerged. Canal banks were burst in many places, 
and the water swept like a mill race through Front, State and Fitz- 
hugh streets and the Arcade in Rochester, so that many people in the 
upper stories in the last named building could not get away even with 
the assistance of boats. The flood came with great suddenness, and 
to a great extent, unexpectedly. 

On October 25th, 1865, a conspiracy was formed by inmates of the 
county jail to effect a jail delivery. Sheriff Chase was obliged to be 
out of town'for some days, and it was planned by nine of the prisoners 
to kill the sheriff's son, Charles, when he came in to lock them up for 
the night, take him to the outside door, in which there was a hole, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY SOI 

and thrust his hand through. It was expected that his mother would 
recognize his hand by the ring he wore, and open the door, when tliey 
would rush out and make their escape. Sheriff Chase's unexpected 
return frustrated the plot, however. He was informed of it by two of 
the prisoners, from whom he learned that Henry Wilson, the Portage 
murderer, then in jail under indictment, was the ring-leader. The 
sheriff went to the hall where Wilson was with four or five other pris- 
oners, and demanded a knife which he was told Wilson had. Wilson 
denied having one, whereupon the sheriff seized him by the throat and 
choked him until he disclosed the whereabouts of the knife in his 
clothing. The prisoners involved in the scheme were all ironed and 
put in close confinement. They were an unusually desperate gang of 
criminals, and there is no doubt that the sheriff's opportune return 
prevented the loss of one life, at least, and probably others. 

In the week following this attempted jail delivery began the trial 
of Wilson for the murder of Henry DeVoe, of Portage. He was con- 
victed on November 10th, and sentenced to be hanged on December 
22nd. The scenes attending the execution on that day, at the jail yard 
in Genesee, were so extraordinary, from the present point of view, 
that we reproduce an account of what occurred upon the scaffold, 
after the death warrant had been read and a prayer offered. Wilson 
was informed by the sheriff that he had but ten minutes to live, and 
if he had anything to say that was the time to say it. The con- 
demned man proceeded to make a rambling speech, daring the prog- 
ress of which he was repeatedly called upon by the spectators to 
speak louder, and at one point was engaged in a colloquy with the 
sheriff over some question as to what occurred in the jail. After 
apparently exhausting his desire to talk, the handcuffs were removed, 
his arms pinioned, a rope put about his neck and the black cap on his 
head. Some of the deputy sheriffs and his counsel bade him good-bye, 
and the sheriff told him he had but four minutes more to live. It 
cannot occasion surprise that he should have replied, "It is not much 
consolation to be kept standing here in the cold three or four minutes. 
I had as lief go now as any time." The sheriff replied, "Very well, 
if that is your desire." The cap was drawn over the face, and the 
sheriff said, "Wilson, your time is up." He replied, "Go ahead," 
and the weight was dropped. It is scarcely credible that a proceeding 
of this character could have occurred in this county within a period 



502 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of forty years and the substitution of presetit methods of exacting the 
final penalty finds in such an incident as the above a powerful vindi- 
cation. 

For the first time since the outbreak of the Rebellion, a Democrat 
was elected to office upon the county ticket. In the fall of 1865 Isaac 
Hampton was defeated for the office of Member of Assembly in the 
second Assembly district by .Samuel D. Faulkner, of Dansville, who 
will again appear as an unconquerable champion of Democracy in the 
county of Livingston. 

Base ball very early became a favorite sport in this county and 
scarcely had Lee surrendered when vigorous battles upon the diamond 
succeeded the serious conflicts at arms. The Livingston base ball 
club was probably the most distinguished exponent of the national 
game among the many that have flourished in the county during the 
past forty years. This club was organized by Hon. James W. Wads- 
worth in the sixties and for a great many years afforded to the people 
of tiie county splendid exhibitions of base bail. 

To judge from the record of a memorable contest in August, 1S()('>, 
between the Livingstons and the Ajax clnb of Avon, the former nine 
were in their salad days that year. Among the members of the club 
then were James W. Wadsworth, who was pitcher; John E. Lord, son 
of Judge Scott Lord, third baseman; William H. Shepard, now a 
prominent attorney of New York City, catcher; William A. Brodie, 
first baseman, and Lester B. Howe, Superintendent of the Produce 
Exchange of New York, right fielder. The score was 51 to 28 in favor 
of the Livingstons, the latter club making twenty-one runs in the 
third mning 

Another famous club was the Hunkidory, of Geneseo, and in still 
later years, and the last in which Mr. Wadsworth manifested an active 
interest, the Geneseo Club was probably one of the cleverest and most 
interesting amateur nines ever collected. It was for the most 
part college men and played for several seasons at Geneseo. The 
composition of the club in the last year of its existence^isy" — was 
the strongest. Among the players of that year were Jerome Bradley, 
captain; he was also captain of the Princeton University team in 
1897; William Lauder, of Brown University, who was afterwards for 
several seasons with the New York National League team; Walter 
W. Wilson, of Princeton: John ^Vltman, of Princeton; Howard C. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 503 

Cobb, of Cornell; Jaines W. Wadsworth, Jr., of Yale, who had that 
year proved himself one of the best players in the strong Yale Univer- 
sity team; Barclay, of Lehigh University, afterwards for a number of 
years a member of the St. Louis and Boston National League teams, 
and Edward P. Ward, of Princeton, and a member of the University 
team for several years, now a practicing attorney in Geneseo. It is 
quite within moderation to say that no more brilliant, all-around 
player than Mr. Ward ever participated in the games on the Geneseo 
grounds. This team defeated all the Western New York amateur 
teams, and took several trips in a private car to defeat the amateur 
teams in the West, in Canada and on the Eastern coast, where the 
strongest athletic clubs of the country were then at the height of their 
power. 

In February, 1866, the people of the village of Dansville held a 
meeting at which resolutions were adopted declaring it expedient for 
the citizens of Dansville and the surrounding towns "to make a strong 
and earnest effort to procure an act of the Legislature at the present 
session, erecting a new county from portions of Livingston, Allegany 
and Steuben counties." The proposition was to include the towns of 
Groveland, Conesus, Mt. Morris, Nunda, Portage, Sparta, West 
Sparta, Ossian, North Dansville and Springwater in Livingston 
county; Burns and Grove in Allegany county, and Wayland and 
Dansville in Steuben county. The resolutions also included the pay- 
ment of the e.xpense of erecting county buildings by the town of North 
Dansville. 

This proposition resulted in energetic newspaper editorials from 
other quarters of the county remonstrating against the proposed 
division, and freely charging improper motives as the inspiration for 
the project. Nothing came of it, however. 

At a special election held April 23d, 1867, Isaac L. Endress, of Liv- 
ingston; William H. ilerrill, of Wyoming; Edward J. Farnum and 
John M. Hammond, of Allegany were elected Delegates to the Consti- 
tutional Convention from the 30th Senatorial district. The conven- 
tion assembled at Albany June 11th, 1867. 

A spirited canvass preceded the Republican county convention, held 
September 28th, 1867. E. W. Packard of Nunda was earnestly pressed 
in certain quarters for nomination for the office of County Judge 



504 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

against Judge Hubbard, the incumbent. Judge Hubbard was nomi- 
nated, however, and elected. 

Two fires occurred at the Alms House in the year 18()S. The first 
in the early morning of February 6th resulted in the destruction of 
the frame building in the yard north of the present east building, the 
lower story of which had been used as an asylum for the male insane, 
and the upper part for the female insane. The building burned to 
the ground, and five of the inmates perished with it. 

A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was called on Febru- 
ary 25th, and at this meeting George W. Root, Richard Peck and 
Craig W. Wadsworth were appointed a committee to construct a new 
building of brick or stone, to replace the building burned. The build- 
ing was constructed by this committee, and completed November 4th, 
18(i8. at an expense of $8,618, and is the east projection of the center 
building of the present group of builings at the poor house farm. 
After this building was completed it accommodated for a time both 
the male and female indigent insane, the women having the east part 
of the building and the men the west. Until the completion of this 
building the insane women were kept on the upper floor of the east 
wing of the present east building and the male patients were confined 
in the basement of the west wing of that building. Incurables were 
as a rule sent to Willard and other State asylums and there maintained 
at county expense until ample quarters were finally provided. 

The destruction of this building was made the occasion by the town 
of Avon of an effort to secure the removal of the county buildings to 
that place. A bill was accordingly introduced into the Legislature at 
the session of 1868, authorizing the people of Avon to ta.\ themselves 
for the purpose of defraying the expense in part of constructing the 
new buildings; the bill was never reported. This project engaged the 
press of the county in earnest discussion; a meeting was held in Gen- 
esee in February, and speeches were made remonstrating against the 
scheme of removal. An executive committee, consisting of John 
Rorbach, B. F. Angel, John R. Strang, AVilliam A. Brodie and A. J. 
Abbott, was appointed to keep an eye out for developments. The 
' particular reasons urg«d by the advocates of removal were the 
geographical advantages of the location at Avon and the need of ex- 
tensive repairs on the buildings. The matter was not brought up, 
however, at the special session of the Board, as it was apparent to the 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(JSTON COUNTY 505 

Avon people that they would not receive sufficient support to make it 
profitable to submit the matter. 

The other fire occurred on the first day of October in the early 
evening; all the barns, stables, etc., were destroyed, together with a 
large quantity of hay and some straw and grain. Robert Baker, an 
inmate who had been brought up in the institution, confessed to hav- 
ing started the fire. The loss was about $3,200.00 and the property 
was insured for $1,000.00. 

At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors held in October, 
subsequent to the fire, the san:e committee having in charge the con- 
struction of an insane asylum was empowered to rebuild the barns; 
these were completed the same year, at an expense of $1,980, together 
with a grain barn added later, costing $915. 

The directors of tiie Avon, Geneseo and Mt. Morris Railroad, at a 
meeting held at Geneseo May 9th, 1868, offered to extend their line, 
which then ran to the corporate limits of Mt. Morris, to the town line 
between Mt. Morris and Groveiand, a distance of about three miles, 
if the Dansville people would build the remaining portion of the line 
to Dansville. This proposition was accepted. The Erie and Genesee 
Valley Railroad Company had been organized in January, 1868, and 
with the aid furnished by North Dansville, which bonded itself for 
$100,000, and Groveiand and West Sparta, each town bonding itself 
for $10,000, the road was cnmpleted from Dansville to Mt. Morris in 
1872; the Avon, Geneseo & Mt. Morris Company having meanwhile, 
with aid from the town of Mt. Morris, which bonded itself in the sum 
of $25,000, extended its road to the town line. The Erie and Genesee 
Valley company became by reorganization in October, 1891, the Dans- 
ville and Mount Morris Railway Company; this company is now 
operating the road and is steadily improving its equipment and service. 

The people of the county gave a majority of 1358 for General Grant 
in the presidential election of 1868. 

For the first time in many years, a Democratic Board of Supervisors 
was elected by a majority of one at the town meetings held in the 
spring of 1870, the Repul)li(^ans having since 1860 secured a majority 
each year. 

A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held March 23d, 
1870, to consider the matter of repairs to the county jail, and to pro- 
vide a temporary Surrogate's office. At this meeting the town of 



506 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Avon again offered to put up new county buildinji;s at that place at a 
cost of $75,U00.00, without expense to the county. This proposition 
was referred to a committee to report at a future session with refer- 
ence to the power of the Board to accept it. The committee later 
reported that the Board had no power to enter into the proposed agree- 
ment. The Board adjourned without definite action, but at a special 
meeting held March 21st, 1871, it was determined to e.xpend the sum 
of $3,900.00 in repairs on the jail building. 

At the spring elections in 1871 the Republicans regained control 
of the Board of Supervisors. 

Much interest was aroused during this year by the proposed con- 
struction of the Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania Railroad. The 
principal importance of this enterprise grows out of the fact that in 
its aid the town of Mt. Morris was bonded for §75,(100; the town of 
York for $100,000, and Nunda for $75,000, and each town issued thirty 
year bonds for those amounts, respectively, bearing seven per cent 
interest. The question of issuing bonds was also submitted to the 
townspeople of Caledonia and Leicester; in Caledonia the project was 
defeated by a close vote, and in Leicester it was determined to issue the 
bonds of the town when the railroad should be constructed; thus these 
two towns escaped. Mt. Morris continued to pay interest at this rate 
until the maturity of its bonds in l')01, and the report of the Railroad 
Commissioners of that town for 1900 shows that the town had paid, in 
interest alone upon the bonds issued in aid of this phantom railroad 
the sum_ of $104,786.19. In 1901 Mt. Morris refunded the unpaid por- 
tion of these bonds, together with the unpaid portion of the Avon, 
Geneseo& Mt. Morris Rairload bonds, amounting in all to $42,000, by 
issuing new bonds bearing interest at three and a half per cent, $1,000 
of which bonds are payable each year until 1911; after that time, 
$2,000 is annually payable. In 1878 the town of York raised the 
question as to the validity of ihe binds, and made default in the pay- 
ment of interest. Litigation followed, as a result of which the 
bonded debt was refunded and new bonds issued bearing five per cent 
interest; in 1886 the bonds were again refunded at four per cent, with 
a clause for a sinking fund, and on March first, 1900, the bonds were 
fully paid. The town of Nunda also refunded its bonds at a lower 
rate of interest; there remained unpaid in 1903, $11,500 of these Nunda 
bonds. And thus neither York nor Nunda suffered in the same 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 507 

degree that Mt. Morris did on the interest charge. All that remains 
of the project, which evoked this generous aid from the towns named, 
is the semblance of a road-bed, having neither tie nor rail, which has 
long been given over to vegetation. 

As early as July, 1871, the papers were much engaged with a dis- 
cussion of the merits of the prospective candidates for County Judge, 
to be voted for in the fall. The Republican convention, which was 
held October 7th, nominated Henry Decker of Lima. Judge Hub- 
bard, who was then serving, was his principal rival for the nomina- 
tion. Samuel D. Faulkner was nominated by the Democratic party. 
Charges were freely made during the campaign of the defection of 
various prominent Republicans and their willingness to see Mr. Faulk- 
ner elected. The result of the election showed that these charges 
were not without some foundation, as Mr. Faulkner was elected by a 
majority of about 500. 

A number of gentlemen, formerly prominently identified with the 
Republican party in the county, inaugurated a movement at a meet- 
ing held in Geneseo January 23d, 1872, ostensibly for the purpose of 
restoring harmony to the ranks of the party which had been thrown 
into some discord and confusion by the result of the election for 
County Judge and other contributing causes. Various meetings were 
held and as time went on it developed more clearly that the inspira- 
tion for the project was to a great extent the opposition to General 
Grant's reeleciion ; the result proved this to be really the case, as 
those most conspicuous in the enterprise became later avowed Greeley 
adherents, and permanently identified themselves with the Femocratic 
party. All pretense, indeed, was thrown aside as early as Septeinber, 
1872; in that month the promoters held a "Liberal Convention" at 
Geneseo, at which Mr. Greeley was endorsed. Intense interest was 
manifested in the county during the Grant and Greeley cainpaign; 
mass meetings were everywhere held, and political afifiliations were 
shifted, some temporarily, many permanently. The county gave a 
majority for the whole State ticket and the Grant electors t'eceived 
about 1,500 plurality. 

In January, 1873, the office of the Surrogate was established in 
rooms over the Genesee Valley Bank, in Geneseo, for a term of five 
years, and immediately that official took possession of his new quar- 
ters. In 1873 the Democrats again secured control of the Board of 



508 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Supervisors. At the fall electiniis in the same year the county j^ave 
a Republican majority of about 1,(I(I0 for State officers, and elected 
the whole Republican county ticket by a somewhat reduced majority. 
In December of this year the remains of a mastodon were found by 
Mr. Edward Whitenian, of Dansville, while digging a ditch on his 
farm in Wayland, about tvvo miles south of Dansville. There were 
found two teeth, a tusk and fragments of ribs and vertebrae three 
or four feet below the surface. Mr. Whiteman did not know what 
they were, and suffered them to remain all winter exposed to the 
weather. They were taken to Dansville in May, when the importance 
of the discovery was made apparent. Professor Jerome Allen, of the 
Geneseo Normal School, was present during the exhumation, which 
was continued after the bones were identified. These he pronounced 
as belonging to a mastodon. Other large bones were uncovered, con- 
sisting of part of a tusk measuring nine feet two inches in length and 
twenty inches in circumference, which crumbled considerably after 
its exposure to the air; also part of a leg bone, rib, nearly complete 
vertebra and a tooth. The leg bone was thirty-Hve inches long, ten 
inches thick at the upper end and nine inches at the lower end and 
weighed twenty-eight pounds. The piece of rib was thirty-eight 
inches long and three and one-half inches wide. The vertebra, apart 
from its connections, was four and one-half inches thick. Later 
excavation at a depth of about six feet disclosed two more teeth, part 
of a rib, the head of the femur and a portion of the humerus. The 
largest tooth was seven by four and one-half inches wide and eight 
and one-fourth inches long, and weighed four pounds ten ounces; the 
femur was a huge bone and showed the animal to have been of 
immense size. The tusk found earlier could not. Professor Allen said, 
have been less than fourteen feet long before it decayed. This was 
the third of the species which had been e.xhumed in this county and 
probably the largest. It was calculated that the animal in life must 
have been fourteen feet high and twenty feet long (or forty feet long 
measuring from tip to tip), and probably weighed about twenty-five 
tons. Dr. F. M. Ferine secured these bones, and in l'J02 presented 
them to the Historical Society; they were placed in the log cabin at 
Geneseo, where they may now be seen. The following interesting 
statement by Professor Allen was suggested by the discovery of this 
mastodon: 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 509 

"At no very remote geological period, before the advent of man, 
the whole of Western New York was covered with a great number of 
lakes. We see the remains of them, not only in the blue waters of the 
Ontario and Erie, but in the beautiful Chautauqua, Silver, Conesus, 
Hemlock, Crooked and_Canandaigua lakes. At this period the whole 
of the Genesee Valley was filled with a lake which could not have had 
an average depth of less than three hundred feet. Into this water 
flowed in beautiful cascades the Genesee river, the Canaseraga and 
other creeks, with many smaller streams. The surface of the land on 
all sides was covered with dense forests interspersed with deep and 
almost impassable swamps; birch and willow grew in great abundance 
in the forests, the mastodon abounded, and in seeking for the rankest 
vegetation often sank, on account of his immense weight, when he 
ventured too far into the shady bogs. Such a swam[) existed on the 
hill above Geneseo, and here a few years ago the remains of a huge 
monster were found. Another swamp was found near Dansville, on 
the road to Wayland, about six hundred feet above the bottom of this 
old lake. On the edge of this morass the Dansville mastodon died. 
No bones of this animal have ever been discovered in the place cov- 
ered by the lakes of this alluvial period." 

The first steamboat on Conesus Lake was launched July 2d, 1874, 
with suitable ceremonies. The boat was named "The Genesee," and 
was constructed for Jerry BoUes; it was fifty feet long and sixteen 
feet beam and carried one hundred passengers. This interesting 
event was preceded a week earlier by a similar one on Hemlock lake, 
where the first steamer, "The Seth Green," — 30 feet long by 7;^ feet 
beam — was launched. 

At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held in April, 
1874, the sum of $10,000 was appropriated iir the construction of an 
insane asylum, the buildings at the poor farm having become inade- 
quate to accommodate the increasing number of indigent insane. The 
building was completed in September, 1874, and cost $11,450. It was 
constructed by David Hul.bert, of Mt. Morris, and is the west part of 
the present middle building. Charles Coots, of Rochester, was the 
architect. This new building was used for the male patients the 
original building erected in 1868 being now devoted to the women, 
and this continued until the construction of the present west building. 
when the entire middle building was used for male patients and the 
women were lodged in the west building. 



510 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

After an intensely earnest and bitter campaign the elections in 1874 
resulted in the choice of Ilurlhurt E. Brown, Democrat, for the office 
of County Clerk over Henry L. Arnold, Republican, by a majority of 
nearly five hundred; James Faulkner, Jr., Democrat, was elected 
Member of Assembly over [onathan P). Morey. Republican, by a 
majority of three nundred, and John Shepard, Democrat, was elected 
County Treasurer over Theodore F. Olmsted, Republican, by about 
the same majority. 

The town meetings in 1875 left the political complexion of the 
Board of Supervisors still Democratic, althcnigh some changes oc- 
curred in the several towns. 

On the 5th of IMay, 1875, the famous high bridge spanning the Gen- 
esee River at Portageville, on the Erie Railroad, was destroyed by 
fire. The following is a description of the bridge, prepared by Colonel 
James O. McChire. of Warsaw, New York:' 

"At the time of the building of the Attica & Hornellsville Railroad, 
in 1S4'»-1H52 (iiow tlie Buffalo Division of the Erie Railroatl), the main 
problem presented to engineering science of that day was how to 
bridge the mighty chasm through which the Genesee river passes at 
Portage, between the counties of Livingston and Wyoming in this 
State, and not until a congress of engineers was called was the defi- 
nite plan of building this one-time wonder of the world in bridge 
architecture decided, which matle it a fitting adjunct to the grand and 
beautiful scenery around it. 

"The structure was begun in April, 18.^1, and completed August 
9th, 1852. At the time of its erection it was considered as strong and 
safe a structure as there w^as in the country, the heaviest trains not 
producing any perceptible effect upon it. It was built under the gen- 
eral superintendence and supervision of Colonel Silas Seymour, the 
Chief Engineer of the Road, while Preston Lincoln, Civil Enigneer, 
had immediate charge of the construction. It was built entirely of 
wood, the towers being built in sections and fifty feet apart, resting 
uijou massive stone piers, thirty feet in height, planted in the river 
bed. The total height of the bridge was 234 feet and its length 800 

I This accouut appeared in the .\rt Suppletiienl of the Western New Yorker of Ai)ril iil}i, 
1895. Colonel McClnre has been called upon during the present year by the Professor of Bridge 
Engineering at Cornell University, and the Chief Engineer and Bridge Engineer of the Erie Rail- 
road to furnish plans and data of the bridge for an exhibit of the same at the St. I.onis fair. Col- 
onel McClnre being the only person living who conld snpply the information. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 511 

feet. There were fifteen towers, all of which were connected in one 
grand whole, thereby forming a complete viaduct. 

•'Its construction involved the use of 1,600,000 feet B. M. of pine 
timber, the product ot over 300 acres of closely grown pine lands; 
106,840 pounds of wrought iron, and its cost was $180,000. 

"It was so constructed that any piece of timber or iron could be 
taken out and replaced when required, without impairment of its 
strength, and the structure was considered the highest and best type 
of bridge building of its day. 

"Upon its completion the event was celebrated by an elaborate 
dinner on the 25th day of August, 1852, to which the dignitaries of the 
land were invited and many of them attended. The Governor of the 
State, at that time Honorable Washington Hunt, was present and 
presided at the festivities. 

"After the road became the Buffalo Division of the Erie Railroad, 
traffic largely increased, and the bridge, being over twenty years old, 
was not considered adequate to the business of this great thorough- 
fare. By some mysterious dispensation it took fire at midnight of the 
fith of May, 1875 and before dawn the bridge was entirely consumed. 
Whether the fire occurred through design or by accident is not pub- 
licly know^n, but the efforts of the Eric Railroad for two years pre- 
vious to find a route to Buffalo, whereby this bridge might be avoided, 
which proved abortive, and the almost marvelous rebuilding of the 
present bridge of iron, has caused many to remark, that the fire was 
the most speedy manner in which it might be disposed of and the 
gorge left clear for a new bridge. 

"Up to the time of its liestruction by fire, it was visited by excur- 
sion and private parties and the grandeur of the scenery at this point, 
together with the wonderful bridge, attracted a large number of 
visitors and the improvements about the locality made it a delighful 
resort for the tourist and pleasure-seeker." 

Hon. William P. Letchworth, who was at Glen Iris at the time of 
the fire and saw the bridge burn, gave a most thrilling description of 
the occurrence, which was published at the time in the "Auburn 
Daily Advertiser," and is here reproduced: 

"I was aroused from sleep at ten minutes to four o'clock, and in a 
few mniutes was standing upon the lawn at (Jlen Iris, from which 
point every portion of the bridge was visible, as well as the I'pper 



512 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Falls, the river and the Middle Falls. The spectacle presented at pre- 
cisely four o'clock was tearfully grand; every timber in the bridge 
seemed then to be ignited, and an open net-work of fire was stretched 
across the upper end of the valley. Above the bridge, and touching 
its upper line, a black curtain hung down from the sky, its lower edge 
belted with a murky fringe of fire. The hoarse growl of the flames 
and the cracking of the timbers sounded like a hurricane approaching 
through the forest. At this time the Upper Falls seemed dancing in 
a silver light. The water in the river was glistening with the bright 
glare thrown iijum it, and the whole valley of Glen Iris was illumi- 
nated in tragic splendor. Now and then could be seen an outstand- 
ing flaming brace dislodged and sailing downward. - These huge 
brands would fall on the river below with a great splash. At fifteen 
minutes past four the superstructure of the west end of the bridge 
sank downward and the depression rolled throughout its length to the 
east end like the sinking of an ocean wave. The whole upper struc- 
ture, including the heavy rails, went down with a crashing sound so 
terrible, as it came to our ears on the wind, that it surpassed the pro- 
longed roar of the falling avalanches one may hear at times in spring 
upon the declivities of the Wengern Alps. Timber, rails, bolts, 
abrading and dislodging burning coals as they fell, crashed downward 
into indistinguishable ruin. As the stupendous mass fell a dark red 
cloud intermingled with crimson flame usurped the place of the bril- 
liant lace work of fire, and a darkened shadow lay over the glen. The 
silver light reflected from the Upper Falls was gone, and the foaming 
current changed its appearance to that of rosy wool. Out of the 
huge cloud that then filled the end of the glen, there arose a vast and 
beautiful canopy of seeming gold dust. This was lifted upward and 
extended from hill to hill on the right and left, shutting out every 
glimpse of the sky. The breeze wafted the sparkling dust nearer to 
us, and as it came it grew brighter and the particles larger until the 
whole heavens in every quarter seemed filled with falling stars. The 
coals, many as large as hen's eggs, fell in the pine grove at the Indian 
council house, at the farther end of the glen. 

"They seemed innumerable and filled the sky with inconceivable 
splendor. Burning fragments of the bridge fell all about the upper 
end of the valley, covering the hillsides apparently with steadily burn- 
ing signals. At this time a strange weird light illumiiialfd the river 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 513 

and brightened in an unearthly ghire all the surniiindings. Although 
the main upper structure (^f the bridge fell at fifteen minutes past four 
o'clock, lighter portions of the frame work still remained. Through 
the lurid smoke glimpses of fragmentary sections of the bridge might 
be seen, Forked crimson flames shot up all along the ground line of 
the gulf and river bed. At the left still brighter flames illuminated 
like a vast beacon the summit of the cliff on the Livingston cout»-ty 
side. Blazing timber still continued to fall uninterruptedly, and the 
rocks becoming heated exploded in loud and almost continuous 
bursts of sound. These might be compared to a rattling tire of 
musketry, except that they were much louder, sometimes resembling 
the discharge of artillery. The falling and burning timbers lodged 
between the piers, and the water, setting back on this burning mass, 
produced strange sounds. At twenty minutes past four the explosions 
of the heated rocks blended into an almost continuous roar. At half 
past four o'clock the shower of golden sparks passing over the glen, as 
well as the smoke froin the burning timbers, had perceptibly dimin- 
ished. A mass of burning timber on the canal bank threw an intense 
glare on the river below. 

"A bit of the blue sky was discernible on the western side, and the 
wind, partially lifting the curtain of smoke, revealed a blazing tower 
dazzling with fire. This was the central pier of the bridge, the top 
still wreathed in crimson smoke. A few minutes later it is again 
obscured — a little later still the curtain of smoke is once more lifted, 
the tower staggers, another roar and crash, now commingled with the 
explosion of bursting rocks, and the tower sinks down into the burning 
mass among the stone piers, and Portage bridge is a thing of the past. 
Ten minutes later might be seen the bare cliffs of rock upon the west 
side. The whole outline of the valley stood in a black line against 
the smoke and flame. Nature in this fearful struggle had asserted 
herself and this vaunted achievement of man had been melted into 
ashes. Daylight revealed an inky basin at the base of the Upper 
Falls which had been discolored by the coals. The fall itself was 
amber tinted, and the river below flowed dark from discoloration of 
the burning masses that it had swept down. The chasm after the fire- 
seems broader and deeper than before, and, had we never seen the 
bridge, what now remains would appear an incomprehensible ruin. 

Through the exceeding courtesy of Mr. Letchworth we are per- 



514 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

mitted to reproduce two rare pictures of the old bridge The one 
taken from below the bridge, showing the falls, is a lithographic print 
prepared by Compton, of Buffalo, about the time the bridge was 
built. This was placed in Mr. Letchworth's museum bv Mrs Joseph 
Duncan, ot Silver Springs. The other was made by a London artist 
who went to Portage with a very large camera and informed Mr' 
Letchworth that he was charged with the duty of taking five pictures 
in America and no more and returning immediately to England The 
five pictures included Niagara Falls, Portage High Bridge and the 
Natural Bridge in Virginia. This circumstance will sufficientlv show 
the world-wide fame which this structure had acquired. 

The railroad company proceeded at once to construct a new 
wrought iron bridge, which was completed July 16, 1875 The first 
train passed over the bridge two weeks later, and it'has been in con 
tinuous use every day since. The new structure was of iron 820 
feet long— eighteen feet longer than the old bridge- -and 236'./ feet 
high from the bed of the river. It consists of ten spans of 100 feet 
each and two spans of 118 feet each, the weight of the iron being 
1,310,000 pounds, and the cost was $95,000. In 1903 the Erie com- 
pany began removing the top structure under the direction of the 
Chief Engineer of the road, and twenty-five men were employed a 
whole year continuously in replacing with new material the whole of 
the structure except the posts supporting it and the masonry The 
posts were fourteen inches square and made of iron one inch thick 
with heavy angle iron riveted in the corners. During the orogress of 
this work no passenger train was delayed and no serious accident oc- 
curred. The bridge is now safer than ever before and it is claimed 
that a train of twenty of the heaviest locomotives coupled together 
would now run across it at full speed with perfect safety. 

In the years since 1875 marvelous improvements have been made in 
tools used and plans adopted for bridge engineering. The use of the 
pneumatic drilling machines driven by a st^m air'compressor enabled 
the workman to suspend himself beneath the bridge with drills attached 
to a rubber hose, so that one man could do more than ten could for- 
merly accomplish. In like manner all the riveting was done bv pneu- 
matic power. The immense cross beams were in the same way fas- 
tened to the posts ot the old bridge ; and the trusses of the new'being 
so much deeper than the old ones, left the posts projecting four feet 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 515 

above the bridge seat. These iron posts were taken ofif with pneu- 
matic saws — something formerly impossible. The whole bridge of 
wrought iron, bridgemen saying that steel rusts too badly for 
economy. 

The following sketch of the Livingston County Historical Society, 
which had a beginning in 1875, was prepared by A. O. Bunnell, of 
Dansville, the cmly survivor of its incorporators: 

The initiatory steps to organize a historical society for Livingston 
county were taken at an informal meeting of a few persons in Dans- 
ville December, 1875. An adjourned meeting was held in Mount 
Morris in January, 1876, of which Dr. Myron H. Mills was chairman 
and Mr. Norman Seymour secretary. After earnest discussion the 
society was organized by the election of the following ofificers: 

President. — Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh. 

Vice Presidents. — Dr. James Faulkner, William vScott, Adolphus 
Watkins, Dr. Daniel H. Bissell, Deacon John McColl. 

Secretary. — Norman Seymour. 

E.xecutive Committee. — Hon. Benjamin F. Angel, Dr. Myron H. 
Mills, Samuel P. Allen, Lucien B. Proctor, Richard Peck, George 
W. Root. 

At a meeting of the society held in Mount Morris, February 13, 
1877, the constitution and by-laws were adopted and a certificate of 
incorporation perfected, certified by M. H. Mills, Norman Seymour, 
Loren J. Ames, Levi Parsons, D. H. Bissell, A. O. Bunnell and L. B. 
Proctor. A singular mortality has attended the organization and 
early officers of the society. Of the seven incorporators and first 
eleven presidents but one is living, the writer of this sketch. 

The general objects of the society as defined by the constitution are 
"to discover, procure and preserve whatever may relate to the history 
of Western New York in general, and Livingston county and its 
towns in particular, and to gather such statistics of education and 
population, growth and prosperity and business of this region as may 
seem advisable or of public utility." The membership fee is one 
dollar and annual dues one dollar. A life membership ten dollars, 
free from annual dues. An annual meeting is held at which officers 
are elected, business transacted and an annual address delivered, with 
historical and biographical sketches, and memorials of deceased 
members. The annual addresses have covered a wide range of sub- 



SU, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

jects, mostly historical. The proceedings of each meeting have been 
published in pamphlet form, constituting a record which will become 
more valuable as the j'ears go by. In addition to this record meas- 
ures have been taken to secure and bind current files of all the county 
newspapers. Donations of portraits, early books, pamphlets and 
records, and relics of Indian and pioneer life have added to the value 
of the society's possessions. In the early history of the society the 
trustees of the Wadsworth Library at Geneseo tendered as a deposi- 
tory for this collection a room in the library building. Rut the 
necessity and desire for a depository to be owned and exclusively used 
by the society carried to completion a project often suggested and 
talked of, the building of a log cabin in the park at Geneseo, many of 
the logs for which were donated by members. The twentieth annual 
meeting of the society was held in this log cabin February 18, 1896, 
and at that meeting the cabin was formally dedicated. Introductory 
remarks giving in brief the history of the enterprise were made by Mr. 
William A. Brodie, in which chief credit for the building of the cabin 
was given to Joseph D. Lewis, an enthusiastic collector of pioneer 
relics, with added words of praise for Honorable Lockwood R. Doty, 
secretary of the society, who had labored untiringly to secure the ways 
and means for its accomplishment. The final and somewhat dramatic 
act of dedication was performed by Honorable Isaac Hampton, pio- 
neer, who started the first council fire in the cabin with flint and steel, 
and delivered with forceful enthusiasm a fitting original poem— "Pio- 
neer Ramblings." This was followed by an address delivered by Colo- 
nel John Rorbach entitled "The Log Cabin of this Society and those 
of the early Pioneers." 

In 1877 the Society t(jok a prominent part in the celebration at 
Geneseo of the centennial anniversary of General Sullivan's campaign 
in this county. 

The centennial anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Big Tree, 
September 15, 1797, was observed at Geneseo under the auspices of 
the Society, and a visit was made in carriages to the site of the Coun- 
cil House and the Headquarters of the Treaty Commissioners, nearby. 
The contracting parties to the Treaty were represented by Honorable 
Gouverneur Morris, the eldest male descendant and great grandson of 
Robert Morris, and Mr. A. Sim Logan and Mr. Andrew John, mem- 
bers of the Seneca Nation of Indians. The proceedings of this cele- 



l( 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



517 



bration with accompanying historical documents and illustrations were 
puhhshed in book form b\' the Society. 

On November lb, I'JOl, a monument was placed by the Society to 
mark the spot, near the head of Conesus lake in the town of Grove- 
land, where Lieutenant Boyd and his scouting party of General Sulli- 
van's expedition, were ambushed and massacred. 

The Society has now 228 members. The number is yearly increas- 
ing, and the work of the society improving in scope and character. 

The follnwing is a list of the officers of the Society since its organi- 
zation: 

Vice PREsn)ENT. 



Pl!Esn)ENT. 

1S7G Dr. D. H. Fitzhugh 



1S77 Dr. D. H. lUssell. 

1878 Dr. D. H. Bissell. 

1879 Dr. M. H. Mills. 
1S80 Wm. M, White 
1881 Benjaiinn F. Angel. 
1S.S2 E. H Davis. 
1S88 A. (). Bunnell. 
1884 A. H. McLean. 
188-^ Norman iSeyniour. 
l.SSti Dr. F. M. Perine. 

1887 Isaac Hampton. 

1888 Anids D. Coe. 

1889 VVilJiani A Brodie. 

1890 H. D. Kingsbury. 

1891 O. D. Lake. 

1892 William Hamiltt.n. 

1893 .1. A. Oana. 
1S!»4 Frank Fielder. 
1S95 C. K. Zanders. 
189ti Charles Jones. 

1897 William A. Wadswortb. S. E. Hitchcock. 

1898 S. Edward Hitchcock. Rev. E. W. Sears, 
icqq I^Pv. E. W. Sears. 

Joseph 1). Lewis. 

1900 Herbert Wadswortb 

1901 L'ickwood R. Doty. 

1902 Dr. F. H. Mover.' 



Dr. James Fa\ilkner, 
William Scott, Adolpbns 
Watkins, Dr. D. H. Bis- 
sell, John McColl. 
Dr. M. H. Mills. 
Dr. M. H. Mills. 
William M. White. 
Benjamin F. Angel. 
E. H. Davis. 
A. O. Bnnnell. • 

A. H. McLean. 
Matthew Wiard. 
Dr. F. M. Perine. 

B. P. Richmond. 
William Hamilton. 
David McXair. 
H. D. Kingsbnrv. 
O. D. Lake. 
William Hamilton 
Charles Sliepard. 
Frank Fielder. 

C. K. Sanders. 
Charles Jones. 
W. A. Wadswortb. 



Secket.arv & Tkeasurer. 
Norman Seymour. 



J. D. Lewis. 
Herbert Wad.iwortb. 
Lock wood R. Dotv. 
Dr. F H Mover." 
Dr. W. P. Spratling. 



Dr. L. J. Ames. 
Norman Seymour. 



William A. Brodie. 



Lock wood R. Doty. 



H. D. Kingsbury. 
W. A. Brodie. 



1903 Dr. William P. Spratling. George S. Ewart. 

On September 9, 1870, the pioneers of the county met at Long 
Point, Conesus Lake, for the purpose of forming a permanent associ- 
ation. The meeting was called to order by Dr. M. H. Mills, of Mount 
Morris, and interesting speeches were made by Norman Seymour and 
Jacob Chilsnn, of Mount ^lorris, and Rev.'E. W. Sears, of Leicester. 



518 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The fiiUowing were the first officers elected: President, Dr. D. H. 
Bissell, Geneseo; Vice Presidents, H. Tilton, Leicester; M. Wiard, 
Avon; Recording Secretary, S. P. Allen, Geneseo; Corresponding 
Secretary, Oscar Woodruff, Geneseo. A committee of three from 
each town was appointed to arrange for the next meeting, which was 
appointed for Thursday of the third week in August, at Long Point. 

The 1877 meeting was held at Conesus Lake August 22d, under the 
most favorable conditions possible. A crowd of 3,700 or 4,000 
people was present and manifested the greatest interest in tlie meet- 
ing. Conspicuous among the earlier residents of the county, present 
were, William Lyman, A. Donnan and John Kennedy, of Leicester; 
N. Robbins, of Sparta; H. McCartney and J. T. Beach, of Dansvilie; 
John White and D. McMichael, of Groveland ; Joel Hosford, Rev. D. 
Ward, A. Neflf and F. W. Butler, of Geneseo; Frank Armstrong, of 
Conesus; C. Bronson, S. G. Chamberlain, D. E. Partridge, D. Damon, 
O. Remington, J. H. Bearss and John Rouse, of Livonia; Mrs. 
Batchelor, Arch Peck, A. Waugh, William Leach and Frederick Pear- 
son, of Avon ; Jacob Chilson, of Mount Morris; Franklin Carter and 
James Perkins, of Lima, and ( ). Walbridge, of Springwater. The 
average age of these thirty persons was seventy-eight years. After a 
happy introduction by President Bissell an able historical address was 
delivered by Dr. Mills, of Mount Morris. Speeches were also made 
by A. A. Hendee, Esq. and Rev. E, W. Sears, and a very successful 
meeting was brought to a close. 

The 1878 meeting was held at Long Point, August 15th. The prin- 
cipal address was made by Mr. Hendee and was devoted largely to 
early town sketches and pioneer incidents. Other speeches were 
made by Wm. M. White, of Ossian; Norman Seymour of Mount 
Morris; Col. John Rorbach, of Geneseo, and Rev W'illiam Hunter, of 
Springwater. At this meeting the following officers were elected: 
President, Charles Jones; Vice Presidents, M. II. Mills. W. A. Wads- 
worth, George F'. Coe, J. R. Newman and George W. Root; Secre- 
taries, S. P. Allen and Oscar Woodruff; Treasurer, Theodore F. Olm- 
stead. Attention was called to the fact that the following year would 
be the centennial anniversary of Sullivan's Expedition into the Gene- 
see Valley, and a committee was appointed to arrange for a suitable 
celebration of that event. This committee consisted of Richard 
Johnson, of Groveland; Norman Seymour, of Mount Morris; S. P. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 519 

Allen, of Geneseo; H. C. Coe, of Conesus, and Niel Stewart, of York. 

No meeting of the association occurred in 1879, on account of the 
Sullivan celebration. 

On September 11th, 1880, the fourth annual meeting was held at 
Long Point. The address was delivered by Hon. Charles E. Fitch, 
of Rochester. The officers elected at this meeting were: President 
Dr. Mills, iif Mount Morris; Vice Presidents, Norman Seymour, Dr. 
D. H. Rissell, Orrin D. Lake and Solomon Hitchcock; Treasurer, 
Theodore F. Olmsted; Secretaries, S. P. Allen, Oscar Woodruff; 
Executive Committee, Matthew Wiard, Dr. F. M. Ferine, Joseph Olp, 
Jotham Clark, Jr., and S. G. Woodruff. 

A well attended meeting was held at Long Point July 4ih, 1881. 
At this meeting it was determined to incorporate the association, and 
the necessary proceedings to accomplish this were taken. Dr. Mills 
was reelected President, and the following additional officers chosen: 
Vice President, A. O. Bunnell; Secretary Wm. A. Brodie; Assistant 
Secretary, Oscar Woodruff ; Treasurer, Theodore F. Olmsted. Hon. 
Joseph D. Husbands, of Rochester, delivered an address. Dr. Mills 
at this meeting proposed that the farmers of the county be requested 
to furnish logs for a log cabin to be constructed by the association. 

On tiie 4th of July, 1882, the si.xth and last annual meeting of the 
association was held, at Long Point. A committee was appointed at 
this meeting consisting of W. A. Wadsworth, M. Wiard, F. M. 
Ferine, George S. Ewart and Andrew Kuder to have in charge the 
erection of a log cabin. A masterly address on the subject of 
"Pioneer Life and Influence" was delivered by Hon. Carroll E. Smith, 
of Syracuse. The officers named at this meeting were, President, 
Wm. M. White; Vice President, M. Wiard; Secretary, W. A. Brodie; 
Assistant Secretary, Oscar W^oodruff ; Treasurer, T. F. Olmsted. 

The result of the election in the fall of 1875 for the office of District 
Attorney between Daniel W. Noyes, Democrat, and George W. Dag- 
gett, Republican, was so close that it necessitated an appeal to the 
courts to determine who was legally elected. The official canvass by 
the Board of Supervisors declared that Noyes had received a majority 
over Daggett of 5 votes, and this canvass was finally sustained. 

James Fauklner, Jr., Democrat, was again elected Assemblyman in 
1875 over Hugh W. McNair by a majority of 119. 

In 1876 the county gave a majority of 1043 for the Hayes and 



520 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Wheeler electors, and elected the wliole Cdunty ticket by about the 
same majority, except that the vote on Sheriff and Superintendent of 
the Poor was somewhat close. 

At tile annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors in IS76 the sum 
of $2,1(11) was appropriated for the purchase of thirty-three acres of 
land of Hezekiah Allen, adjoining the Alms House farm; this made 
the total quantity of land in the farm about 151 acres. At the same 
meeting Charles L. and Louis C. Bingham, of Mt. Morris, offered to 
furnish rooms free of rent for the use of the Surrogate, for a term of 
six years without expense to the county, if court was held in that vil- 
lage. The Board, however, did not accept this proposition, but 
authorized a six year lease to be made with F. N. Burt, of Genesee, 
for rooms for the Surrogate's office over his store property on Main 
Street in Geneseo, for a gross sum of §550.00. 

The death occurred in Avon, on February 8lh, 1877, of J. Bradley 
Withey, under circumstances which caused the neighbors to suspect 
foul play. A coroner's inquest followed, which, after a prolonged 
sitting, found that the deceased had come to his death by poison 
administered by his wife, Rosetta Withey, and William Pierson. An 
indictment charging both of these persons with homicide in the first 
degree resulted. Pierson was tried in February, 1878, by District 
Attorney Noyes assisted by Hon. E. A. Nash, present Justice of the 
Supreme Court ; General Wood, Judge X'anDerlip and P'rank S. Smith, 
of Allegany county, defending. He was convicted and sentenced to 
die April I'Hh, 1S78. The case was appealed to the Court of Appeals, 
which confirmed the conviction, and Pierson was hangeti at Geneseo, 
March 12th, ISSd. This was the third and last execution within this 
county. Mrs. Withey was subse(iuenlly tried and acquitted. 

In the spring elections of 1877 the Democrats again secured a 
majority in the Board of Supervisors, but this was reversed in 1S7S. 

In the fall of the latter year a Republican candidate for County 
Judge was, for the second time, defeated. Judge Faulkner being 
reelected over Edwin A. Nash ' by a majority of about ."^OO. The 
Republicans, however, regained the offices of County Treasurer and 
County (;ierk. 

Judge Faulkner was not permitted long to discharge the duties of 
his responsible position in the second term of his incumbency, for, 
after several vears of imiiaired health, he died at Dansville. August 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 521 

9th, 1S7S. iini\-ersally esteemed and respected. Governor Robinson 
appointed Uaniel \V. Noyes, of Dansville, then District Attorney, to 
till the vacancy for the period ending December 31st, 1878. Charles 
J. Bisseil replaced Judge Noyes as District i\.ttorney during the same 
period. 

An election for County Judge occurred in the fall of 1878. Judge 
Nash was again nominated by the Republicans and elected by a 
majority of about 1200 'iver J udge Noyes, who was the Democratic 
nominee, 

A special committee was appointed by the Board of Supervisors, at 
its annual meeting in 1878, for the purpose of constructing a new 
building for the indigent insane patients, at an e.xpense not to exceed 
$8,000, and this sum was duly appropriated to be expended under the 
direction of the committee. In April, 1879 this committee reported, 
at a special meeting of the Broad, that plans had been prepared for the 
building and estimates made, the lowest of which was $ll,0O(J, and the 
highest, $17,345. An additional sum of $4,500 was added to the 
appropriation already made. The building was completed about 
January 1st. 1880, at a total cost of $13,872. Da .'id Hulbert, of Mt. 
Morris, was the builder, and Isaac Loomis, of Rochester, the architect. 
This is the west of the present Alms House group of buildings. 

In 1879 Hon. James W. Wadsworth was elected State Comptroller, 
receiving from Livingston the remarkable majority of 1835 ; at the 
same election, ]\Iartin F. Linsley, Democrat, was elected Sheriff by a 
majority of 575. 

The (ienesee Valley Salt Company, incorporated February 10th, 
1880, by Carroll Cocher, Jeremiah Cullinan, Maurice J. Noonan and 
Timothy Curran, with a capital stock of $500,000, was the pioneer 
organization in the county for the development of salt. The field of 
operations of this company was in the town of York. The company 
was reincorporated February 5th, 1884, with the same amount of 
capital. The directors for the first year were Marvin C. Rowdand, 
Charles Jones, Jeremiah Cullinan, Nelson Janes and Campbell H. 
Young, of Geneseo; Maurice J. Noonan, of Mt. ^ilorris, and A. F. 
McKean and Carroll Cocher, of York. This enterprise did not proceed 
far, however, beyond the point of exploration, but it gave a stimulus 
to the development of salt mining and evaporating industries in 
various towns of the county, which continued with great energy in 



522 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

several quarters for a period of fifteen years or more. The aggregate 
capitalization of the several salt enterprises was about $10.00U,000. 
The following is a list of the various companies which were formed 
during the period mentioned: 

Nunda Mining Company (Nunda). Incorporated March 7, 1883, by 
F. H. Gibbs, H. T. Ilaines and William Craig, with a cajjital of 
$3,000. 

New York Rock Salt Company (York). Incorporated August 27, 
1883, by Abraham Ouackenbush, (iarrct Reilly and Thomas Barker, 
with a capital of $600,000. 

Caledonia Salt and Mining Company (Caledonia). Incorporated 
September 24, 1883, by William C. Johnson, M. M. Campbell, M. A. 
Roberts, David Menzie and William H. Walker, with a capital of 
$3,000. 

Livingston Salt and Mining Company (Piffard). Incorporated 
March 15, 1883, by Charles F. Wadsworth, A. A. Cox, T. N. Shat- 
tuck, C. B. Potter, R. M. Jones, A. Rich and H. R. Hammond, with 
a capital of $15,000. 

Leicester Salt and Mining Company (Cuylerville). Incorporated 
June 4, 1884, by D. Marsh, J. Rippey, John Allen, W. H. VanValken- 
burg, L. C. Pelton, Charles Workley, Wm. B. Wooster, H. Harring- 
ton, Miles Perkins, and J. L. Strayline, with a capital of $10,000. 

Empire Salt Company (York). Incorporated April 21, 1884, by 
William Foster, Jr., Charles Q. Freeman, A. W. Trotter and Robert 
S. Walker, with a capital of $600,000. Successor of the New York 
Rock Salt Company. 

Genesee Salt Company (Piffard). Incorporated February '>, 1884, by 
Walter Edwards, E. P. Fowler and Robert M. Ferris, with a capital of 
$100,000. 

Retsof Mining Company (York). Incorporated November 27, 1885, 
with a capital of $3,600,000. The Trustees of this Company for the 
first year were: William Foster, Jr., Charles O. Freeman, William R. 
Varker, A. W. Trotter and Robert S. Walker. This Company was 
the successor of the Empire Salt Company. 

Conesus Lake Salt & Mining Company (Lakeville). Incorporated 
February 7, 1885, by John M. (iray, Charles Hendershott, F. M. 
Acker, Albert S. Locke, L. 1'. \\\'st, John Mouney and L. T. Davis, 
with a capital of $30,U(MI. The caiiital was later increased to $50,000. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 523 

York Salt Company (York). Incorporated January 12, 1885, by 
Niel Stewart, Alexander Raid, Archibald Kennedy, George K. Whitney 
and Thomas Gilmore, with a capital of $30,000. 

Valley Salt and Mica Mining Company (York). Incorporated Feb- 
ruary 4, lS8f), by M. C. Rowland, Carroll Cocher, L. W. Crossett and 
Charles Jones, with a capital of $500,000. 

Royal Salt Company (Mount Morris). Incorporated March 1, 1886, 
by John M. Prophet and others, with a capital of $100,000. 

Livonia Salt and Mining Company (Livonia), Incorporated June 
27, 1890, by Martin L. Townsend, William B. Putney, Milo M. 
Belding and George C. Currier, of New York, with a capital of 
$1,500,000. 

Phoeni.x Dairy Salt Company (Cuylerville), successor of the 
Leicester Company. Incorporated April 26, 1892, by Benjamin 
Roberts, of Warsaw; Edward J. Ahner and Wm. W. Moorehouse, of 
Mount Morris; James E. Reid, of Warsaw, and Frederick Ahner, of 
Buffalo, with a capital of $30,000. 

Lackawanna Salt Company (Leicester). Incorporated May IS, 
1893, by John F. White, John S. Tower and George Wilson, with a 
capital of $60,000. 

Consumers Salt Company. Incorporated July 30. 1896, by George 
H. Griscow, Ernst H. Seehusen, Emil Dickman, Arthur T. Hill and 
Louis M. Bailey, with a capital of $500,000. 

In addition to the above the Greigsville Salt & Mining Company 
was termed in Pennsylvania, for the purpose of mining salt in the 
town of York. 

In the year 1883 Charles O. Freeman and William R. \'arker, of 
New York, in exploring for salt on the Joseph D. Lewis farm in the 
town of York, struck a bed of that mineral at a depth of about 1,000 
feet on July 26th. They had secured extensive options on contiguous 
territory in that town, and sales of these lands wer^ completed and 
taken in the name of the New York Rock Salt Company, which was 
organized, as appears above, in August of the same year. This com- 
pany was reorganized as the Empire Salt Company, and in 1885 as 
the Retsof Mining Company, the title being formed from the name of 
the president, William Foster, reversed. The Greigsville Company 
also conducted mining operations, as did the Livonia Company 
above mentioned, and the two last named companies, in course of 



524 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

time, were absorbed by the Retsof company. It was found that the 
small local companies could not be profitably conducted, and one by 
one their plants were abandoned, their promoters in many cases suffer- 
ing considerable loss by the experiment, and to-day there remains 
nothing of the business in the county, except the mining operations 
conducted by the Retsof company, in the town of York, the last of 
the companies to go out of existence being the Genesee Salt Company, 
upon whose plant a mortgage was foreclosed during the year 1904, 
and the works were then discontinued. In 1881) the salt production in 
the State was 8,748,203 bushels; in 1890, the period of its most gen- 
eral production in Livingston County, probably, it had increased to 
16,131,251 bushels, an increase of nearly one hundred per cent. In 
1899 the production in the State was 24,474,2(iO bushels. In 1890 the 
production of rock salt, which in the census report of ten years before 
was unknown in this State, amounted to 5,144,190 bushels, practi- 
cally the whole of which it may safely be said came from Livingston 
county and the LeRoy mines. The mining of rock salt began in 
December, 1885, by the Retsof Company. In 1892 shafts were sunk 
near LeRoy and at Livonia and by the Greigsville Company and ship- 
ments of this kind of salt were made from these mines that year. 
The shaft of the Retsof mine is 1100 feet in depth, the Livonia shaft 
1432 feet and the Greigsville mine, 1150 feet. These plants are now 
all under the control of the Retsof Company and their output 
varies from 150,000 to 2.^0, ooo long tons annually, according to market 
requirements. 

The construction of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Rail- 
road through the county, on the main line from New York to Buffalo, 
was commenced in 1881 and completed in 18S3. It enters North 
Dansville at the center of its eastern boundary and traverses Sparta, 
Groveland, Mt. Morris, Leicester and York, leaving the latter town 
at its northwestern part. This road has contributed to the a.ssessed 
valuation of Livingston county a large sum, amounting in 1903 to 
more than $1,000,000. 

On November 10th, 1880, George F. Coe, of Conesus, Supervisor 
of that town, who had been a few days previously elected Chairman of 
the Board, was found dead near the railroad track a short distance 
north of the railroad station at Conesus Center. The cause of death 
was apoplexv. Mr. Coe was sixty-four years of age; he had for many 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 525 

years been a prominent citizen of his town, and was well known and 
very much respected throughout the county. He had served his 
town as Supervisor for eight years in all, having been first elected in 
1853. The Board of Supervisors made suitable recognition of the 
sad event, and Winfield S. Newman. Supervisor of Avon, was elected 
Chairman. 

In the Presidential election of 1880 Livingston county gave a 
plurality for Garfield over Hancock of 1321. 

The spring elections in 18S1 resulted in a substantial Republican 
majority in the Board of Supervisors. In 1882, however, the Demo- 
crats secured a majority of one on the Board. In that year, also, 
Thomas O'Meara, Democrat, was elected Sheriff, and Hon. lames W. 
Wadsworth was first elected to Congress from the 27th District. 

At the annual maeting of the Board of Supervisors in 1882, a commit- 
tee was appointed to procure plans and specifications for a new build- 
ing for the clerk's ofifice and for a surrogate's office, to report at the 
December session of the Board. The report made at that session 
stated that the old clerk's office could not profitably be repaired and 
that the cost of a suitable new building would be $'),UO(l, if made fire- 
proof, and ;|ii6,500, if constructed of wood. The architect consulted 
for preliminary estimates was James G. Cutler, the present Mayor of 
Rochester. The project to construct the building was embarrassed 
by a proposition which the town of Mt. Morris made to the Board 
through the Supervisor of that town, to furnish the necessary ground 
within the corporate limits of Mt. Morris and erect thereon suitable 
county buildings, without expense to the county, upon condiuon that 
the county seat should be removed to that place; in order to enable 
the proposition of Mt. Morris to receive the consideration of the ta.\- 
payers of the county, the construction of the new building was 
deferred. The subject came up at the annual meeting in 1883, when 
a resolution was introduced by the Mt. Morris Supervisor, embody- 
ing the proposition to remove the county seat to ^It. Morris upon the 
terms proposed in 1882. The matter was put over until the Decem- 
ber session by a vote of ten to seven, and at that session, after 
much discussion, the whole subject was referred to the next Board of 
Supervisors by a vote of eleven to six. 

At the annual meeting in 1883 the subject of removal was brought 
up upon the definite proposition by citizens of Mt. Morris, to furnish a 



526 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

site and construct in that village a court house, jail, clerk's office, 
surrogate's office and treasurer's office, without expense to the 
county, in consideration of the change of location of the ctjunty seat 
to that place. The matter was disposed of by the appointment of a 
committee of three to report at the next annual meeting of the Board 
the expense of constructing suitable buildings on the proposed Mt. 
Morris site, and also to ascertain "what amount had been fairly and 
conclusively raised on behalf of Mt. Morris, and deposited or secured 
to the county for such purpose." This disposition of the mutter 
seems to have put an end to the project of removal for the time being, 
and the Board of Supervisors at its December session in 1885 
appointed a committee, consisting of John R. Strang, of Geneseo; 
Jacob S. Galentine, of Lima, and Austin AV. Wheelock, of Leicester, for 
the purpose of employing an architect and procuring plans and esti- 
mates for such clerk's office. This committee reported at a special 
meeting in February 1880, presenting a plan for a building to cost 
$13,000. The plan was approved, the money ap[)ropriated and the 
building was completed October 15th, 188f). The Ijui'.der was Ben- 
jamin Long, of Avon, and the architect John R. Church, of Roches- 
ter. The cost of the structure did not exceed the appropriation. 
This is the brick building now standing in the rear of the new court 
house building, and accommodates the Supervisors, County Treasurer, 
Grand Jury and District Attorney. 

The Rlaine Presidential electors received in 1884 in Livingston a 
plurality of 1152 over those of Cleveland, St. John and Butler. 

A Democratic Board of Supervisors again came into control in 1883 
and in 1884; in 1885 the Republicans elected a majority of 7. 

The Emory Thayer murder gave rise to one of the celebrated eases 
in the criminal annals of Livingston County, and to-day, after the trial, 
conviction and sentence to death of two supposed murderers, the case 
remains as mysterious as at the beginning. Mr. Thaytr, a farmer 
and a man held in great esteem, was killed at his home in the town of 
Avon, on the 27th day of October, 1885. Shortly before midnight he 
was awakened by his wife, who discovered a burglar at work in an 
adjoining room. Mr. Thayer arose and at once grappled with the 
intruder and was overpowering him when a confederate came to the 
rescue and fired upon Mr. Thayer, who, although wounded, main- 
tained his hold until a second shot killed him. The murderers made 




<Z'Mj>^m^^-^--^'^ . , 



Lfvlngston County Jail and Sheriff's Residence. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 527 

their escape in a carriage leaving no clew as to their identity. A 
reward cjf ,'$1,000 was offered by the Sheriff upon his own responsi- 
bility, and this was later increased to $2,000 by the Board of Super- 
visors. Numerous arrests were made, and the trial and conviction of 
two suspects occurred. Frank Squires was tried, convicted and 
sentenced to death for the crime, but he escaped from jail and was 
never recaptured. On the 1st day of Se[)tember, 1890, Samuel E. 
Wayman was put on trial before Judge Rumsey and a jury, charged 
with the murder, an indictment having been found against him at 
the preceding May term of Oyer and Terminer. After a prolonged 
trial, Wayman was convicted of murder in the first degree, and was 
sentenced to be hanged, October 9th, 1890. His case was appealed to 
the Court of Appeals, where a new trial was refused. He was resen- 
tenced to be hanged AugUi>t 5th, 1891. An application was made in 
his behalf to Governor Hill, for clemency, and a commissioner was 
appointed by the Governor, to take testimony respecting the appli- 
cation. A respite was granted until October 6th, and upon the 
favorable report of the commissioner, the sentence was coinmuted 
to life imprisonment. This seemed to be quite in accord with public 
sentiment, which never becaine united upon the subject of the man's 
guilt. Nelson Swartz, who was also indicted with Wayir.an for this 
crime, became a witness for the People upon a supposed promise of 
clemency to him, and it was largely upon the strength of this testi- 
mony that Wayman was convicted. Swartz was sentenced to a long 
term at Auburn prison, and during the period of his imprisonment 
there, in April, 1892, he died. Before dying he iriade a confession 
to the effect that his testimony implicating Wayman at the latter's 
trial was false. This disclosure resulted in the pardon of Wayman 
by Governor Flower in October, 1893. 

The county contributed a plurality of 1567 to President Harrison's 
election in 1888. At the annual meeting of the Bnard of Supervisors 
in 1888 a committee was appointed for the purpose of taking into 
consideration the matter of constructing a new jail and sheriff's resi- 
dence. This committee consisted of Dr. CrisfiL-ld, oi Dansville, Mr. 
Wheelock, of Leicester, and Mr, McNinch of Conesus. At the Decem- 
ber session the coinmiltee reported in favor of a proposition to con- 
struct the jail at a cost of $15,000 or §16,01)0. The re[)ort was not 
unanimous, however, Mr. McNinch having presented a minority 



528 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

report adverse to tlie construction of the new jail at that time. The 
majority report was adopted and it was determined to construct the 
building at an expense, including heating and phunbing, not to exceed 
$16,00cCand the Treasurer was authorized to borrow the money for 
that piirpose. The following building committee was appointed for 
the purpose of carrying into effect the resolution: Dr. Crisfield, of 
DansviUe; Mr. Wheelock, of Leicester; Mr. Frazer, of West Sparta; 
Mr. Lockington, of Lima, and Mr. Walker, of York. The building 
was constructed by Cauldwell & Gray, of Owego, N. Y., for 
the sum of 817, Hio, iniluding certain incidental e.xpenses. The 
old jail, which was constructed in 1823, was torn down in April, 1880, 
and the new building was completed in that year. 

A very severe freshet occurred in June, 1889, bringing the river up 
to the highest point since 1865, and doing much damage. 

A meeting was held on the 16th day of January, 1891, at Genesee, 
for the purpose of organizing a log cabin association to accomplish 
the erection of a log cabin in the village of Genesee, for the reception 
of relics. The following otTicers were elected: President, Herbert 
Wadsworth; Vice President, Joseph D. Lewis; Secretary, Lockwood 
R Doty; Treasurer, Kidder M. Scott. An executive committee con- 
sisting of Joseph D. Lewis. William W. Willard, Samuel H. Rlyth, 
John^L. Scott, William P. Boyd, Chester Armstrong and George W. 
Jackman was appointed. All persons contributing the sum of one 
dollar or a log were to become life members of the association. A 
committee was appointed for the purpse of preparing by-laws. A 
building committee was also appointed, consisting of Joseph D. Lewis, 
A. J. Willard and R. M. Jones, to procure material and supervise the 
construction of the log bouse, under the direction of the executive 
committee. The size of the building was fixed at 30 x 50 feet outside 
measurement, and a story and a half in height. An auxiliary com- 
mittee of one was appointed from each town to procure logs, relics 
and other contributions, and assist generally in promoting the objects 
of the association. The meeting adjourned, subject to the call of the 
President. Nothing more came of this project than procuring a few 
logs and developing an interest in the subject of a log cabin. The 
cabin would probably have been constructed at once and in the place 
designed, had it not been for some opposition to its location in the 
public park at Geneseo, and it was not until the subject was taken in 




Henry Clay. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 529 

hand by the Historical Society in 1895, that the cabin was constructed. 

Although the Democrats in 1891 had a majority of one on the 
Board of Supervisors, a Republican, James B. Hampton, was elected 
Clerk of the Board contrary to what were apparently well matured 
plans. In 1892 the Republicans secured a majority of five members 
of the Board; the whole Republican county ticket was elected in the 
fall of that year and General Harrison's plurality for President in this 
county was 1220. 

William A. Wadsworth imported from England a thoroughbred 
stallion, the "Devil to Pay," in January, 1893. He was a son of 
"Robert, the Devil," a horse which stood at the head of one of the 
best studs in England. He was bay in color, 16 hands high and 
weighed 1200 pounds. Mr. Wadsworth purchased him for the reason 
that he was the most perfect animal he had ever seen, and he wanted 
him as a sire in his own stud and for the farmers of Livingston. 
Twenty years before, Mr. Wadsworth had imported the Percheron 
stallion "Napoleon," but it was not until his value as a sire was 
impaired by age that his services were much sought. In 1850, or 
thereabouts, Mr. Wadsworth's father brought to this county, from 
England, the famous "Henry Clay," son of Andrew Jackson, a 
descendant from the Arab barbs. It may yet be said that the blood 
of Henry Clay flows in the veins of a large majority of the best 
trotting stock in America, although when he was in Geneseo and his 
services were offered to the public he was deemed hardly good enough 
to breed to. 

Early in July of 1895 a very successful entertainment was held 
under the auspices of the Historical Society at Geneseo, in behalf of 
providing funds for constructing a log cabin. This enterprise netted 
about $500 which went into the construction of the log cabin building; 
this was built and dedicated at the 20th annual meeting of the Society, 
February 18th, 1896. It is situated near the center of the public park 
in the Village of Geneseo, and is the receptacle for the relics and 
other property of the Historical Society. 

The McKinley presidential electors received in 1896 a plurality in 
Livingston county of 1514. 

A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held August 
17th, 1897, to consider the condition of the court house building 
which had become the subject of much discussion, and some apprehen- 



530 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

sion existed as t(j its safety. Reports were received from an arcliitect 
and a building engineer, which joined in condemning the building as 
unsafe and beyond repair. A committee of the Board was appointed 
to make a further examination, and report with an estimate of the 
cost of repairs. This committee later reported the result of such 
examination of the building by experts, which confirmed the previous 
reports as to its condition. A resolution was adopted, authorizing a 
special committee to advertise for plans and specifications for the con- 
struction of a new building, and to report at the regular .session of 
the Board. 

The apparent necessity of a new building was the occasion of the 
renewal by Mt. Morris of its offer to put up new buildings for the 
county at its own expense, if the county seat were removed to that 
place, and a paper was exhibited at the meeting of the Board of 
Supervisors, subscribed by forty or more citizens of Mt. Morris, 
pledging the payment of $30,000 for this purpose. A resolution was 
adopted by the Board calling upon the Mt. Morris supervisor to pre- 
sent a bond in the sum of $60,000, conditioned for the payment of 
the $30,000 promised as an assurance of its good faith. This was not 
produced. A resolution was finally adopted at the annual meeting, 
in favor of constructing a new court house, and appointing a com- 
mittee to employ an architect and procure plans, specifications and 
estimates. This committee reported at the December session that it 
had employed C. F. Bragdon, an architect of Rochester, and they 
presented liis plans and estimates, which involved an outlay of 
$30,000. The report of the committee was adopted, and the building 
committee was authorized to advertise for bids accordingly. A 
further resolution was adopted, appointing J. H. Adams, R. M. Jones, 
C. A. Norton, I. B. Knapp, F. A. Christie, W. H. Clapp and R. J. 
Cranmer the building committee having the work in charge, with 
full power to expend a sum not to exceed $30,000. The Treasurer 
was authorized to borrow that amount and pay out the proceeds on 
the order of the committee. On the 25th of June, 1898, the corner 
■stone of the new court house was laid with appropriate Masonic cere- 
monies, by William A. Sutherland of Rochester, formerly of Mt. 
Morris, Grand Master of Masons of the State of New York, with 
associate officers. 

A procession numbering about two hundred and fifty Masons formed 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 531 

in front of the rooms of the Genesee Masonic Lodge on the west side 
of Main street and marched to the court house in the following order, 
under the direction of P. M. John Young: 

Geneseo Cornet Band, 

Livonia Lodge, 

Dalton Lodge, 

Avon Lodge, 

Kishequa Lodge, Nunda, 

Mt. Morris Lodge, 

Dansville Lodge, 

Union Lodge. Lima, the oldest in the county, and Geneseo Lodge 

acting as escort to the Grand Lodge. 

The Grand Lodge was represented as follows: M. \V. William A. 
Sutherland of Rochester, Grand Master; 7?. W. George W. Atwell, 
Jr. of Lima, Deputy Grand Master; R. W. John M. Milne, Geneseo, 
Senior Grand Warden; W. Lockwood R. Doty, Geneseo, Junior Grand 
Warden; W. J. Hungerford Smith, Rochester, Grand Senior Deacon; 
/ 1 '. Charles W. Bingham, Mt. Morris, Grand Junior Deacon; Rev. 
D. L. S. Parkhurst, Rochester, Grand Chaplain; William W. Killip, 
Geneseo, Grand Treasurer; W. C. A. Norton, Nunda, Grand Secre- 
tary ;i'?. Jf". Isaac Fromme, New York, Grand Marshall : IF. O. H. 
Cook, Nunda, )/'. Samuel H. Blyth of Geneseo, W. S. M. Daniels of 
Perry, and W. George W. Krein of Dansville, Grand Stewards; R. IV. 
William H. Whiting of Rochester, Grand Lecturer; If. Andrew 
Ferguson of New York, Grand Tiler. 

On arriving at the court hoi'se the Grand Lodge was opened and 
the corner stone was laid in due Masonic form, the Grand Master 
using a silver trowel made for the purpose and presented to him by 
Geneseo Lodge No. 214; and after the stone had been tested by the 
proper officers, and declared to be square, level and plumb, and the 
corn had been sprinkled on it from a golden cornucopia, and the 
libations of wine and oil poured on from silver cups, the Grand Sec- 
retary read the names of the various articles which according to 
custom were deposited in a receptacle cut in the stone. These con- 
sisted of a copy of the Supervisors' proceedings for IS*)?; a list of the 
members of the Board of Supervisors for 1898; a Supreme Court 
calendar for Livingston county for the May term, 1898; a photograph 



532 HISTORY OF. LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of the old court house; a photographic view of the court room in the 
old court house; copies for the current week of the Livingston Repub- 
lican, Livingston County Despatch, Dansville Express, Nunda News, 
Mount Morris Enterprise, Lima Recorder, Dalton Enterprise, Dans- 
ville Advertiser, Avon Herald, Livonia Gazette, Springwater Enter- 
prise, Caledonia Advertiser, Livingston Democrat, Mount Morris 
Union and Dansville Breeze; copy of the Rochester Democrat and 
Chronicle for June 25, 18V8; constitution of the Grand Lodge of 
Masons of the State of New York; calendar of Geneseo Lodge, 214, 
and a list of representatives of Grand Lodge officers who officiated 
at the laying of the corner stone, all of which were in the custody of 
the Grand Treasurer. 

Grand Master Sutherland then made an address of some length in 
which he spoke of the pleasure it gave him to officiate on an occasion 
of so interesting a nature in the county where he formerly lived — 
the dedication of an edifice in the archetype of which it had been 
his pleasure and duty for some years to act as a counselor in associa- 
tion with others, many of whom had passed away; these he men- 
tioned by name, and paid them a graceful and fitting tribute. He 
spoke of the judges who had occupied its bench, faithful, learned 
and incorruptible arbiters of some of the most important cases that 
ever came up for decision. He referred to the analogy between the 
principles of the Masonic order and those which are laid down by the 
most advanced jurisprudence, and expressed his confidence that in the 
building then to be erected there would be repeated all those exhibi- 
tions of wisdom, purity, justice and high intelligence that had always 
been the distinguishing characteristics of Livingston county. 

The Grand Marshal then made proclamation that the corner stone 
was laid agreeably to the usages of Ancient Craft Masonry and in 
ample form. The first verse of Old Hundred was then sung, Mr. 
Killip, at the request of the Grand Master, leading in the singing and 
the band playing in accompaniment; the benediction, pronounced by 
the Grand Chaplain, closed the ceremony. 

Past Grand Master William A. Brodie, who officiated at the laying 
of the corner stone of the foundation of the Bartholdi Statue in New 
York City, in the year 1884, was very active in making preparations 
for the ceremony and to his efforts it is chiefly due that everything 
worked in such complete harmony. 



*« 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 533 

The building was completed in the winter of 1898 and '99. The 
old building was demolished in the spring of 1898, and the work of 
construction began in April of that year. During this time the courts 
were held in the hall of the Rorbach Block in Geneseo. The total cost 
of the building was $31,211.62. Bonds were issued to the amount 
of $30,000, bearing four per cent interest, payable at the rate of 
$5,000 each year. They were purchased by the Albany Savings 
Bank at a premium of $1,250. The proceeds of the bonds and the 
premium paid the whole cost of the building and left $38.38 in the 
hands of the County Treasurer. This indebtedness has all been paid. 
The court house building was furnished and equipped at an expense of 
$6,000. This sum was entirely paid from moneys received from the 
State, for the value of the insane asylum building constructed in 1879, 
in consequence of the removal from the county of the indigent insane 
under the State Care Act. The whole amount awarded to the county 
upon this claim was $7,500, the net amount received above the ex- 
pense of establishing the claim being $6,000. 

Of the design of the building, "The Brick Builder," an architect- 
ural publication of Boston, had this to say : "Another most excellent 
example of brick work is shown by the design for the new court house 
of Livingston county, at Geneseo, N. Y. The building itself is shown 
as a colonial combination of Flemish bonded brick, with stone quoins 
and a center treatment consisting of a high two-storied colonnade 
with pediment presumably of wood, a design which handled with less 
nicety of proportion and sense of fitness might easily become common- 
place, but which is a charming bit of composition and is ably present- 
ed by the drawing. The perspective is in black and white, and shows 
the building set in a winter landscape, with a few hunters on horseback 
in the foreground, the coats of the hunters a bright scarlet, as if at 
the last moment Mr. Bragdon, after having made the whole drawing 
in pen and ink, had felt the need of a sharp note in the foreground. 
What makes the drawing all the more interesting is that instead of 
using hard India ink, the draughtsman has employed a writing ink, 
just a slight purplish gray black, which softens the effect wonder- 
fully." 

Three members of the Wadsworth family in this county participated 
in the Spanish-American war and worthily maintained its patriotic 
traditions. From General William Wadsworth at Niagara to Craig W. 



534 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Wadsworth in the trenches in Cuba we find each generation furnishing 
its quota of hard-fighting men in the service of the Union. >■ 

William A. Wadsworth took a deep interest in the war with Spain 
and, associated with his friend Mr. Chandler, raised and offered to the 
government a regiment, which was, however, declined. Still deter- 
mined to see service in that war he was on May 23rd, 1898, commis- 
sioned by President McKinley a Major of Volunteers, and was assigned 
to service in Manila on the staff of General Merritt in the Quarter- 
Master's department; here he remained more than a year and a half 
and was present and participated in the operations during that 
eventful period. 

Craig W. Wadsworth, the grandson of General James S. Wadsworth, 
and son of Craig W. Wadsworth, enlisted as a private in the First 
Volunteer Cavalry — the Rough Riders — and served with this organi- 
zation throughout the campaign. He was a member of Troop K of 
this now famous regiment, and his courage and efficiency on the 
fighting line, where he manifested the most complete indifference to 
danger, evoked the unreserved praise of his commander — Colonel, now 
President, Roosevelt. Soon after the termination of his service he 
was appointed by Governor Roosevelt a member of his military staff 
with the rank of Major. He has since been made third Secretary of 
the American Legation at London and is now serving in that i-apacity. 

We are permitted to quote from a letter of Mr. Wadsworth, written 
at the seat of war to a friend during the fiercest part of the struggle: 

"I suppose you have followed the campaign in the papers, which 
reports are very near correct. We certainly have had severe fighting 
and the worst of hardships. Our regiment of Rough Riders has been 
bearing the brunt of all the fighting. At La Quasina we had it hot 
and heavy for several hours on empty stomachs. Wheeler said when 
he saw the trees that nothing equalled it in the Rebellion. Our regi- 
ment of 560 with 400 regulars as reserves drove 3,500 Spaniards back 
toward Santiago. We were really ambushed and lost in killed and 
wounded seventy-six, a large percentage. On July 1st we went to the 

I. Tlie three .sons of General James S. Wadsworth were in tlie War of the Rebelliou. Charles 

F. was attached to the Department of the Gnlf. served as Captain under General Banks, and parti- 
cipated in the attack on Port Hudson. Craig W. was for a time a member of his father's staff and 
later heUl responsible positions in various departments until May 1864. He retired with the rank 
ot Brevet Brigader General of Volunteers. James W. ser\'ed as a member of the staff of General 

G. K. Warren until the close of the war. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 535 

front, followed by 9,000 troops, and immediately started the ball 
rolling. After three days hot fighting we drove 10.000 Spaniards from 
their intrenchments on the hills about Santiago and now we have them 
penned in the city and outskirts. These three days were the hardest 
I have ever spent — no food except, perhaps, a little hardtack and one 
cup of coffee per day, and no sleep, for at night we dug trenches and 
repulsed the enemy's attack, and during the day we fought steadily. 
The rainy season is on and we sleep in drenched clothing in the mud 
holes. Yellow fever has started in on a small scale, but we cannot be 
surprised for we sleep as I said on the bare ground, some of us with 
no coverving whatever except our wet trousers and shirts. The 
last eleven days have been ridiculously spent in having truces on and 
then off until we are tired of it. However we are now getting quarter 
rations and therefore feel somewhat better. 

"I have been lucky, only a few bullet scratches, my shirt has been 
four times shot through, and the string on my hat severed. I have 
brought bad luck to others, however, for on July 1st four men were 
shot dead at my side and three wounded. 

"Our regiment numbered 560, but is now cut down to 300. I was 
appointed to a sergeantcy yesterday." 

James W. Wadsworth, Jr., another grandson of General James S. 
Wadsworth, and son of James W. Wadsworth, enlisted as a private at 
Newport News in Battery A. of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in July, 
1898. This company was selected to go with the second expedition 
under General Fred D. Grant to Porto Rico. He accompanied the 
regiment in July and remained there until September. The fighting 
had ceased, however, and he was mustered out about December 1. In 
February, 1899, he sailed from New York to the Philippines, via Suez, 
on the transport Sherman, with the Third Infantry. At Manila he 
was appointed Orderly to Colonel Page and had charge of the regi- 
mental commissary. He was on the firing line during four engage- 
ments, in the last of which Malolos, Aguinaldo's capital, was captured. 
This embraced the expedition known as McArthur's Northern Advance. 

On the 3rd of November, 1900, an enthusiastic Republican meeting, 
held at Geneseo, was addressed by Governor Roosevelt, candidate for 
Vice President. He was met by the local Republican campaign organ- 
ization of Rough Riders, and escorted to the court house, after a parade 
through the various streets, where he was introduced by Major Wads- 



536 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

worth, the President of the day. The Governor made a half hour 
speech to an audience of three thousand people. 

In the fall of the year 1900, the county gave a plurality of 1720 for 
the Republican electoral ticket, and elected the whole Republican 
county ticket. ^ 

A very severe freshet occurred about March 2nd, 1902, the river 
rising to a point within nine inches of the high-water mark of 1865. 
A few days of warm weather melted the large body of snow, filling all 
the streams tributary to the river at full banks, occasional rains adding 
to the supply during the thaw. A large amount of property was 
destroyed and carried away, including a number of cattle. Major 
Wadsworth sufTering a loss of thirty-eight. Bad as this flood was, it 
was not so disastrous as the midsummer flood in July of the same year. 
A hard rain storm occurred on July 5th, swelling the streams, and on 
Sunday morning, July 6th, the overflow began; the rise was very rapid 
from five until eight o'clock, the river gaining four to five inches in 
that time. The rise continued steadily until Monday morning, when 
it reached a point four inches higher than the earlier flood in March. 
The water began to recede on Monday morning. Travel was obstruct- 
ed, and great losses to stock, buildings and other property on the flats 
resulted. It was estimated that the loss of property between Sonyea 
and Geneseo amounted to $250,000. 

John Young, Esq., of Geneseo, was appointed by Governor Odell in 
1902 one of the Commissioners to represent New York State at the 
Louisiana Purchase E.xhibition at St. Louis in 1904. 

At the Republican county convention held at Geneseo on June 21st, 
1902, Hon. Otto Kelsey, who was then the Member of Assembly from 
this county and had held that office for nine years consecutively, 
was nominated for the office of County Judge. At a conference of In- 
dependent Republicans held at Avon September 13th, William Car- 
ter, who had been District Attorney of the county for two terms, was 
put in nomination for this office, and his selection was ratified by the 
Democratic convention, held at Mt. Morris September 16th. After a 
very energetic campaign Mr. Carter was elected by a majority of 163. 

Mr. Kelsey's appointment by Governor Odell to the office of Deputy 
Comptroller of the State very quickly followed, and upon the retire- 
ment in November, 1903, of Comptroller Miller to accept a judicial 
appointment, Mr. Kelsey became Comptroller. Thus for the third 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 537 

time has the county of Livingston and the town of Geneseo furnished 
this important State officer. 

A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held in August, 
1904, for the purpose of acting upon the report of the Building Com- 
mittee of the Board, Lockwood R. Doty of Geneseo, John F. Dono- 
van of Mt. Morris and Louis A. Hilliard of Groveland, relating to pro- 
posed improvements at the County Alms House. The committee had 
employed J. Foster Warner, the well-known Rochester architect, to 
prepare a plan to make use of the abandoned west and middle build- 
ings on the Poor Farm for the better accommodation of the inmates. 
The plans were approved and an appropriation of $11,500 was author- 
ized by the Board for this purpose. Work was begun in November 
and is now progressing. 

The political campaign of 1904 was an especially interesting one in 
Livingston County, from the circumstance that one of its citizens was 
a candidate for the office of Comptroller upon the Republican State 
ticket. Otto Kelsey, as previously stated, was Comptroller by ap- 
pointment of Governor Odell, and his nomination for that office was 
unanimously made at the State convention. This was a most suitable 
recognition of the valuable public services of a man whose life in every 
relation was above reproach, and whose name had become in the public 
mind a synonym of integrity and efficiency; the confidence of the 
people of Livingston in Mr. Kelsey was well attested by the vote cast for 
him in that county. The electors here contributed in substantial 
measure to the landslide which returned to the presidency Theodore 
Roosevelt, by the electoral vote of every Northern state and that of 
Missouri. The vote of Livingston gave a plurality of 2611 for the 
Republican Presidential Electors; Lieutenant-Governor Higgins 
for Governor received a plurality of 2165; Mr. Kelsey received 
a plurality of 2735 for Comptroller. For county offices James W. 
Wadsworth, Jr., was elected Member of the Assembly by a pluralitj' 
of 2372, and Bernard H. Oberdorf, County Clerk, by a plurality of 
2279. Hon. James W. Wadsworth for Congress received a plurality 
in the county of 2376. 

The following table shows the population of the county for the de- 
cade^ from 1830 to 1900 inclusive: 

1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 

27,729 35,140 40,875 39,546 38,309 39,562 . 37,801 37,059 



538 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



The following is a statement of the assessed valuation in the county 
for the last forty years: 



TOTAL ASSESSED VALUATION. 



1860- 
1861- 
1862- 
1863- 
1864- 
1865- 
1866- 
1867- 
1868- 
1869- 
1870- 
1871- 
1872- 
1873- 
1874- 



-14,263,243 
-14,209,362 
-13,976,823 
-13,604,380 
-14.124,268 
-13.S92.353 
-14,0(,0.9.^9 
-13,955,957 
-13,979, <)90 
-14,041,631 
-14,202,529 
-14,067,963 
-13,672,945 
-13,379,157 
-26,380,941 



1875-- 
1876- 
1877- 
1878- 
1879- 
1880- 
1881- 
1882- 
1883- 
1884- 
1885- 
1886- 
1887- 
1888- 
1889- 



26,495,613 

25,180,848 
24,18.^114 
•23,588,170 
■23,108,395 
23,280,181 
23,492,069 



769,875 
970,812 
0.50,313 
707,042 
626,102 
26,145,119 
26,736,753 
26,382,228 



1890- 
1891- 
1892- 
1893- 
1894- 
1895- 
1896- 
1897- 
1898- 
1899- 
1900- 
1901- 
1902- 
1903- 



Tlie following table gives a comparative statemen 
and valuation of farms in the county for the years 
1900, together with other information: 



-25,911,875 
-26.854,717 
-26,366,097 
-26,682,303 
-26,028,498 
-26,106,777 
-25,856,179 
-26,348,137 
-26,265,213 
-26,208.175 
-26,235,252 
-26,384,892 
-26,595,504 
-26,778,596 

t of the number 
1880, 1890 and 





i88q 


1890 


1900 


Niinibcr of farms 


3-855 


3,547 


3.267 


Acres of improved land in farms 


311,189 


307,189 


301,860 


Acres of unimproved land in farms 


74,425 


65,427 


71,800 


Valuation of farms and buildings. 


122,659,984 


^23,115,850 


#18,368,060 


Implements and machinery, 


890,. 572 


974,210 


1,078,260 


Live stock. 


2,380,844 


2,417,320 


2,282,382 


Cost of fertilizers. 




74,513 


89,420 


Valuation of farm products. 




2,904,290 


•2,870,280 



Exclusive of products not fed to live stock. 



MOSCOW ADVERTISER. 




M(l«l'O««.(UVlHUsT0>COl'MT¥. M. V-; IKIUltJ' aMi irHLi-Mi i> IIV II. Hl|-u;l . 
Tlll'ltSh.tV. MlHili K IfCI 



LIVINGSTON GAZETTE, 

AND MOS< OW ADVERTISER. 



*,^u«.;l.v„omw.....>.. .„,.,i,»„ ,..uuv|i.» i^m. 

— ' "' 71/, > ', l«l. 



'^Republicrtii Nomiimti()ns. 

AMLEI. » HOIKl.NS Al.nKKT H. 'J-BM V. 1. i 1-VAI M-CABrA.BT. 

TEPHt'*' B-^TES I 



Early County Newipaper. 



\ 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE NEWSPAPER HISTORY OF THE COUNTY. 

THE first newspaper published in the County was established in 
January, 1817, by Hezekiah Ripley, at Moscoiv, under the name 
of the Genesee Fanner. Sometime afterwards Franklin Covv- 
dery, who in 1847 published the Cuylcrville Telegrapli, became a part- 
ner in the concern, the paper was enlarged and its name changed to 
the Moscow Advertiser and Genesee Fanner. In a few months the 
partnership was dissolved and Ripley, again sole proprietor, continued 
the publication of the paper under the title of the Moscow Advertiser, 
and later as the Livingston Gazette and Moscozu Advertiser, until 
January 8, 1824, when James Percival became the owner, and moving 
the office to Geneseo July 16th, 1824, changed the name to The Living- 
ston Register. The paper was given an enlarged form, new type and 
other marked improvements, and became an adherent of the Bucktail 
cause until the Morgan excitement brought a change in parties, and 
the Register became the organ of the Anti-Masonic party and after- 
wards that of the Whigs. In 1829 Anson M. Weed and Allen Warner 
became the owners of the paper, but the dea'th of Mr. Weed in 1831 
terminated the partnership and Mr. Percival resumed its publica- 
tion ; meanwhile, in 1830, during the height of the feeling 
engendered by the Morgan outrage, Percival was elected to the 
Assembly from the county by a very large majority. In 1832 Elias 
Clark bought the office and published the paper until 1834, when he 
disposed of the establishment to William H. Kelsey and Richard M. 
Miel; Mr. Kelsey retiring in the following year, left Mr. Miel 
sole proprietor. Although the Register had been the organ of the 
Whig party, it received but an indifferent support, and Miel, after 
consulting with some leading Democratic politicians of the county, 
resolved to turn his paper over to the support of that party and its 
candidates. This was done in an able article which produced a great 
sensation at the time, as it was believed several prominent Whigs 



540 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

were in the secret, and they found it necessary to disclaim publicly 
any connection with the change. After a precarious existence of 
several years, during which the Register was successively published by 
D. S. Curtiss, Hugh Harding and John Kempshall, it w^as discon- 
tinued by the latter at the close of the Tippecanoe campaign in 1840. 
The materials of the office were sold to Peter Lawrence and removed 
to Perry. 

The Livingstofi Journal was started in Geneseo in 1822 by Chauncey 
Morse. At the beginning it represented the Clintonian and National 
Republican party, but after the Morgan episode it became a Jackson 
organ and thereafter espoused the cause of this party. Asahel Hovey 
was for a short time associated with Mr. Morse in the publication of 
the paper, and both were succeeded in 1829 by Levi Hovey. In 1831 
Benjamin C. Dennison, who had previously published the Village 
Chronicle at Dansville, removed to Geneseo and became the proprietor 
of the Journal, changing its name to the Livingston Courier. In 1832 
the paper was published by Evans and Woodruff, and in the fall of 
that year Henry F. Evans succeeded to its ownership and continued 
its publication until it ceased to e.\ist in 1834. 

These were fair specimens of the weekly county paper of the period 
and in some respects were ably conducted; they were small sheets, 
well filled with foreign news but almost wholly devoid of local intel- 
ligence. It was the day of party organs and as such they were suc- 
cessful journals and were liberally sustained. 

The desertion of the Whig party by the Register, above recorded, 
was the cause of a good deal of indignation and the leading Whigs of 
the county were determined that its place should be filled. To this end 
David Mitchell and William H. Kelsey purchased the equipment of 
the defunct Journal establishment just before the election of 1835, and 
commenced the publication of the Livingston Democrat. Mr. Mitchell 
soon retired from the paper, and Mr. Kelsey continued it alone until 
the spring of 1837, when it expired. Such failures were enough to 
dishearten most men, but the sturdy Whigs of Livingston were men of 
great determination, and devotion to the principles of their party. 
Besides, the opposition had an organ in the Register, and their pride 
would not permit the Whigs to be behind in this respect. Measures 
were accordingly taken to establish a new organ, on a firm basis and 
with an experienced printer at its head. With this in view negotiations 



GENESEE SARMER. 




•— ■AJJ-JW.j^--- 



MOSCOW ADVERTISER, 

AND GENE^KE F^JIMER;^ 




^Ijc 2i,iV>in^ston SJotiviiiit» 



l.tii.>Tt,. \,V>)uf*tua CwttMl- A*- N— VrtAuS' lt«(»u>Wr -ifs Xt'lS. 



VoV. \H 



Earliest County Newspapers. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 541 

were opened with Samuel P. Allen, then a young printer, who had 
learned his trade in the Regish-r office under Mr. Warner and his uncle, 
Percival. In reference to these negotiations Mr. AUensaid: "During 
the summer of that year (1837), I was called upon at Mt. Morris by 
some of the members of the Whig central committee, and urged to 
undertake the publication of a Whig journal at Geneseo. The com- 
mittee consisted of William H. Spencer, Charles Colt, John Young, 
Elias Clark and Gurdon Nowlen.' The late William Weed was also 
active in the enterprise, and by personal efforts probably accomplished 
as much as any other gentleman in securing the necessary funds to 
purchase a new press, etc." The negotiations with Mr. Allen were 
successful, and early in September, 1837, with a one-horse lumber 
wagon he proceeded to Buffalo "with the old type of the Journal- 
Democrat establishment, and with a small amount of funds furnished 
by the committee, exchanged for new type at the foundry of Nathan 
Lyman, the journev occupying three days. Meantime a new Wash- 
ington press had arrived from New York, and the first number of the 
Livingston Republican \va.% issued on the 19th of September, 1837." 
The office was i;he property of the Whig central committee, Mr. Allen 
acting only as editor and publisher; but he says in the letter from 
which we have quoted, "In March, 1844, such had been the success of 
the enterprise, I was able to purchase the establishment, for which 
four hundred dollars was paid. The great Clay campaign of that year 
probably furnished the Whig committee an opportunity to 'invest' 
these funds!" 

In 1846, Mr. Allen sold the Livingston Republican establishment to 
John M. Campbell, who took possession September 1, 1846. On the 
10th of September, 1847, Mr. Campbell transferred his interest to 
Joseph Kershner, then a prominent lawyer at Geneseo, who retained it 
until the 5th of July of the following year, when he was succeeded in 
the proprietorship by Charles E. Bronson. During the period from 
1846 to 1849, the paper suffered many reverses and vicissitudes and 
proved an unsuccessful financial venture. On the 27th day of Decem- 
ber, 1849, the paper passed into the hands of James T. Norton, who 
published it with marked success until his death in 1865. His son, A. 
Titfany Norton, continued its publication until November 25, 1869, 
when it was purchased by James W. Clement and Colonel Lockwood 

1 These gentlemeu constituted what was familiarly known as the "Geneseo Regency." 



S42 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

L. Doty. This partnership was terminated at the end of one year by 
the retirement of Colonel Doty on account of ill health, and Mr. 
Clement became sole proprietor. During Mr. Clement's ownership. 
A. Tiffany Norton, the former owner, Oscar Woodruff, the present 
proprietor of the Daiisvillc Express, Samuel K. Blyth, and Allison R. 
Scott, one of the present owners of the paper, were employed in the 
office. Samuel P. Allen was also for a time the editor of the paper. 
In 1876, i\Ir. Clement sold the paper to Samuel P. Allen. On January 
1, 1881, Mr. Allen associated Allison R. Scott with him under the 
name of Allen & Scott. Mr. Allen died in October, 1881, and in May, 
1882, Mr. Scott with Colonel John R. Strang became the owners and 
have since continued the publication, under the name of A. R. Scott 
& Company. 

The Livingston Gazette was first published in Moscow April 17, 
1823, and lasted for about one year. 

The \'illage Clironiele was the first newspaper published in Dansville. 
It was started about April 19, 1830, by David Mitc-hell and Benjamin 
C. Dennison, and the late B. W. Woodruff was one of the compositors 
who assisted in making the first issue. The paper was a six-column 
quarto and was printed on a Ramage press, a crude piece of 
machinery made of wood, but on which very good work was done when 
a skillful printer pulled the lever. Mr. Dennison severed his connec- 
tion with the paper April 12, 1831, upon its espousing the Anti-Masonic 
cause, and removed to Geneseo. Mr. Mitchell, who was then the sole 
publisher, changed the name to The Dansville Chronicle, adding 
the sub-head. And Steuben and Allegany Intelligencer. It has been 
said that Mr. Mitchell afterwards changed the name of the paper to 
The Village Record, but there is no record of that fact in existence. 
It is certain, however, that the paper had a brief career. 

The Mount Morris Spectator was started in that village January 4, 
1834, by Hugh Harding, who had previously been in the office of the 
Chronicle a.\. Dansville; he was then but twenty-one years of age. 

The Livingston County J/ 7/ /i,'' appeared at Mount Morris on Novem- 
ber 30th, 1843, James T. Norton being the editor and publisher. In 
1846 Mr. Norton published in connection with this paper, a daily 
edition called The Mount Morris Daily Whig, giving the latest news 
each morning by "canal packet." The daily ran from June 22d to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ■ 543 

August 15th, when it was discontinued, as it proved an unprofitable 
venture. 

On the 2d of February, 1848, Mr. Norton and Mr. Harding, pub- 
lishers of the 11 7/ !£■ and Spectator, united their publications under the 
name of the Livingston Union, with Harding and Norton as publishers. 
Mr. Norton retired in December, 1849, to assume charge of the Liv- 
ingston Republican at Geneseo. The publication of the paper was con- 
tinued by Mr. Harding until it was absorbed by the Union and Con- 
stitution in 1862. 

The Dansvil/e Times was published in 1835 by D. C. Mitchell, but 
nothing further is known of the paper, nor is it known whether the 
publisher was the D. Mitchell who conducted the Chronicle or another 
person. 

Tlie Genesee ]'alley Recorder was the first newspaper published at 
Nunda. It first appeared September 17, 1840. Ira G. Wisner was 
the proprietor. It was continued until November 11, 1841, when the 
name was changed to the Independent Gazette. It went out of bus- 
iness in 1842, owned to the last by Mr. Wisner. 

The Western Ncii' Yorker was established at Dansville January 13th, 
1841, by A. Stevens & Son. The publication was continued for a 
short time when the name was changed to the Dansville M'hig, and 
Geo. W. Stevens, son of A. Stevens, became its publisher. In 1846 
the paper was purchased by Charles W. Dibble, who conducted it less 
than a year, for in 1847 the name of Geo. W. Stevens appears as its 
editor and publisher. Stevens continued in charge of the paper until 
1848 with much success, and in that year he changed the name to The 
Dansville Courier. The paper was then enlarged and greatly improved 
in appearance by new type, a large and attractive head and by being 
worked on an iron Washington hand press, which was then coming 
into general use. In 1851 the paper was sold to Henry D. Smead who 
changed its name to The Dansville Democrat and continued its pub- 
lication in the third story of the Hedges block on Main street for four 
or five years. It was then discontinued and the material was sold to 
George A. Sanders, who moved it to Geneseo in 1855, and issued the 
first number of the renewed Geneseo Democrat April 4 of that year. 
Smead came from a family of printers, his father being the founder of 
The Steuben Farmer's Advcoatc at Bath. 

The Dansville Republican was established in January, 1842, by 



544 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

David Fairchild. The paper was a small sheet but it ardently sup- 
ported Polk and Dallas, tiie Democratic candidates for President and 
Vice-President in 1884, at which lime it was published and edited by 
F. Orville Fairchild. In December, 1844, its publishers were F. O. 
and R. Fairchild, evidently sons of the founder, for in 1845 it was 
published by D. Fairchild & Sons, and the paper had been enlarged 
and very much improved typographically. 

T//e GiUfSfo Democrat was started at Geneseo in 1843 by Gilbert F. 
Shankland. After a checkered existence, it was removed to Nunda 
in 1848 and published there for a time as the Nunda Democrat. 

The Livingston Express, semi-monthly, was published at Mount 
Morris for a time in 1843 by J. G. Wisner. 

The Truth-Teller was started at Dansville in May, 1844, by Rasselas 
Fairchild and continued for sixteen weeks, or until September 5, when 
the editor in a lengthy and sarcastic editorial announced its suspen- 
sion, "for a time at least," because of "poor patronage and want of 
friends." It was a small' paper, neatly printed, but for some reason 
it was not appreciated. Mr. Fairchild left Dansville afterwards and 
was a compositor in the office of the Nciv Orleans Picayune, where he 
was found dead one morning near his case. 

TItc Avon Reporter, a summer resort publication, three column folio, 
20x14, was first issued July, 1847, by John Smith, who continued its 
publication for four or five years. 

TJie Cuylcrville Telegraph was established November 16th, 1847, in 
that then thriving canal village, by Franklin Cowdery, who years 
before had worked in the first printing office established in the county. 
In 1848 Peter Lawrence became its proprietor, and soon after the 
paper was discontinued. 

The Nunda Democrat was the second newspaper venture in Nunda. 
It was brought from Geneseo in 1848 by Gilbert F. Shankland and 
Milo D. Chamberlain and published at Nunda but a short time, when 
it was removed to Ellicottville, Cattaraugus County. 

The Dansville Chronicle was established in June, 1848, by E. G. 
Richardson & Co., George H. Bidwell of Bath being the partner. On 
the 15th of February, 1850, Mr. Bidwell sold his interest to Charles G. 
Sedgwick, who was at once installed in the editorial chair, and he 
continued in this position for seven months when he sold out to Mr. 
Richardson. The next year the paper was discontinued and Mr. Rich- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 545 

ardson took a "case" in the office of the Dansvillc Herald where he 
remained as a compositor until the Civil War broke out in 1861; he 
then enlisted in Co. B, 13th New York Volunteers, and was supposed 
to have been killed at the battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia, in 1862, 
as it was known he was severely wounded and he was never afterwards 
heard from. 

The Fountain was a small temperance monthly launched at Dansville 
in 1849 by I. R. Trembly, who continued to publish it for two years. 
It was made up mostly of selected stories and miscellaneous reading. 

The Nunda Telegraph was started in 1850 by Charles Atwood and 
lived about a year. 

The Dansville Herald was started May 23rd, 1850, by E. C. Daugh- 
erty & Co., James G. Sprague being the partner. It began as a Whig 
paper, and as Mr. Daugherty, having learned the printer's trade in 
Buffalo, was a first-class printer and a man of excellent character, he 
succeeded in making the Herald a model paper, having but few equals 
among the rural weeklies of the State. He continued to publish the 
Herald until the fall of 1854, when it was sold to H. L. and L. H. 
Rann, who also came to Dansville from Buffalo. In a year or two L. 
H. Rann retired and in January 1857, H. L. Rann sold the paper to a 
syndicate representing the Know-Nothing party, composed of Nelson 
W. Green, A. J. Abbott, Dr. B. L. Hovey, C. R. Kern, Orville Tousey 
and others. The manager of the business affairs was E. G. Richardson 
and the political editor was Mr. Green. In April, 1857, H. C. Page 
took charge of the paper and conducted it until October of the same 
year, when it was sold to George A. Sanders, who converted it into a 
Republican journal. During his ownership the form of the paper was 
changed to an octavo, and a power press supplanted the old hand 
press on which it had been printed. In the issue of November 6, 1861, 
the name was changed to The Dansville Weekly Herald. In August, 
1865, Mr. Sanders sold the paper to Frank J. Robbins and L. D. F. 
Poore, two enterprising young printers, who at once changed the name 
to The Dansville Express and changed its form to a seven column quar- 
to. In October, 1870, Mr. Poore retired. Mr. Robbins enlarged the 
paper to eight columns, and during the Horace Greeley presidential 
campaign he supported that candidate, and at the close of the cam- 
paign he continued it as a Democratic paper. On the 27th of May, 
1877, the Express passed into the hands of Oscar Woodruff and A. H. 



1 



546 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



Knapp, and this partnership continued until February, 1882, when Mr. 
Knapp retired and Mr. Woodruff has from that date to the present 
been the sole owner of the paper. During the nearly quarter of 
a century that it has been under the control of the present owner it has 
been consistently Democratic. 

The Nunda Tiincs was established by N. T. Hackstaff in 1851. A 
fire in July, 1852, destroyed the office and brought the paper to an 
untimely end. 

The Lima Weekly I'isi/or was started in 1853 by A. H. Tilton and 
M. C. Miller. Subsequently it was published by Raymond and Gra- 
ham and by S. M. Raymond alone, under the name of the Genesee 
Valley Gazette. In 1856 the paper suspended publication. 

The Chimes, started at Dansville in August, 1853, as a monthly by 
Orton H. Hess, lived only a short time. It was an eight page paper, 
devoted to "fact, fun and fancy," and it was bright, witty and 
much superior to most journals of its class of that day. One of its 
chief contributors was Leonard H. Grover, now of New York, who has 
for more than forty years been connected with the theatres of the 
metropolis. 

The Ne2>j Era was issued at Hunts Hollow in 1854 by David B. and 
Merrit Galley, boys aged 15 and 17 years respectively. In 1855 it was 
removed to Nunda where, under the name of The Young America, its 
publication was continued until 1856. 

The Livingston Sentinel was started at Dansville in October, 1857, 
by H. C. Page, who had for a few months previously been in charge 
of the Dansville Herald. W. J. LaRue was its publisher and Mr. 
Page its editor. It was discontinued in the spring of 1860. 

The Geneseo Democrat, the successor of the Dansville Democrat, and 
the second paper of the same name, was first published at Geneseo by 
George A. Sanders April 4, 1855. In October, 1857. it was discon- 
tinued at Geneseo and its publication resumed in Dansville as The 
Livingston Sentinel. 

The Laws of Life, originally called The Letter Bo.v, was a monthly 
health journal started at Glen Haven, N. Y., in 1857, and brought to 
Dansville in 1858 by Dr. James C. Jackson, when he took possession 
of the Dansville Water Cure, later known as "Our Home on the Hill- 
side," but now known the world over as the Jackson Sanatorium. A 
circulation of 10,000 copies per issue was attained before the publication 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 547 

was discontinued in 1893. Dr. Harriet N. Austin was associate 
editor and editor for a considerable period preceding the year 1880. 

The Dansvillc Daily Register was started at Dansville June 20, 
1859, by W. J. LaRue publisher and edited by H. C. Page. It was 
preceded on May 28, 1859, by the Dansville Daily Times, under the 
same management. This was the second daily published in the county 
and but a few numbers were issued. The Register was a four-page 
paper with four columns to the page, and, as it received Associated 
Press despatches over the Genesee Valley Telegraph line, its news was 
always the latest and twenty-four hours ahead of the mail. When the 
Register suspended on August 8, 1859, after a fairly successful 
career, it was followed by the Valley City Register, a weekly published 
and edited by Messrs. LaRue and Page, which was discontinued 
December 31, 1859. 

The Nunda News, the first paper that came to Nunda to stay, was 
established October, 1859, by Chauncey K. Sanders. Until the num- 
ber printed at Nunda November 19, 1859, it was printed by Mr. 
Sanders' brother in the office of the Dansville Herald, of which he 
was then the publisher, and in which office C. K. Sanders had been 
employed for two years; the year prior to that he was in the office of 
the Geneseo Democrat. In December, 1898, Mr. Sanders was suc- 
ceeded in the proprietorship of the paper by his son Walter B. Sanders, 
the former remaining as associate editor. At the time of the retire- 
ment of Mr. Sanders, senior, no paper in the county had been for so 
many years conducted continuously by the same proprietor. 

The Constitution was started at Geneseo in September, 1860, by J. 
A. Z. McKibbin in the interest of Stephen A. Douglas for the presi- 
dency. It later became a Democratic sheet. In March, 1862, this 
paper was purchased by Mr. Harding and united with the Union at 
Mount Morris under the title of the Union and Constitution. In 1871 
Mr. Harding sold his paper to David Frysinger, of Pennsylvania, and 
retired from the business. On July 16, 1872, Frysinger disposed of 
the paper to William Harding, son of Hugh Harding, who in turn, in 
November 1881, sold it to Ellicott and Dickey, by whom it was pub- 
lished as the Mount Morris Union. On May 14, 1896, Mr. Ellicott 
retired and Mr. John C. Dickey, his partner, has since continued its 
publication. While its predecessors were in turn neutral, Whig, 



548 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

American, Democratic and Republican, the Union has been from the 
beginning uncompromisingly Republican. 

The Dansville Advertiser was started by A. O. Bunnell in a very 
modest way August 2, 1860, as a small advertising sheet, not antici- 
pating that it would develop into the powerful journal it has become. 
Because it was intended as an advertising medium chiefly, it was 
named the Advertiser. Nearly two-thirds of the time of the Adver- 
tiser's existence, Mr. Bunnell has been alone in its ownership and 
management ; about fifteen and a half years in all he has had partners. 
Professor Joseph Jones was associated with him as partner from July 
1, 1866, to July 1, 1868, having stepped from the principalship of the 
Dansville Seminary into the newspaper harness. After si.xteen years 
more of exacting labor with undivided responsibility, and on March 
1, 1884, Mr. Bunnell took another partner, W. S. Oberdorf, whom he 
had educated to be a printer, who had afterwards graduated from 
the Geneseo State Normal school with high honors, and then for two 
years had done editorial work on the Geneseo Republican. The new 
partner confined himself mostly to the business end of the office; on 
October 1, 1847, his health failing, the partnership was dissolved. 

In 1871 Mr. Bunnell bought the present Bunnell block in the center 
of the business section of Main street, a three-story brick building 
with two stores on the ground floor. The entire second floor is used 
for the editorial, composing, press and engine rooms; the third floor 
for packing and storage. 

Mr. Bunnell, although a Republican from the formation of the 
party, did not intend to publish a political newspaper. But the Ad- 
vertiser was started on the very eve of the great Civil War, when the 
stirrings of the coming strife were in every man's heart, and the 
editor could not resist the imperious impulse to ardently advocate the 
political principles of the administration upon which had fallen the 
supreme duty of preserving the Union. So it naturally came about 
that from the first year the Advertiser has been a strong Republican 
newspaper. Its columns have been notably rich in local history and 
biography, as acknowledged by county historians years ago. 

The great esteem in which Mr. Bunnell is held by the fraternity is 
evidenced by the fact that he has been the Secretary and Treasurer 
of the New York State Press Association for many years continuously, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 549 

and has held the same office in the Republican Editorial Association 
since its organization. 

Tlie Valley Gem was started at Geneseo April 3rd, 1866, by Ferdi- 
nand Ward. It was a four page 8 x 10j4 paper. Its publication was 
continued for one year. 

The Livingston Deinoerat was started in Nunda in January, 1868, 
and expired November 4, 1876. It was published successively by H. 
M. Dake, C. F. Peck, Shepard and Holly and C. L. Shepard. 

'The Genesee Valley Herald, a Republican newspaper, was first 
printed at Geneseo February 13, 1868, by James W. Clement, who 
continued its publication until November 1869, when he acquired the 
Livingston Republican. 

The Avon Springs Journal, a seven column folio, 36 x 25, was 
established July, 1868, by Charles F. Peck. It was vigorously Demo- 
cratic in politics. It was continued for several years under different 
editors and publishers. 

The Lima Recorder was established October 1, 1869, by Elmer 
Houser. Houser and Dennis, Dennis and Dennis, and Deal and 
Drake were successively the proprietors until January 1, 1875, when 
the paper was purchased by A. Tiffany Norton, who previously owned 
the Livingston Republican. Mr. Norton sold the paper and removed 
to Rochester to become one of the editors of the Democrat and 
Chronicle. In 1901, while connected with the latter paper, he died at 
Rochester. The Recorder is now published by Charles VanGelder. 

The Livonia Advertiser, monthly, was started in 1869 by W. A. 
Champ and was in existence for about one year. It was printed at 
the Livingston Republican office in Geneseo. For a part of the time 
it was conducted by H. D. Kingsbury. 

The Dansvillc Daily Herald published the first number of volume 2 
on May 12. 1861. Geo. A. Sanders, proprietor of the Dansvillc Herald, 
was also proprietor of this paper. It was short-lived, it having been 
demonstrated that a local daily could not thrive long in Dansville. 
For about two months of the time A. O. Bunnell was associated with 
Mr. Sanders as its local editor. 

The .Avon Reporter was published two or three years at Avon, be- 
ginning in 1871, by C. F. Peck of Nunda and several other pro- 
prietors. 

The Livonia E.vprcss, established by Henry Benjamin Newell early 



550 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

in 1871, and printed on the first press used in the town, was a bur- 
lesque and lasted only a few months. 

The Mount Morris Enterprise was started March 4, 1875, by George 
M. Shull and A. H. Knapp under the firm style of Shull and Knapp. 
Mr. Knapp retired in May, 1877, since which time its publication has 
been continued by Mr. Shull. 

The Livonia Gazette issued its first number October 1, 1875, under 
the proprietorship of Lewis E. Chapin. In July, 1877. the establish- 
ment was purchased by Clarence M. Alvord, formerly of Albion, New 
York, who still publishes the paper. 

The Avonian, a seven column folio, 36 x 25. first appeared at Avon, 
April 2, 1875. B. H. Randolph was publisher and T. E. Wilson & 
Co., editors, at the beginning. D. Pruner and E. B. Reed were later 
connected with it. The paper is said to have been printed at Warsaw. 
It was discontinued in the early '80's. 

The Livingston County Herald vi&s io\xnAtA zt A\on, on May 11th, 
1876, by the late Hon. Elias H. Davis, who was the Member of 
Assembly for this County in the years 1890 and 1891. It was an 
eight column folio, patent outside, with the inside printed at 
home upon a Washington Hoe hand press. It was Rei)ublican in 
politics. Mr. Davis continued its publication until October 5, 1882, 
when he sold the plant to Florence Van Allen, foreman of the office. 
Under the new proprietor, it was continued as a Republican organ. 
When the Dakotas were being admitted as new states into the Union, 
the proprietor, not having met with the financial success he desired, 
concluded to emigrate to one of the proposed states and "grow up" 
with the country; with this plan in mind, he sold the plant back to 
its founder on the 28th day of July, 1887. Mr. Van Allen having a 
large number of unpaid accounts on his books remained in Avon to 
collect them. Meantime, he, together with his wife, who was also a 
compositor, did the mechanical work for Mr. Davis. Collections 
being slow, the Dakota fever had time to wear off; Mr. Davis's health 
failed, and the paper suffered in consequence. Mr. ^'an Allen was 
persuaded to remain and resume control of the Herald, he at once 
rechristened it The Avon Springs Herald, under which title he 
conducted it until February 7th, 1894, when he replaced the old 
job and newspaper type and machinery with an entire new outfit, 
including a new Babcock Regular steam power press and a new two 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 551 

horse-power kerosene engine, changed its name again to The Avon 
ffcra/d, and its politics to that of Independent Republican, and 
printed both sides of the paper on the new press. Somewhat later 
Mr. Van Allen associated his son, A. C. Van Allen, with him in the 
editorship. On October, 21, 1903, Mr. Van Allen purchased the 
Genesee Valley Courier establishment and consolidated it with the 
//cr(7/(/ under the name of TJic Avon Herald and Courier^ by which 
title it is now being published. 

The Utiion Citisen was conducted at Livonia from July 29, 1876, 
imtil April 1, 1879, by Dr. Alanson L. Bailey. The plant was then 
removed to Geneseo where its publication was continued until about 
1885, when Dr. Bailey removed from the county. He varied his 
editorial work with that of dentistry, and in at least one of these 
exacting professions he had the effective aid of a somewhat large and 
very industrious family. During his residence in Geneseo, Dr. 
Bailey published in 1882 for about six months, in connection with the 
Citisen, which he persistently spelled as we have given it, a very small 
daily paper called the Geneseo Daily News. 

The Young Enterprise was a four page weekly newspaper, published 
at Dansville for four months during the summer of 1877 by Miller 
H. Fowler and John Faulkner. It was a bright little paper contain- 
ing local news items and advertising and ran in strong competition 
with The Dansville Union, another juvenile production, published at 
the same time by Job E. Hedges and John L. Johnson. 

The Invincible appeared at Dansville in November, 1878, as a 
Greenback paper published by David Healy, who had come from Can- 
ada a short time before. It was printed at the office of the Dansville 
Express, but it was short-lived, suspending in May, 1879. 

The Springiuater Enterprise was started January 9th, 1879, by H. 
J. Niles and C. B. Potter. It was continued under this management 
for two months when Mr. Niles purchased Potter's interest, and has 
since been the sole proprietor. He also publishes the Wayland Advance. 

Occasional was a sixteen sheet paper. It was first printed at Dal- 
ton in October, 1880, by W. S. Orcutt. As its name implied the 
paper had no regular publication day. This continued until May 1, 
1881, when A. D. Baker became a copartner with Mr. Orcutt, and the 
Dalton Era was established at the same place, replacing Occasional. 
In November of the same year, Mr. Orcutt sold out to Mr. Baker, 



552 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

who continued to publish the Era until November, 1888, when George 
W. Daggett, Jr., purchased it, and changed the name to The Dal- 
ton Enterprise. In September, 1889, Mr. Daggett died, and the paper 
was sold to W. A. Huntington and George L. White, who made it a 
prohibition .sheet under the name of The Dalton Freeman. In 
September, 1890, Mr. White purchased Huntington's interest, and 
continued the publication of the paper until February 1, 1893, when 
it was purchased by E. Merry. Under Mr. Merry's' proprietorship 
the paper became Republican and its name was restored to The Dalton 
Enterprise. In July, 1893, it was changed to a seven column folio, 
and in April, 19()2, it was again enlarged to an eight column folio. 
Mr. Merry is still the proprietor. 

The Dansville Breeze was established in 1883 by M. H. Fowler and 
J. W. Burgess. Mr. Burgess had been employed as associate editor 
of the Dansville Advertiser for three years, and Mr. Fowler had been 
conducting a job office for some time. They joined their forces and 
the Breeze was established. As there was already a Republican paper 
and a Democratic paper in the village, Messrs. Fowler & Burgess 
concluded that there was room for a strictly non-political paper here, 
hence it was established upon that basis, and as both the other papers 
were issued on Thursday they chose Tuesday for their publication 
day. With the first number of the Breeze, Mr. Burgess started a 
column of original humorous writings under the heading of "Old 
Zimmerhackle's Observations," and this department soon came to be 
a prominent feature of the paper, being widely quoted by other papers 
throughout the country. The Breeze has adhered strictly to the 
original idea of being absolutely non-political. In 1893, being unable 
to secure an office suited to their needs, Messrs. Fowler & Burgess 
erected the brick block on the corner of Main street and Chestnut 
avenue, in which the office is now situated. In 190(» Mr. Fowler pur- 
chased Mr. Burgess's share in the real estate, and on the first of June, 
1902, he purchased Mr. Burgess's interest in the Breeze the latter 
retiring from newspaper work. Mr. Herman W. DeLong was engag- 
ed as editor of the Breeze, and acted as such until the paper was sold 
by Mr. Fowler in 1904. In February of that year Messrs. A. H. 
Knapp and George R. Brown became its proprietors and editors. In 
August Mr. Brown retired and Mr. Bayard Knapp joined his father 
in the business, which is now conducted by Knapp & Son. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 553 

The Livingston Democrat was started at Geneseo in 1885, by 
Ed. D. Deming, who continued to edit and publish it for about 
ten months, when it was purchased by the late Charles F. Wads- 
worth. Mr. Wadsworth, who was a very ardent and aggressive Dem- 
ocrat, at'once began to push its circulation. John B. Abbott, was 
engaged as manager and political editor and Elliott W. Horton, who 
had been with Mr. Deming for a short time, was made local editor. 
New presses, type and other office machinery were quickly obtained, 
and the circulation of the paper soon reached nearly two thousand. 
In February, 1899, the paper was purchased from Mr. Wadsworth by 
Mr. Abbott and Mr. Horton, who continued the publication under the 
firm name of E. W. Horton & Co. ; in 1902 Timothy C. Reagan, who 
had been foreman in th,e office for many years, was taken into the firm. 
In the month of June, 1904, this copartnership was dissolved and the 
office and paper transferred to a corporation known as "The Living- 
ston Democrat," the entire capital stock of which is owned by the 
members of the former firm of E. W. Horton & Co. The officers 
of this corporation are John B. Abbott, President, -Timothy C. 
Reagan, Vice President, and Elliott W. Horton, Secretary and 
Treasurer. 

The Geneseo Argus was first published at Geneseo in July, 1891, by 
William E. Booth. It was a small monthly printed by him, and lasted 
about nine months. 

The Geneseo Business Item was published weekly at Geneseo by 
Charles Carpenter from November 27th, 1895, to March 17th, 1897. 
It was a four page, four column paper, 8 x 12 inches. 

The Livingston County Despatch, a seven column folio, was started at 
Avon May 11, 1898, by Oscar J. Connell, formerly of Webster, N. Y. 
On October 17, 1900, it was enlarged to an eight column paper. In 
February, 1901, John Garvey was associated as editor and continued 
in that position until October, 1902. Sometime prior to the last 
mentioned date the name was changed to The Genesee Valley Courier. 
On September 30, 1903, it was changed in form to that of a thirty- 
two page magazine, 9 x 12; four numbers were issued in this form 
when it was absorbed by Florence VanAllen, the proprietor of the 
Herald. 

The Picket Line Post has been published by Fred YanDorn at 
Mount Morris since its first issue of June 16, 1899. The paper is 



554 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

independent in politics, has an extensive local department and the 
"story" feature is made prominent. This interesting comment was 
made by the proprietor: "Encountering solid opposition from the 
established interests of the county, the paper obstinately refused to 
die, and at critical stages in its debility never failed to sit up cheer- 
fully in the coffin when the pall bearers approached to give it decent 
burial. " Its vitality has thus been sufficiently demonstrated. 

The Dansvillc Higit School Mirror was instituted by James Brogan 
and Fred Clark in February, 1900, and run successfully by them 
until June, 1901. From September, 1901, to June, 1902, it was pub- 
lished by Roy Welch and Edward Brogan. As many as five hundred 
copies of each issue have been printed at the Breeze office. The 
numbers for April, May and June, 1902 were combined in a year book, 
which was deemed so creditable by the Board of Education that 
several hundred extra copies were issued in place of the usual annual 
catalogue. 

The Caledonia Era was established in May, 19U1, by the present 
editor and owner, R. A. Peck. The Era is independent, conservative 
and, fearless in politics. It has a corps of correspondents throughout 
its territory in the northern end of Livingston county. and the south- 
ern end of Monroe county that keeps its readers in touch thoroughly 
with the section covered. The lower valley of the Oatka Creek, now 
noted for its plaster mines, calcining and wall board plants, is 
thoroughly covered. The paper as now published is eight pages, six 
columns. A job department is run in connection with the newspaper 
and the Era imprint is well-known in the business places of this 
section. 

Truth was established in Nunda May 8, 1902, by Lester B. Scott 
and Edward W. Koppie, who conducted it in partnership until June 
17 of the same year, when Mr. Koppie became and still remains sole 
owner, editor and publisher. The paper is independent in politics 
and has succeeded in establishing itself permanently in a town where, 
with the exception of the News, failure has been the history of news- 
paper ventures. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
THE LAST COUNCIL ON THE GENESEE. 

WHEN General Sullivan, on his memorable punitive expe- 
dition in 1779, destroyed the Seneca village, Little Beards- 
town, he had closed the "Western Door of the Long House." 
But there was an Indian village beyond unknown to him ; this 
was Caneadea, described as "an open sylvan glade through which 
river ran, shut in on either side by the dense forests and in front 
the open sky, where nestled Ga-o'-ya-de'-o — 'Where the Heavens rest 
upon the earth' — the last Seneca 'castle' on the Genesee." 

"Its twenty or thirty houses stood somewhat back from a high bank 
that overlooked the stream, and its central feature was the old 
Caneadea council house, so fortunately still preserved to tell its 
story of a far-off past." It stood in the present town of Caneadea, 
Allegany county, and in the language of Henry R. Howland, from 
whom the above is quoted, it "was built of well-hewn logs, a foot or 
more in thickness, neatly dove-tailed at the corners, their crevices 
packed in with moss plastered in with clay. In length it measured 
about fifty feet, by twenty feet in width, and was roofed with 'shakes' 
or large split shingles held in place by long poles fastened at the ends 
with withes, an opening being left in the center of the roof through 
which the smoke of the council fire might make its escape. Its eaves 
were low and at one end was built a rude stone fire place with three 
large hearth stones taken from the river bed, covering a space ten 
feet square. There was a door at either side. 

"Its age we do not know, but Indian traditions ascribe to it an 
antiquity that is venerable, and it is believed to long antedate the 
American Revolution. Upon the inner surface of one of the logs the 
sign of the cross is deeply carved and another bears the rudely cut 
totem of the Snipe clan. 

"About it cluster thickly the memories of long ago; upon its earth 
floor has been lighted many a famous council fire, and its walls, 
smoke-begrimed and dark with age, have listened to the glowing words 



556 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of many a red-skinned orator, whose eloquence fired his people to 
action or perchance calmed the passion of debate. 

"From this last of the Seneca villages went out the great war 
parties of the Iroquois that followed the Ohio trail to the great river 
of the Southwest. Here, too, they gathered for the border forays 
that carried terror to the Pennsylvania frontiers; and here the re- 
turning warriors brought their captives to run the gauntlet, to their 
death it may be, or in rare cases to escape their torturers and to find 
refuge and safety within the walls of their desperate goal, this ancient 
council house.' 

"Here, with their scarcely less savage allies, it is believed they 
gathered, as the rallying point before the massacre of Wyoming; and 
in these ruthless days the old council house had doubtless heard the 
crafty but not inhumane counsels of Thay-en-da-na-ge-a, the great 
Mohawk chief whom we know as Joseph Brant, the silver tongue of 
that most famous of Indian orators, Red Jacket, the wise and com- 
pelling utterance of Cornplanter and the speech of Hudson and Young 
King and Pollard. Little Beard and Tall Chief and Halftown and 
many beside whose very names are now but dim traditions, but who 
wrought their part and were loved or feared, as the case might be, by 
their people and by those who knew their power a century or more 
ago. 

"A gentler association is that which the old council house" holds 
with the memory of the white captive, Mary Jemison. 'Deh-he-wa- 
mis.' for here in the autumn of 1759 that weary-footed traveler (whose 
life of scarce eighteen years had already seen such strange vicissitudes, 
adopted by her captors five years before and married by their wish to 
an Indian husband), rested with her adopted brothers, who accom- 
panied her on her long and toilsome journey of nearly 600 miles 
through an almost pathless wilderness, from the Ohio to the Genesee 
country. 

"By whose hand was carved the deeply cut symbol of the Christian 
faith within those ancient walls we may not know. Its presence 
would seem to show that in their time they have heard gentle teach- 
ings from lips that have told those husky hearers of long ago of the 
God of Revelation, of Christ the Saviour, of a gospel of love and peace 

J. .\mong the captives saved from the horrors of the gauntlet by the sheltering doors of the 
council house were Major Moses VanCampen and Captain Horatio Jones. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 557 

and in their own tongue perhaps made known to them the story of 
the Cross. Could the old council house but speak of all that it has 
seen, how filled with riches would be the record of its years! 

"But times change and we change with them. The years swept by 
and the changes of another century than its own crept slowly around 
the council house. Little by little its old-time friends passed away, 
and when in 1826 the Senecas sold the last of their Genesee valley 
lands they parted with Caneadea and soon the old council house was 
left alone and deserted. 

"Shortly thereafter Joel Seaton, who had purchased the land where 
it stood, moved it to a new position near the roadside, some thirty or 
forty roads eastward from its old site, and used it as a dwelling, mak- 
ing no changes in it, however, except to put on a new roof and to add 
three or four logs to its height, as was readily to be seen. Slowly it 
began to decay; it ceased to be used as a dwelling; neglected and 
forlorn it stood by the roadside, marked only by the curious gaze of 
the passer-by, until when it was about to be destroyed, shortly after 
1870, it came to the notice of Honorable William Pryor Letchworth 
of Glen Iris, whose deep interest in the historic associations of the 
Genesee valley led him to take prompt measures for its rescue and 
preservation. 

"With painstaking care he caused each timber to be marked when 
taken down, so that it might be replaced where it belonged, and ef- 
fected its removal, without injury, to the beautiful plateau overlooking 
the river and valley at Glen Iris, where it now stands. There it was 
carefully re-erected in precisely the position and the form in which 
it originally stood, even to the roof of shakes with withe-bound poles 
and its own old fire-place with the original hearth-stones as in days of 
yore; the rotting timbers were repaired where this was necessary for 
its preservation, and when all was completed and the venerable struc- 
ture stood as of old time, the scattered children of those who had been 
most famous in the history of the Seneca occupation of the Genesee 
valley were bidden to the memorable council of October 1st, 1872. It 
was a strange and impressive occasion to those who gathered to hold a 
council of their people after the lapse of half a century, in the very 
house where generation after generation of those that slept had gath- 
ered before; to them it brought untold memories of pathos and regret. 
Doubly strange and impressive was it to the fortunate guests of 



558 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

another race who came at the wish of the Guardian of the Valley to 
witness such an unwonted sight; it dwells within their hearts in un- 
fading recollection."' 

"The dust of Mary Jemison, borne back from the neglected grave 
near Buffalo by loving hands of descendants and friends, now rests 
in the soil of the valley she loved so well, and the white stone of her 
tomb, reared but a few paces from the council house, with it will form 
an enduring monument of the early history of the Genesee country. 
Some trees, also, brought from her former grave and set around the 
old building, will cast upon the place a memorial shade. One, planted 
by the granddaughter of Brant, the Mohawk, stands guard at the 
eastern door; another, planted by the descendant of Red Jacket, keeps 
watch at the door of the west. In the branches of a third, set in the 
soil by the hands of her grandson, the wind, perhaps, will sometimes 
seem to whisper the name of the White Captive of the Senecas. "'•' 

To Glen Iris came the lamented David Gray in attendance upon the 
"last council," and he reveled in the charm and grandeur with which 
nature in her most prodigal mood had made a setting for this gem 
of the valley. The river, he writes, has scarcely cleared the base of 
the bridge, over which he had journeyed, when it breaks and tumbles 
some sixty or seventy feet, in the first of a series of charming falls, 
to a still deeper deep. Thenceforward it winds through the heart to 
an oval-shaped valley, shut in on either'side by an acre of high and 
wooded hills. But following its downward course a little more than 
half a mile from the bridge, the eye is met by a rising cloud of spray, 
and easily descries the crest of the precipice from which the Genesee 
takes its second leap, to find its channel at the bottom of the dark 
gulf below. Beyond, and on either side of the fallen river, loom the 
perpendicular walls of the deep and narrow canon down which it 
rushes and finally disappears. 

"It is a sight for the drowsy passenger when, as he crosses, the 
summer morning has come over the hills and filled this valley. In- 
numerable lights and shades of the varied verdure, the warm tints of 
the rocks and the flashing of the falling waters enliven a picture to 

1. Tlie matter quoted i.*; from Henry B. Howlaud's admirable sketch of tlie "Old Caneadea 
Council House aud its last Council Fire," published in Volume 6 of the Publications of the Buffalo 
Historical Society. 

2. From David Gray's "Last Council of the Genesee." 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 559 

which its [sunken remoteness superadds an almost visionary charm. 
The two or three cottage roofs that peer from thick nests of foliage 
far down beside the river, suggest a life blissfully held apart from the 
world and its ways. Over all an atmosphere of thinnest mist, smitten 
to whiteness by the sunlight wavers and shines like a translucent sea. 
The valley, indeed, is a region of lapsing streams and delicate rising 
mists, and never a gleam of sunshine visits it, but it deserves its 
name of Glen Iris. 

"From the west end of the bridge the descent into the glen is made 
by the aid of flights of rustic steps and a steep path through thick 
woods ot beech, maple and hemlock, leading to the margin of the 
stream. Half way down, and crossed by a foot-bridge, a little brook, 
christened by the valley folk De-ge-wa-nus — an Indian name of note 
along the Genesee — dashes headlong from the mysterious green dark- 
ness of the upper forest, and commits suicide at the cliff of the river's 
bank. On the way, too, line views are afforded of the upper fall of 
the Genesee, which has hewn its way backward through the rock 
almost to the foundations of the great bridge. As we emerge from 
the wood the river grows quiet again among its stones, and the valley 
widens into tranquil pasture lands. Looking across to the easterly 
side of the river, the line of the Genesee Valley canal is seen, drawn 
tightly around the contour of the hills and half way to their summit. 
The ugly gash cut to form this highland water-way long since became 
a chronic sore on the body politic of the State of New York, by which 
its treasury has been depleted to a wasteful extent. 

"Ascending the slope toward the farther end of the valley, we come 
in sight of the second, or middle, fall, a full, rounded shoulder and 
flounced skirt of rock, over which the water is flung in a single broad 
shawl of snow-white lace, more exquisite of pattern than ever artist 
of Brussels or Valenciennes dared to dream. On a green tableland 
almost directly above this fall is the dwelling of the valley's good 
genius, a rustic paradise embowered in foliage of tree and vine, and 
islanded in wavy spaces of softest lawn. Here art has aided nature 
to plant a true 'garden of tranquil delights.' Each group of trees 
becomes the cunning frame of an enchanting picture or beautiful 
vignette. The hills, sentineled at their summits by lofty pines, are 
walls which shut the world out, while across the upper and the visible 
approach to the glen, the bridge stretches like a vast portal reared by 



560 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Titans. It is the Happy Valley of fable realized, and the lulling 
sound of the near cataract gives fitting voice to its perfect seclusion 
and repose. 

"I have spoken of the deep and winding canon into which the Gen- 
esee rushes, below Glen Iris and the middle fall. Following its on- 
ward course, the tourist makes his way cautiously along the dizzy 
brink of the westerly wall of the gulf. Higher and higher, as he 
progresses, towers the perpendicular rampart on which he treads, 
until, soon, it is from a sheer height of about four hundred feet that 
he leans, shuddering, to descry the river in its rocky inferno, and 
hearken to its voice softened by distance to a rustling whisper. 
About a mile from the middle fall the gulf partially relaxes its hold 
upon the brawling prisoner, and the visitor may make his way down 
a steep and thickly wooded bank to what are called the lower falls 
of the Genesee. Here, in the midst of a wilderness still virgin and 
primeval, the waters sh(jot furiously down a narrow rock-hewn flume, 
their descent being nearly one hundred feet, and the width of the 
torrent at some points scarcely more than the compass of a good 
running jump. From the sombre chasm in which the cataract termi- 
nates, the canon once more draws the river and repeats on a still 
more magnificent scale the scenery at which I have hinted above. A 
walk of four or five miles down the river from the lower fall, and 
along the westerly battlement of the canon, brings us to a sudden 
opening and retrocession of the rocky walls, and here, a fertile ex- 
panse of bottom land extending from the river to the hills, are the 
Gardeau Flats, the ancient home of the White Woman. Nearly 
eighteen thousand acres of this and the scarcely less rich soil of the 
plateau above it were hers, the free gift nf the Seneca nation to their 
once helpless girl captive." 

We cannot forbear to set down Mr. Letchworth's brief account of 
his purchase of Glen Iris and the inspiration which prompted him to 
enhance the charm of nature's handiwork in this portion of the 
Genesee: 

"Previous to my making a purchase of a few hundred acres of land 
in the immediate vicinity of the middle falls I had been impressed 
with the beauty of the scenery on the Genesee river in the neighbor- 
hood of Portage. When I first saw that portion of it between Portage 
bridge and the lower falls I decided at once to secure, if possible, a 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 561 

site for a residence here, and as my eye took in a beautiful rainbow 
arched above the falls, the name of Glen Iris suggested itself to my 
mind. The lumberman's axe had made sad havoc in the surrounding 
forests, and the scene, with its saw mill perched on a cliff beside the 
middle falls, and the logs, lumber and rubbish that everywhere met 
the eye, made the locality seem quite forlorn. After securing title to 
the property in 1859 I began making improvements, directing my 
efforts to assisting nature in assuming her ancient reign. To shield 
places denuded of forest verdure I planted many trees and vines, and 
endeavored to develop on natural lines whatever was attractive in 
the landscape. Finding it necessary to protect the scenery about me, 
I purchased from time to time tracts adjoining my own at high prices, 
until finally my purchase swelled the aggregate number of acres in 
the Glen Iris estate to about one thousand, and included the upper, 
middle and lower falls of the upper Genesee. 

"From the outset I set about improving the public highways, and 
making private roads and woodland paths along the cliffs, with stair- 
ways leading to heretofore inaccessible places, for the benefit of lovers 
of nature. Notwithstanding the many rocks and cliffs which came 
into my possession, my purchase included some good farming lands. 
It soon became evident that my property here could be made of great 
benefit to mankind, and I have aimed to so improve it as to render it 
available for future benevolent purposes. -It has seemed to me that 
the place being at the point of an angle about equi-distant from the 
large and growing cities of Buffalo and Rochester, it could be made a 
great health resort, especially for invalid children, who might be ben- 
efited by the pure air and natural delights of this elevated region. 
The possibility of this has afforded me great satisfaction in develop- 
ing this project, and has more than compensated me for the large 
sums I have expended." 

Having thus pictured the scene of the old council house, we will 
further borrow from Mr. Howland a description of what occurred 
within its walls on an October day in 1872, when the last council fire 
was lighted: 

The morning of that perfect day in the beautiful month of falling 
leaves dawned brightly; early frost had tinged the forests and 
loosened the leaves that dropped softly in the mellow sunlight. Some 
of the invited guests had come on the previous day, and when the 



563 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

morning train arrived from Buffalo the old King George cannon on 
the upper plateau thundered its welcome, as once it was wont to wake 
the echoes from the fortress of Quebec, and all climbed the hill to the 
spot where the ancient council house stood with open doors to receive 
them. They were the lookers-on who found their places at one end of 
the council hall where rustic seats awaited them, save that in a suit- 
able and more dignified chair was seated a former President of the 
Republic, Hon. Millard Fillmore of Buffalo, whose gracious and 
kindly presence— that of a snowy-haired gentleman of the old school- 
honored the occasion. 

The holders of the council were "robed and ready." Upon the clay 
floor in the center of the building burned the bright council fire, and 
as the blue smoke curled upward it found its way through the opening 
in the roof to mingle with the haze of the October day. 

Upon low benches around the fire sat the red-skinned children of 
the Ho-de'-no-sau-nee, who had gathered from the Cattaraugus and 
the Allegheny and from the Grand River in Canada as well; for on 
that day, for the first time in more than seventy years, the Mohawks 
sat in council with the Senecas. They were for the most part clad in 
such costumes as their fathers wore in the olden days, and many of the 
buckskin garments, bright sashes and great necklaces of silver or bone 
and beads were heirlooms of the past, as were the ancient tomahawk 
pipes which were gravely smoked while their owners sat in rapt and 
decorous attention as one after another their orators addressed them. 
No sight could be more picturesque than was that combination of 
bright colors and nodding plumes, the drifting smoke of the council 
fire, and, most of all, the strong faces of the score or more of coun- 
cillors, the appointed representatives of their people, to speak for 
them that day. 

They had been wisely chosen, for they were the grandchildren of 
renowned men and almost all bore the names of those who had been 
the recognized leaders of their nation in council and in war. As 
might well be expected, the personality of each was striking and 
noteworthy. 

A commanding presence, that gave an especial interest to the 
occasion, was that of Col. W. J. Simcoe Kerr, "Teka-re-ho-ge-a," the 
grandson of the famous Mohawk chief, Captain Brant, whose youngest 
daughter, Elizabeth, had married Colonel Walter Butler Kerr, a 




Group of Notables in attendance at the Last Council of the Genesee. 
Reading from left to right, James Shongo, son of Colonel Shong'o, principal Chief of Caneadea; George 
Jones, a. noted warrior; William Blacksnake, grandson of the celebrated chief Governor Black- 
snake ; Kate Osbom, granddaughter of Capt Brant ; W. J. Simcoe Kerr, grandson of Capt. Brant 
and great grandson of Sir Wm. Johnson ; Nicholson H, Parker, brother of General Parker 
and & descendant of Red Jacket ; Solomon Obail, son of Major O'Bail and grandson of 
Cornplanter; John Jacket, grandson of Red Jacket: Thomas Jemison, grandson 
of Mary Jemison. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 563 

grandson of Sir William Johnson, the Indian agent for the British 
government, whose influence had been so potent with the Iroquois in 
colonial days. Colonel Kerr was a man of fine physique, an educated 
gentleman and himself the principal chief of the Mohawks in their 
Canadian home, as well as the acknowledged head of all the Indians 
in Canada. He wore the chieftain's dress in which he had been pre- 
sented to Queen Victoria: a suit of soft, dark, smoke-tanned buckskin 
with deep fringes, a rich sash, and a cap of doeskin with long 
straight plumes from an eagle's wing. He carried Brant's tomahawk 
in his belt. By his side sat his accomplished sister, Mrs. Kate 
Osborne, whose Mohawk name was Ke-je-jen-ha-nik. Through her 
gentle-hearted interest in such an unusual event she had urged her 
brother to accept the invitation which had been tendered him, but he 
came with some reluctance, for the long-cemented friendship of the 
great League had been broken. 

When the War of the Revolution had ended, the Mohawks left their 
former seats and followed their British allies to Canada, where they 
still live on the Grand River. The Senecas remained in Western New 
York and by the celebrated treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1784, became 
the friends of the Americans, a friendship to which they continued 
steadfast, so that when war with Great Britain was again declared in 
1812, the)' were our allies, and on its battle-fields, side by side with 
the soldiers of the United States, they fought the Mohawks, their 
ancient friends, who had now become their enemies. It could not be 
forgotten, and even when the Mohawk chief had been persuaded to 
attend the council, he wore an air of coldness and reserve, because, as 
he said to one of the guests before he tardily took his place, "the 
Senecas are not my people." 

For a short time these children of time-honored sachems and chiefs 
sat and smoked in dignified silence as became so grave an occasion, 
and when the proper moment had arrived, as prescribed by the 
decorum of Indian observance, one of their number arose and, fol- 
lowing the ceremonial method of the ancient custom, announced in 
formal words and in the Seneca tongue, that the council tire had been 
lighted and that the ears of those who were convened in council were 
now opened to listen to what might be said to them. Resuming his 
seat, there was a moment of quiet waiting, as if in expectation, and 
then the opening speech was made by Nicholson H. Parker, "Ga-yeh- 



564 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

twa-geh, a grand-nephew of Red Jacket and a brother of General Ely 
S. Parker, who served with distinction upon General Grant's staff 
during the Civil War. 

Mr. Parker was a tall, well-built man, with a fine clear face, not 
unlike that of his distinguished brother, and with great dignity of 
speech and bearing. Around his sleeves above the elbows and at the 
wrists were wide bands of beaded embroidery, and, besides a long 
fringed woven belt of bright colors, he wore an ample shoulder scarf 
that was also richly embroidered. His tomahawk pipe was one that 
had belonged to Red Jacket. Mr. Parker was a well educated man, 
had served as United States interpreter with his people and was a 
recognized leader among them. 

All of the speeches made in the council that day, until it approached 
its close, were in the Seneca language, which is without labials, very 
gutteral and yet with a music of its own, capable of much inflection 
and by no means monotonous. Its sentences seemed short and their 
utterance slow and measured, with many evidences of the earnest 
feeling aroused by the unwonted occasion and its associations with 
the past, and as each speaker in turn touched some responsive chord 
in the breasts of his hearers, they responded with that deep gutteral 
ejaculation of approval which cannot be written in any syllable of 
English phrasing. 

Many of the orators spoke at great length, and it is unfortunate 
that the full texts could not be preserved. Such portions as we have 
of three or four of the principal speeches were taken down after the 
council from the lips of the speakers themselves; they are, however, 
but brief epitomes of their full orations. Such was the case, for 
example, in the opening^speech of Nicholson Parker, who thus ad- 
dressed the council: 

"Brothers: I will first say a few words. We have come as repre- 
sentatives of the Seneca nation to participate in the ceremonies of the 
day. In this ancient council house, before its removal to this spot, 
our fathers, sachems and chiefs, often met to deliberate on matters 
of moment to our people in the village of Ga-o-yah-de-o (Caneadea). 
We are to rake over the ashes in its hearth, that we may find per- 
chance a single spark with which to rekindle the fire, and cause the 
smoke again to rise above this roof, as in days that are past. The 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 565 

smoke is curling upward and the memories of the past are en- 
wreathed with it. 

"Brothers: When the confederacy of the Iroquois was formed, a 
smoke was raised which ascended so high that all the nations saw it and 
trembled. This league was formed, it may be, long before the king- 
dom of Great Britain had an\- political existence. Our fathers of the 
Ho-de'-no-sau-nee were once a powerful nation. They lorded it 
over a vast territory, comprising the whole of the State of New York. 
Their power was felt from the Hudson to the banks of the Mississippi, 
and from the great basins of sweet water in the North to the bitter 
waters of the Mexican Gulf. We have wasted away to a remnant of 
what we once were. But, though feeble in numbers, the Iroquois are 
represented here. We have delegates from the Mohawks, who were 
the keepers of the eastern door of the long house; and of the Senecas, 
who were the guardians of the western door. When the big guns of 
General Sullivan were heard in this valley, we were one people. But 
the tribes of the Iroquois are scattered, and will soon be seen no more. 

"Brothers: We are holding council, perhaps for the last time, in 
Gen-nis-he'o. This beautiful territory was once our own. The 
bones of our fathers are strewn thickly under its sod. But all this 
land has gone from their grasp forever. The fate and the sorrows of 
my people should force a sigh from the stoutest heart. 

"Brothers: We came here to perform a ceremony, but I catmot make 
it such. My heart says that this is not a play or a pageant. It is a 
solemn reality to me, and not a mockery of days that are past and 
can never return. Neh-hoh — this is all." 

As he took his seat, the repeated monosyllabic utterance of his 
hearers showed that he had spoken well and had opened and smoothed 
the way for those who should follow. All were eager to say what was 
in their hearts, but there was a quiet dignity in their procedure which 
might well be copied by Anglo-Saxon conclaves. There was no pre- 
siding member in the sense in which we know the term. It was the 
office and apparently the duty of Nicholson Parker to open and to 
close the council, and in all formal procedures, as in the common 
habit of their life and speech, the Indian shows a respect and rever- 
ence for age which is worthy of high praise. 

When each orator had spoken, there was a short pause of silence, a 
little smoking of pipes as if in seemly expectation, and then another 



566 HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

orator rose quietly in his place and with gentle manner and low speech 
and with occasional graceful gesticulations that pointed his state- 
ments, sometimes holding his tomahawk pipe in his hand and using it 
to excellent effect in his gestures (for Nature made the red man an 
orator), he addressed his listening brothers. Nearly all of the men in 
council spoke during its session, some at length, some more briefly, 
as the message chanced to be. The thought of their fathers was 
uppermost in their minds and the deeds of their fathers in the old 
days was the burden of their utterance. 

That great orator of the Senecas, Red Jacket, "Sa-go-ye-wat-ha" 
("He keeps them awake"), was represented at this council not only by 
Nicholson Parker, who made the opening speech, but also by his 
grandson, John Jacket, "Sho-gyo-a-ja-ach," an elderly man and a 
full-blooded Seneca as his strong, dark face betokened, with feathered 
head-dress and broad-beaded shoulder sash, who was one of the later 
speakers. He died in 1901 on the Cattaraugus reservation. 

Beside him at the council fire sat George Jones, "Ga-o-do-wa-neh," 
in all the glory of full Indian costume with waving plumes and beaded 
leggings, bright shoulder sasli and belt girding his light hunting shirt; 
the grandson of "Tommy Jemmy," who was tried for murder in 1821, 
for putting to death an aged beldam, whom his people had found 
guilty of witchcraft and according to their custom had sentenced to 
death. His acquittal undoubtedly resulted from the efforts of Red 
Jacket, who appeared as his advocate at the trial, where he thundered 
his famous philippic against those who accused his people of supersti- 
tion. "What!" said he, "do you denounce us as fools and bigots 
because we still believe that which you yourselves believed two cen- 
turies ago? Your blackcoats thundered this doctrine from the 
pulpit, your judges pronounced it from the bench and sanctioned it 
with the formalities of law; and you would now punish our unfortun- 
ate brother for adhering to the faith of his fathers and of yours. Go to 
Salem I Look at the records of your own government, and you will 
find that hundreds have been executed for the crime which has called 
forth the sentence of condemnation against this woman and drawn 
down upon her the arm of vengeance. What have our brothers done 
more than the rulers of your people? And what crime has this man 
committed, by executing, in a summary way, the laws of his country, 
and the command of the Great Spirit ?" It was a fitting and note- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 567 

worthy circumstance that the grandsons of Red Jacket and Tommy 
Jemmy should sit side by side at the Glen Iris council-fire. 

Two grandsons of Deh-he-wa-mis, the famous "White Woman," sat 
in the council that day. One, known as "Doctor" James Shongo, 
"Ha-go-go-ant," from the Allegheny reservation, a stalwart man of 
fifty-three years, was the youngest son among her daughter Polly's 
five children. His father, George Shongo, was the .son of that "Col- 
onel" Shongo who was in Revolutionary times a prominent chief of 
the Senecas at Caneadea; a man of commanding stature and mighty 
voice, a fierce warrior, who is believed by some to have led the 
Senecas at the Wyoming massacre. James Shongo was a lad eleven 
years old when his grandmother, the "White Woman," removed from 
her old home at Gardeau to Buffalo in the spring of 1831 ; and when 
he spoke he told the story of that journey in which he walked all the 
way, a foot-sore boy, who helped to drive the cattle and to minister 
in his small way to the wants of his mother and of his aged, feeble 
grand-dame. 

The other grandson was Thomas Jemison, "Shoh-son-do-want," 
old "Buffalo Tom," as he was familiarly called; an old man, esteemed 
by all who knew him and respected as one of the worthiest of men. 
He was the firstborn grandchild of the "White Woman," born at 
Squakie Hill, and was the son of the little babe whom she carried on 
her back in that weary journey from the Ohio to the Genesee. All 
the virtues of his gentle grandmother had found place in his character 
and had made him throughout his long life an example to his people 
of industry, truthfulness and thrift. Of stalwart frame, more than 
six feet in height, with broad, manly shoulders, only his earnest, 
wrinkled face and snowy hair told of his nearly eighty years when he 
arose to address the council. In part his words were these: 

"Brothers: I am an old man, and well remember when our people 
lived in this valley. I was born in a wigwam on the banks of this 
river. I well remember my grandmother, 'The White Woman.' of 
whom you have all heard. I remember when our people were rich in 
lands and respected by the whites. Our fathers knew not the value 
of these lands, and parted with them for a trifle. The craft of the 
white man prevailed over their ignorance and simplicity. We have 
lost a rich inheritance; but it is vain to regret the past. Let us make 
the most of what little is left to us. 



568 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

"The last speaker spoke of the former power of our people. They 
used to live in long bark houses, divided into different compartments, 
and giving shelter often to five or six families. These families were 
frequently connected by ties of blood. When the confederacy was 
formed, which the French called the Iroquois and the English the 
Five Nations, our New York Indians called themselves Ho-de-no-sau- 
nee, or people of the Long House. It was the duty of Mohawks to 
guard the eastern door against the approach of enemies, and the Sen- 
ecas were to guard the west. The principal sachem of the Senecas is 
entitled Don-e-ho-ga-wa, the door-keeper. Between these two nations 
sat the Oneidas, Onondagas and Cayugas, making the Five Nations. 
After their expulsion from North Carolina, our brothers, the Tusca- 
roras, knocked at the door of the Long House and we gave them shel- 
ter. We adopted them as one of our family and thenceforward 
were known as the Six Nations. 

"I regret that our fathers should have given away their country, 
acre by acre, and left us in our present state, but they did it in their 
ignorance. They knew not the value of the soil, and little imagined 
that the white people would cover the land as thickly as the trees from 
ocean to ocean. Brothers: These are painful thoughts. It is pain- 
ful to think that in the course of two generations there will not be an 
Iroquois of unmixed blood within the bounds of our State; that our 
race is doomed, and that our language and history will soon perish 
from the thoughts of men. But it is the will of the Great Spirit 
and doubtless it is well." 

Among those of noteworthy parentage who took part in the council 
were William and Jesse Tallchief, "Sha-wa-o-nee-gah," whose grand- 
father, "Tall Chief," lived at Murray Hill near Mt. Morris, and was 
well known to the early pioneers. He is remembered as a wise coun- 
cillor of his nation and had in his day dined with Washington and 
smoked the pipe of peace with the great President. 

Another, William BJacksnake, "Sho-noh-go waah," was a grandson 
of old "Governor Blacksnake," whose title was bestowed upon him 
by the father of our country. More than any other of the Senecas 
did Governor Blacksnake's length of days link us with the past, for he 
lived until 1859 and reached the great age of 117 years. He was a 
boy of thirteen at the capture of Fort Duquesne, which he remem- 
bered well. With others who were also present were Maris B. Pierce, 



i| 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 569 

"Ha-dya-no-doh," a man of fine address and education, in his early 
years a graduate of Dartmouth College; and John Shanks, "Noh- 
sahl," an aged man who spoke the first words of formal announce- 
ment; whose memory ran back to the time when he as a boy had 
lived with his people on the Caneadea reservation before the title to 
its 10,000 acres had passed away from their hands. 

Most picturesque of all who lingered around that dying council fire 
was the figure of old Solomon O'Bail, "Ho-way-no-ah," the grandson 
of that wisest of Seneca chiefs, John O'Bail, "Ga-yant-hwah-geh," 
better known as "Cornplanter. " His strong, rugged face, deeply seem- 
ed with the furrows of advancing age, was typical of his race and of his 
ancestry and was expressive of a remarkable character. His dress 
was of smoke-tanned buckskin with side fringes and all a-down his 
leggings were fastened little hawk-bells, which tinkled as he walked. 
Shoulder sash and belt were embroidered with old-time bead work and 
around his arm above the elbows were broad bands or armlets of sil- 
ver. From his ears hung large silver pendants and, strangest of all 
his decorations, deftly wrought long ago by some aboriginal silver- 
smith, was a large silver nose-piece that almost hid his upper lip. His 
headdress was an heirloom made of wild turkey feathers fastened to the 
cap with such cunning skill that they turned and twinkled with every 
movement of his body. 

He had been an attentive listener to all who had spoken, and as the 
memories of the past were awakened, the significance of the occasion 
filled his heart and the expression of his honest face showed that he 
was deeply moved. Especially significant to him was the presence at 
this council fire of the Mohawk chief, Colonel Kerr, and the burden of 
his soul was that the broken friendship of the League should once 
more be restored. His speech was the most dramatic incident of the 
day. Rising gravely in his place he said: 

"Brothers: I will also say a few words. In olden times, on occa- 
sions of this kind, after lighting the council-fire, our fathers would 
first congratulate each other on their safe arrival and their escape 
from all the perils of the journey from their widely separated homes 
to the scene of the council. In the Ga-no-nyok (speech of welcome) 
the orator would wipe the sweat from the brows of the guests and 
pluck the thorns from their moccasins. Next, and most important, 
thanks would be offered to the Great Spirit for their preservation and 



570 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

safety. Imitating the example of our fathers, while we felicitate our- 
selves on our safe arrival here and our presence on this occasion, we. 
too, give thanks to the Good Spirit who has kept us until this moment. 

"Brothers: It is true, as has been said by the speakers who preceded 
me, that our fathers formed and established a mighty nation. The 
confederacy of the Iroquois was a power felt in the remotest regions 
of this continent before the advent of the pale face, and long after the 
white men came and began to grow numerous and powerful the 
friendship of the Iroquois was courted as Dutch and English and 
French struggled for the contest. They poured out their blood like 
water for the English, and the French were driven from this great 
island. Our fathers loved their nation and were proud of its renown. 
But both have passed away forever. Follow the sun in its course 
from the Hudson to the Niagara, and you will see the pale faces as 
thick as leaves in the wood, but only here and there a solitary Iroquois. 

"Brothers: When the War of the Revolution was ended, our Great 
Father, General Washington, said that he would forget that we had 
been enemies, and would allow us to repossess the country we had so 
long called our own. Our brothers, the ^lohawks, chose, however, to 
cast their lot with the British, and followed the flag of that people to 
the Grand River, in Canada, where they have ever since sat under its 
folds. In the last war with England the Mohawks met us as foes on 
the war-path. For seventy-five years their place has been vacant at 
our council-fires. They left us in anger. 

"Brothers: We are now poor and weak. There are none who fear 
us or court our influence. We are reduced to a handful, and have 
scarce a place to spread our blankets in the vast territory owned by 
our fathers. But in our poverty and desolation our long-estranged 
brothers, the Mohawks, have come back to us. The vacant seats are 
filled again, although the council-fire of our nation is little more than 
a heap of ashes. Let us stir its dying embers, that by their light 
we may see the faces of our brothers once more. 

"Brothers: My heart is gladdened by seeing a grandson of that 
great chief Thay-en-da-na-ge-a (Captain Brant) at our council- 
fire. His grandfather often met our fathers in council when the Six 
Nations were one people and were happy and strong. In grateful 
remembrance of that nation and that great warrior, and in token of 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 571 

buried enmity, I will extend my hand to our Mohawk brother. May 
he feel that he is our brother, and that we are brethren." 

The Indian character is reticent and hides the outward evidence of 
deep feeling as unmanly, but as the aged man spoke, the tears rolled 
down his furrowed cheeks and as he turned and held out his beseech- 
ing, friendly hand to the haughty Mohawk strong ejaculations of 
approval broke from the lips of all his dusky brethren. With visible 
emotion Colonel Kerr arose and warmly grasped the outstretched palm. 

"My Brother," said he, "lam glad to take your hand once more 
held out in the clasp of friendship; the Senecas and the Mohawks now 
are both my people." 

"My brother," said O'Bail, "may the remembrance of this day 
never fade from our minds or from the hearts of our descendants." 

As speaker after speaker had addressed the council, the hours 
slipped swiftly by and only the embers of the fire still glowed when, at 
a pause towards the close, there came a surprise for all who were pres- 
ent, as one of the pale-faced guests quietly arose, and stepping to the 
charmed circle of red-skinned orators, spoke to them in their own 
tongue. It was the tall figure of Orlando Allen of Buffalo, then in 
his seventieth year, who addressed the council. As a boy of sixteen 
years he had come to Buffalo to live with Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, while 
it was still a rude hamlet, encircled with forests, which were the hunt- 
ing grounds of the Senecas, who were then still living on the Buffalo 
Creek and its tributary streams. He had learned their speech and 
had known their fathers face to face and now he spoke first in their 
own language to these, their children. He addressed the council in 
Seneca as follows; 

"Brothers: I also will say a few words and would be glad if I might 
speak to you as once I could in your own tongue, so as to make my 
words clear to your understanding. 

"Brothers: This valley of the Genesee, where your fathers once 
ruled, is filled with remembrances of old days and we are gathered 
here to revive those memories. This is of great importance, as is the 
preservation of this old council house, which your fathers parted with 
when they gave up their lands, but which has once more been restored. 

"Brothers: The words for my thoughts come more slowly in your 
speech than in former days when I knew it well, so I will speak now 
in my own language. Neh-hoh, — that is all." 



572 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

An outburst of ejaculation testified to the pleased surprise and 
gratification of his Indian auditors; then, turning to the group of 
pale-faces beyond the circle, he spoke in English at considerable 
length in interesting reminiscence of the past. He had known Red 
Jacket, Cornplanter, Young King, Captain Pollard, Destroytown, 
Blacksnake, Little Billy, vShongo and many besides, and related many 
incidents connected with these celebrated characters, as he had heard 
them from their own lips. In his youth it was the custom each year 
in the month of June for the Indians to gather in large numbers at 
Buffalo, to receive their annuities through the hands of Captain Jasper 
Parrish, the United States sub-agent, and Captain Horatio Jones, 
the government interpreter. Both had been Indian captives and 
perhaps no incident that he related was more interesting to his 
hearers than the story of how the latter ran the gauntlet at this old 
council house at Caneadea. 

A characteristic incident was that related by Mr. Allen regarding 
Cornplanter, whose grandson sat before him. The aged chief was a 
man moulded for greatness, whose influence and whose word were 
potent with his people. Upon one occasion, at the annual council at 
Buffalo Creek when Cornplanter was present, a vigorous discussion 
arose as to the repayment to a white creditor of $500, which he had loaned 
the Senecas to defray the expenses of a delegation sent by them to 
Washington. Some of those present argued that a portion of this 
money had been used to pay the charges of an Oneida who had accom- 
panied the delegation, and that therefore the Senecas should not repay 
the full amount. The trader very justly claimed that he had loaned 
the money to the Senecas, who had pledged themselves for its repay- 
ment and that he could not be responsible for the way in which they 
had spent it. In those days the annuities were paid in silver dollars 
and half-dollars and the sum had been counted out and lay upon a 
small table in the council house. The discussion waxed warm and it 
began to look as if the trader might lose a portion of his loan, when 
old Cornplanter, who had been sitting in silence, arose and asked the 
trader the amount of his claim. Pointing to the money on the table, 
he said, "Is that the correct amount, interest and all?" Upon being 
answered that it was, he took the trader's hat and sweeping into it the 
pile of coin from the table, handed it to the claimant ; then turning to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 573 

the council, said, "The debt is paid ; my name is Cornplanter," and 
quietly resumed his seat. 

When Mr. Allen had ended his interesting address. President Fill- 
more, with a few kindly words, presented, on behalf of Mr. Letch- 
worth, a specially prepared silver medal to each of those who had 
taken part in the council. As old Buffalo Tom came forward when 
his name was called, he thrust his hand into his bosom and brought 
forth a very large silver medal which was suspended from his neck. 
"Perhaps," said he, "I ought not to have one; I have got one already 
which old General Jackson gave me." He was assured that he was 
entitled to both, and now his children treasure them as heirlooms. 

This ceremony ended, Nicholson Parker, who made the opening 
speech, arose and in a few words, gravely and softly spoken in his 
native tongue, formally closed the council. Then turning to the 
white guests, whom he addressed as his "younger brothers," he spoke 
the farewell words. 

"We have gathered in council here to-day," said he, "the repre- 
sentatives of the Mohawks, who guarded the easterly door of the Long 
House, and of the Senecas, who kept its western gate. It has been to 
us an occasion of solemn interest, and as one after another of my 
brothers has spoken around the council fire that we have lighted, we 
have rehearsed the deeds of our fathers who once dwelt in this beauti- 
ful valley, and in the smoke of that council-fire our words have been 
carried upward. Our fathers, the Iroquois, were a proud people, who 
thought that none might subdue them; your fathers when they 
crossed the ocean were but a feeble folk, but you have grown in 
strength and greatness, while we have faded to but a weak remnant of 
what we once were. The Ho-de-no-sau-nee, the people of the Long 
House, are scattered hither and yon ; their league no longer exists, 
and you who are sitting here to day have seen the last of the confed- 
erate Iroquois. AVe have raked the ashes over our fire and have 
closed the last council of our people in the valley of our fathers." 

As he ended his voice faltered with an emotion which was shared 
by all present. He had spoken the last words for his people, fraught 
with a tender pathos that touched the hearts of those that heard him 
with a feeling of that human brotherhood in which "whatever may be 
our color or our gifts" we are all alike kin. 

For a_few moments there was a becoming silence and then David 



574 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Gray — name beloved of all who knew him — the poet-editor of the 
Buffalo "Courier," rose and read: 

THE LAST INDIAN COUNCIL ON THE GENESEE. 

The fire sinks low, the drifting smoke 

Dies softly in the autumn haze. 
And silent are the tongues that spoke 

In SI eech of other days. 
Gone, too, the dusky ghosts whose feet 

Hut now yon listening thicket stirred; 
Unscared within its covert meet 

The squirrel and the bird. 

The story of the past is told, 

But thou, O Valley, sweet and lone 1 
Glen of the Rainbow ! thou shalt hold 

Its romance as thine own. 
Thoughts of thine ancient forest prime 

Shall sometimes tinge thy summer dreams 
And shape to low poetic rhyme 

The music of thy streams. 

When Indian summer flings her cloak 

Of brooding azure on the woods, 
The pathos of a vanished folk 

Shall haunt thy solitudes. 
The blue smoke of their tires once more 

Far o'er the hills shall seem to rise, 
And sunset's golden cl mds restore 

The red man's paradise. 

Strarge sounds of a forgotten tongue 

Shall cling to many a crag and cave. 
In wash of falling waters sung. 

Or murmur of the wave. 
And oft in midmost hush of night, 

Shrill o'er the deep-mouthed cataract's roar, 
Shall ring the war-cry from the height 

Ihat woke the wilds of yore. 

Sweet Vale, more peaceful bend thy skies, 

Thy airs be fraught with rarer balm 
A people's busy tumult lies 

Hushed in thy sylvan calm. 
Deep be thy peace ! while fancy frames 

Soft idyls of thy dwellers fled, — 
They loved thee, called thee gentle names, 

In the long summers dead. 

Quenched is the fire ; the drifting smoke 

Has vanished in the autumn haze: 
Gone, too, O Vale, the simple folk 

Who loved thee in old days. 
But, for their sakes — their lives serene — 

Their loves, perchance as sweet as ours — 
O, be thy woods for aye more green, 

And fairer bloom thy flowers! 




William Pryor Utchworth. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 575 

It \vas_the fitting close to a memorable day. The "dappled shadows 
of the afternoon" rested on hill and valle)- as, one by one, the 
picturesque figures of those who had that day so strangely litTked the 
present with the past, left the old council house, bright colors and 
feathery plumes mingling with the autumn foliage and the softly 
dropping leaves until all had vanished. The "story of the past" had 
once for all been told, but around those ancient, weather-beaten walls, 
which had once more welcomed the children of those whom it had 
known long ago in the days of its prime, there lingers still the re- 
membrance of their last council fire — a memory that cannot be for- 
gotten. 1 

America has been blessed with no more devoted philanthropist than 
he to whom David Gray so happily and affectionately refers as the 
"Valley's Good Genius;" and whose loyalty to the by-gone actors in 
memorable events in the history of Western New York and intense 
interest in rescuing those events from oblivion have made this chap- 
ter possible. For half a century the energies and resources of William 
Pryor Letchworth have been applied without stint to the improve- 
ment of the condition of the indigent and every other class of unfortu- 
nates who become the subjects of public care. Actuated by the 
tenderest sympathy for misfortune and suffering in every form, his 
marvelously clear and broad minded conception of the best methods 
of charitable work, his close study and observation of the subject in 
this country and abroad, his knowledge of men, his wisdom, his un-. 
erring judgment and his practical view of things have been the in- 
spiration and initiative of the best that we have today in the splendid 
charities system which obtains in the State of New York, and no man 
identified with the history of this county has more honored her or 
rendered in his field of labor more distinguished service to the State 
than this great humanitarian, who, retired from active official life, is 
passing his years in the midst of the impressive surroundings which 
we have described, in the consciousness of having accomplished a 
work which will endure long after the monuments his generosity has 
erected have crumbled to dust. 

Mr. Letchworth was born at Brown ville, N. Y., May 26th, 1823. 
In the early'part of his business career he was engaged in a wholesale 
importing and manufacturing business as a member of the firm of 

I. From Mr. Howland's sketch of the "Old Caneadea Council House, etc. 



576 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Pratt & Letchworth of Buffalo. During that period he was active in 
founding the extensive malleable iron , works at Black Rock. The 
making of malleable iron was then regarded as a difficult process; 
nevertheless, the enterprise proved highly successful, both practically 
and financially. 

In 1859 Mr. Letchworth made his first [purchase of property at 
Portage, the landed estate, which has since been enlarged by ad- 
ditional purchases, lying partly in Livingston and partly in Wyoming 
counties. 

Notwithstanding his close occupation in business affairs, Mr. Letch- 
worth found time to gratify his tastes for the fine arts and further the 
establishment of liberal enterprises, among which was included the 
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Mr. Letchworth was elected President 
of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1871 and held the position for 
three years. When he entered upon his office the Academy was heav- 
ily burdened with debt, its expenditures for years previous having far 
exceeded its income. A committee previously appointed by the 
Board of Directors to investigate the financial affairs of the Academy 
had recommended its dissolution. With the efficient aid and co-oper- 
ation of such men as Joseph Warren, Philip Dorsheimer, Henry A. 
Richmond, Sherman S. Jewett and L. G. Sellstedt the debts of the 
Academy were discharged, the art gallery was extended, and a hand- 
some permanent fund established for sustaining the Academy. More- 
over, a plan of management was adopted whereby the receipts more 
than counterbalanced the expenditures, while the privileges of the 
Academy were enlarged. At that time a Fund Commission consist- 
ing of three members was created by an act of the Legislature to 
care for the permanent fund of the Academy. Mr. Letchworth was 
elected one of the commissioners, and held the office previous to his 
resignation for about twenty years. The financial embarrassments 
referred to occurred in the early growth of the fine arts interest in 
Buffalo and before the royal gift of Mr. Albright had glorified a large 
city. 

In 1873 Mr. Letchworth retired from business with a view to de- 
voting himself wholly to works of charity and benevolence. In that 
year he was appointed by the Governor, John A. Dix, a State Com- 
missioner of Charities, and entered at once upon his duties. In 1878 
he was elected President of the State Board of Charities, and stood at 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 577 

the head of this department of State by annual elections for ten suc- 
cessive years. During his connection with the State Board of Chari- 
ties nearly the whole of his time was taken up in the discharge of the 
duties devolving upon him as a Commissioner. These included in- 
spections of the poorhouses and the great city almshouses, institutions 
for the care and reformation of the young, homes for the aged, and, 
in fact, all the public and private charitable institutions of the State. 
In 1875 he inspected all the orphan asylums and juvenile reforma- 
tories in the State, containing altogether 17,791 children, and made a 
report thereon for the Legislature, embracing upwards of 500 pages. 
Special attention was given to the children in the poorhouses and 
almshouses, and the demoralizing influences surrounding them were 
shown in their true light. In a report made by him, which was trans- 
mitted to the Legislature in 1875, he recommended the passage of a 
law requiring the removal of all children over two years of age from 
the poorhouses and almshouses of the State and forbidding their 
commitment to these institutions thereafter. This recommendation 
was adopted by the Legislature, and resulted in the removal of sev- 
eral thousand children from these places of demoralization and plac- 
ing them under wholesome moral influences. About three years were 
devoted to bringing about this reform. 

jNIr. Letchworth's sympathies were keenly alive to the wrongs to 
which the insane were subjected, and his long-continued and strenu- 
ous efforts in their behalf have resulted in great benefit to this un- 
fortunate class. In order to inform himself as to the best methods 
adopted in other countries for their care, in 1880 and 1881 he made a 
careful inspection of the most noted institutions in Europe and also a 
critical examination of the boarding-out systems of Scotland and 
Belgium. In making these researches, which extended to England, 
Scotland, Ireland. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, 
France and the German states, he spent about seven months. The 
result of his labors, with the conclusions drawn from them, was 
embodied in an illustrated volume entitled "The Insane in Foreign 
Countries," which has become a standard work of reference. 

In 1886 Mr. Letchworth was appointed chairman of a commission 
of five persons to locate an asylum for the insane in northern New 
York. This important duty, involving a prospective expenditure of 
several million dollars, was performed on his part with the same con- 



578 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

scientiousness that characterized all his public work. The entire 
territory was travelled over twice in compiiny with one or more of his 
fellow commissioners. On making their report it was found that the 
members of the commission were not in accord, and, to their great 
regret, Mr. Letchworth and Dr. Wise, Superintendent of the Willard 
Asylum, felt compelled to make a minority report. On the presen- 
tation of the reports to the Legislature a protracted and bitter con- 
troversy ensued, resulting finally in the adoption of the minority re- 
port. This action of the Legislature proved to be of incalculable ad- 
vantage to the State. The St. Lawrence State Hospital, containing 
on the first of August, 1904, 2,075 inmates, including officers, em- 
ployees, and patients, is situated in a bend of the St. Lawrence River 
a few miles below Ogdensburg. Its site embraces nearly a thousand 
acres of fertile land especially adapted to garden tillage. The insti- 
tution has two unlimited sources of pure water supply and means of 
'discharging its waste into the swift current of the St. Lawrence. 
Centrally located with reference to the population of the district it is 
designed to accommodate and surrounded by magnificent scenery, it 
if! safe to say that, with all its advantages, its site ^is unsurpassed by 
that of any institutionjjf its kind in the country. 

Mr. Letchworth's benevolent efforts have also been directed towards 
benefiting the epileptic class, for whom adequate means of relief do 
not even now e.xist. Pursuant to a call made by medical men and 
laymen interested in the care and treatment of epileptics residing in 
different parts of the United States, a meeting was held in the Acad- 
emy of Medicine, New York City, on the 24th of May, 1898, at which 
measures were discussed for promoting the ^welfare of epileptics arid 
especially for providing further special provision for their care, which 
was then sadly deficient. It was decided at the meeting to organize 
a National Association for the Study of Epilepsy and the Care and 
Treatment of Epileptics. This was accordingly done by the election of 
a corps of officers and the adoption of a constitution and the forming 
of by-laws to govern the work. Mr. Letchworth was elected Presi- 
dent, and Dr. Wm. P. Spratling, Superintendent of Craig Colony, 
Secretary. Under the guidance of an executive committee composed 
of Drs. Frederick Peterson of New York, William N. Bullard of Boston, 
Wharton Sinkler of Philadelphia, Ira Van Gieson and C. A. Herter 
of New York the work of the Association was immediately begun. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 579 

At that time there was no general source of information from which 
a knowledge of what had already been accomplished in the way of 
general provision for epileptics could be derived. Mr. Letchworth 
set out to supply this need, and after an exhaustive research, pre- 
pared and dedicated to the Association his illustrated work entitled 
"Care and Treatment of Epileptics," which, in no sense designed as 
a medical treatise, presented the different views of many distinguished 
specialists in therapeutics as related to epilepsy. Later, with the 
same object in view, with the assistance of Secretary Hay, who ad- 
dressed letters upon the subject to many American ministers abroad, 
asking their co-operation with Mr. Letchworth, much interesting 
material relating to epileptics and their treatment in foreign coun- 
tries was collected. This was printed with the papers and discussions 
of the first annual meeting of the Association, which was held in 
Washington, D. C, in 1901. This, with the first-named work, pre- 
sented a vast amount of information and profitable suggestion upon 
this important subject, showing the progress made for special pro- 
vision in colonies and otherwise to that time. 

While to Dr. Peterson, sustained by the action of the State Chari- 
ties Aid Association, we are indebted for the primary movement in 
securing a colony for epileptics in this State, for the selection of the 
magnificent site the colony occupies we are largely indebted to the 
sound judgment, persistency, earnestness and preponderating influ- 
ence of Mr. Letchworth. 

Mr. Letchworth's charity and reform work has not been confined 
to New York State. He was an active member of the first National 
Conference of Charities and Correction, held in connection with the 
American Social Science Association in New York City in 1874, and 
was President of the National Conference of Charities and Correction 
held at St. Louis in 1884. He has ever since maintained his interest 
in these conferences, attending most of them as they have been held 
in different States, and has contributed not a few valuable papers to 
these important national gatherings. 

Mr. Letchworth was also chosen President of the first New York 
State Conference of Charities and Correction, which held its first 
annual meeting in the Senate Chamber of the State Capitol in No- 
vember, 190U. At this Conference the charitable and correctional 
institutions and organizations of the State were generally represented 



580 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and important principles relating to their management discussed. 
The proceedings were subsequently published by authority of the 
Legislature in a volume containing nearly 300 pages. 

In 1893 the University of the State of New York conferred upon 
Mr. Letchworth the degree of Doctor of Laws "in recognition of his 
distinguished services to the State of New York as a member and 
president of the State Board of Charities and as an author of most 
valuable contributions to the literature pertaining to the dependent 
classes" — an honor that has rarely been conferred by the University 
during the entire period of its existence. 

The following e.Ktract from the thirtieth report of the State Board 
of Charities to the Legislature, in 1897, on his resignation from the 
Board after nearly a quarter of a century of gratuitous service as a 
commissioner, reflects the opinions of those most intimately familiar 
with his work and aciiievements: 

"The members of the State Board of Charities have learned with 
profound regret of the resignation on the 14th ultimo of the Honor- 
able William Pryor Letchworth, Commissioner representing the 
Eighth Judicial District on the Board. Originally appointed by 
Governor Dix, in April, 1873, and successively reappointed by Gov- 
ernors Robinson, Hill and Flower, Mr. Letchworth had become at the 
time of his resignation the senior member of the Board. 

"Entering into this office well equipped by nature and research for 
the efficient discharge of his duties, Mr. Letchworth has, without 
remuneration, devoted the maturer years of his life to the amelioration 
of the condition of the suffering, unfortunate and dependent classes in 
the State of New York. Every branch of the work devolved upon the 
State Board of Charities has felt the uplifting impulse of his wise and 
persistent efforts. The insane, the poor in county houses, the blind, 
the orphan and destitute children, the juvenile delinquents are all 
now more intelligently and humanely cared for in consequence of his 
initiation and unfailing and practical support of measures instituted 
for their relief. 

"By his conservative and painstaking discharge of official duties and 
intelligent application thereto of his wide sociological knowledge, Mr. 
Letchworth early won and has steadily retained the confidence and 
respect of the people of the State. These qualifications also led to his 
successive annual elections to the presidency of the Board for the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 581 

period of ten years from 187S to 1887. During this whole period his 
disregard of all selfish ambition and his many lovely qualities of heart 
and mind have gained for him the affection and esteem of his col- 
leagues and hosts of friends. 

"By his resignation the people of the State of New York have lost 
the services of a tried and useful official, and the State Board of 
Charities the assistance and advice of one of its most valued mem- 
bers. Into the retirement which he has sought our earnest wishes for 
his future happiness accompany him." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND FIRST TEN YEARS 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CRAIG COLONY FOR 

EPILEPTICS AT SONYEA. 

By William P. Spratling, M. D. 
Medical Superintendent. 

THE FIRST official expression in favor of special institutions for 
epileptics in this country was made by the Ohio State Board of 
Charities in 1868. This Board continued to agitate the sub- 
ject until 1871, when the Legislature, possibly finding it unpleasant to 
be importuned with appeals from humanity from this source, 
abolished the Board. But it was re-established in 1876, when it re- 
newed its recommendation for the state care of epileptics in still more 
earnest terms. This recommendation finally bore fruit in 1877-1878, 
when the Legislature passed a resolution authorizing the State Board 
of Charities to collect statistics and report conclusions as to the public 
measures that should be taken for the "protection, comfort, and care" 
of epileptics. The Board went vigorously to work, and soon reported 
a total of 646 dependent epileptics in the county infirmaries, state 
asylums, and county jails. Finally, after many discouraging failures 
the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics at Galiipolis was established in 1S90, 
as the first institution especially designed for epileptics in the United 
States. 

A few years after the first agitation of this matter in Ohio, Dr. John 
Ordronaux in 1874, at that time the State Commissioner in Lunacy of 
New York, recommended in his first annual report the establishment 
of a state hospital for epileptics, stating that statistics showed that 
there were in the various lunatic asylums and alms houses of the state 
436 dependent epileptics. Dr. Ordronau.x repeated his recommenda- 
tion for a special institution for epileptics in his third, fourth, fifth, 
sixth, seventh, and eighth annual reports, the last being issued in 
1882. But it aj)pears that these reports received no consideration 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 583 

whatever, and the dependent epileptics of the state continued to be 
improperly cared for in state hospitals for the insane, and almost 
inhumanly so in county poor and alms houses, and, worst of all, in 
jails. 

In 1886, and while serving as First Assistant Physician at the 
Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane at Poughkeepsie, Dr. 
Frederick Peterson visited the celebrated Colony for Epileptics at 
Bielefeld in the Province of Westphalia, Germany, of which institution 
but little was known in this country at that time. 

On returning to New York, Dr. Peterson wrote a description of this 
interesting and successful charity, and published it in the New York 
Medical Record in April, 1887. The necessity for an institution in 
New York State for epileptics, strictly along colony lines, was empha- 
sized by Dr. Peterson in this article. The article attracted the atten- 
tion of the State Charities Aid Association. This Association 
appointed a sub-committee, consisting of Dr. Peterson and Dr. George 
W. Jacoby, who investigated the matter from every point, and pre- 
sented a favorable report to the whole committee, that covered every 
phase of the subject known at that time. 

A bill was introduced into the New York Legislature in 1890, pro- 
viding for the selection of a site for a "colony" for epileptics, but it 
failed to become a law. Another bill was introduced into the Legis- 
lature of 1892 by the request of the State Charities Aid Association. 
This bill directed the Commissioners of the State Board of Charities 
to select a site upon which to establish a colony for the "medical 
treatment, care, education, and employment of epileptics." 

The State Commission in Lunacy, in its Third Annual Report to 
the Legislature in February, 1892, strongly recommended separate 
care for epileptics, in the following terms : 

"There can be no question as to the desirability of the state making 
special provision for epileptics of the dependent and semi-dependent 
class apart from the insane. The practice which now obtains, of con- 
fining epileptics in hospitals for the insane, as insane persons, and 
commingled with the insane, is an injustice to both classes, and one 
which, in the opinion of the Commission, the state should take early 
steps to remove by the establishment of a state hospital devoted to 
the custody, care, and treatment of epileptics." 

The superintendents of the various state hospitals, and most of the 



584 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

prominent physicians and alienists of the state, became interested in 
the establishment of a special institution for epileptics, with the result 
that the bill introduced into the Legislature passed both Houses, was 
approved by the Governot, and became a law Jlay 12, 1892. 

Shortly afterwards, a committee consisting of Mr. Craig, Mr. 
Letchworth, and Mr. Walrath, Commissioners of the State Board of 
Charities, was appointed for the purpose of inspecting sites, e.xamin- 
ing plans, and ascertaining facts relative to the establishment and 
proper organization of a colony for epileptics. This committee 
devoted nearly a year to searching for a suitable site. Mr. H. E. 
Brown, of Mt. Morris, New York, finally called their attention to the 
.old Shaker settlement at Sonyea in Livingston County ; and, after 
studying its features in great detail for several months, the committee 
unanimously decided that it was the best site for the purpcjse that 
could be found in the siate. The property, consisting of 18'J5 acres, 
was secured by an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor 
Flower on April 25, 1894. The Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth of Glen 
Iris, Portage, Livingston County, was a most enthusiastic and inde- 
fatigable worker in the effort to start a Colony in the state. He took 
a leading part in the work of the Committee chosen by the State 
Board of Charities to secure a site, and to him as much as to any man 
is due the founding at Sonyea of the first Colony for Epileptics in the 
new world. 

It is fitting that his portrait hangs by the side of Mr. Craig's in 
Sonyea Hall to-day. 

Mr. Oscar Craig, who was President of the State Board of Charities, 
died about the time of the passage of the bill authorizing the purchase 
of the vShaker property, and at the request of Governor Flower, the 
name of "The Craig Colony for Epileptics" was bestowed upon the 
new institution as a fittini); recognition of Mr. Craig's services to 
humanity, and especially to the dependent epileptics of the State of 
New York. 

The 1895 acres, including 640 acres of original forest lands, cost 
$115,000, which included a number of Shaker buildings on the place, 
valued at that time at $()0,000.to $80,000. 

The first Board of Managers was appointed by Governor Flower, 
and consisted of Dr. Frederick Peterson of New York, President ; Mr. 
George M. ShuU of Mount Morris, Secretary; Mr. George S. Ewart 



I 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(iSTON COU^'TY 585 

of Groveland; Mr. W. H. Cuddebeck of Buffalo, and Dr. Charles E. 
Jones of Albany. 

At a meeting of the Board held in Albany on November 14, 1894, 
Dr. William P. Spratling, at the time a resident of New York City, 
was elected Superintendent. 

The first work undertaken consisted in fitting up the " Letchworth" 
house, the "House of the Elders," the "Elms," "Tallchief" Cottage, 
and other old Shaker structures for patients. The first blow on this work 
was struck on August 25, 1895, and enough buildings to accommodate 
about 125 patients were ready for use early in the following spring. 

The first patient was received at the Colony from Steuben county 
on February 26, 1896. Between that time and the end of the first 
fiscal year, October 1, 1896, 133 patients were admitted. Most of 
them came from the various county poor and alms houses. A 
census of the dependent epileptics of the state had previously been 
made by the State Board of Charities, and when the Colony was 
ready for patients, the space available was apportioned as equitably 
as possible among all the counties of the state. 

It soon became apparent that it would be better to have a larger 
Board of Managers — one representative of the entire state. To meet 
this requirement the law was changed in the Spring of 1896, providing 
for a Board of twelve, — one from each of the eight judicial districts, 
with additional members from the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth 
districts. 

Governor Morton appointed the first Board under the new arrange- 
ment, as follows: Dr. Frederick Peterson of New York; Mrs. Charles 
F. Wadsworth of Geneseo; Mr. H. E. Brown of Mount Morris; Mr. 
W. H. Cuddebeck of Buffalo; Dr. Charles E. Jones of Albany; Hon. 
James H. Loomis of Attica; Judge O. P. Hurd of Watkins; Mrs. J. 
R. Hawkins of Malone; Mrs. K. H. Salmon of Syracuse; Dr. A. S. 
Thompson of Ellisburg. 

The Board organized by electing Dr. Frederick Peterson President; 
Mr. H. E. Brown, Secretary, and Mr. John F. Connor of Mount 
Morris, Treasurer. 

The Managers immediately took steps to build in a substantial 
manner the first colony for epileptics in the United vStates. They 
employed Mr. George J. Metzger, of Buffalo, as architect; Mr. Emil 
Kuichling, of Rochester, as sanitary engineer, and Mr. Newcomb 



586 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Carlton, C. E., of Buffalo, as engineer in charge of the water supply 
system. The efficient manner in which the work of these several gen- 
tlemen was accomplished still bears testimony to the wisdom of the 
Board of Managers in their selection. 

A few years later Messrs. Carrere & Hastings, of New York City, 
were employed as architects in place of Mr. George J. Metzger. The 
liuildings on the Village Green for men, and those in the \''illa Flora 
Group for women, all white and of a Spanish type of architecture, 
were designed by Carrere & Hastings, working in conjunction with 
Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, of Brookline, Mass., who was employed 
by the Managers to plan the landscape work on the place. 

The Colony was the first institution in the state to have a complete 
topographical map made substantially as the Colony would appear 
when completed, before a blow was struck. To lay out the future 
Colony in this way was an act of great wisdom. Sewer and water 
lines were laid, and houses plotted in the beginning for an ultimate 
population of 2000 to 2500. 

Dr. L. Pierce Clark was the first Assistant Physician to be ap- 
pointed ; Mr. John L. Scott, of Geneseo, the first Steward, and Miss 
Elizabeth B. Holt, of Buffalo, the first ^latron. 

It seems unnecessary to go into details in connection with the 
development of the Colony since its founding in 1895, down to the 
present time. But the following summary from the Eleventh Annual 
Report of the Medical Superintendent to the Board of Managers, pre- 
sented October 1, 1904, may be of interest as showing in a measure 
the development of the Colony during the first eight and a half years 
of its existence: 

"During the eight and a half years the Colony has been in oper- 
ation, 57 houses capable of accommodating 1,000 patients and 200 
employees have been constructed ; an electric light plant of 1,800 lights 
capacity installed; appro.xiinately two and a half miles of sewer and 
water mains laid, and an abundance of pure water provided for all 
purposes for a colony of 2,500 persons; one and a half miles of tele- 
jihone and electric light cables laid underground, and two miles of 
such wires strung overhead ; eleven miles of new wire fences built 
around and across the property; a mile of stone road, 14 feet wide 
built, and about 25,000 square feet of cement walks laid; 2,570 feet of 
brick conduits, 4 by 5 feet in diameter, for steam and hot water lines, 



I 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 587 

constructed; the vegetable garden enlarged from 10 acres to 75, and 
made to produce enough vegetables for 1,000 persons the year around 
and have several thousand cans to sell annually besides; the farm 
increased by 200 acres, the older portions that had been neglected for 
years cleaned up and improved; a herd of 60 cows, 30 horses and a 
complete outfit of farm tools, implements and machinery provided; a 
brick-making plant with an annual capacity of 400,000 bricks built 
and run for several years largely by epileptic labor at an annual profit 
to the state of $1,800 to $2,000; new orchards planted; seven acres of 
lawns made and maintained wholly by epileptic labor; approximately 
4,000 shade trees, orr^mental shrubs and vines planted, and schools 
of various kinds established for 80 to 100 of the younger colonists. 

"These are some of the main things accomplished within that time, 
to say nothing of the admission, the medical care, and treatment of 
1,623 patients, the future treatment, scientific study and education of 
whom will represent the final and highest purpose for which the insti- 
tution was established — a purpose universally recognized as needed to 
be carried out, and one the Colony is just fairly beginning to realize. 

"To this time our greatest efforts have been in the preparation of the 
requisite plant. The greater work of the future will be in the intelli- 
gent utilization of the facilities now being provided." 

The following is a partial list of the Medical and Administrative 
staff at Craig Colony : 

Robert E. Doran, M. D., first assistant physician, was born in Al- 
bany, N. Y., in 1870. His preliminary education was obtained in the 
Albany public schools, following which he entered the Albany Medi- 
cal College, graduating in 18'J3. He was house surgeon at the Albany 
Hospital one and one-half years and was then appointed assistant phy- 
sician at Wiilard State Hospital whfire he remained seven years. In 
December, 1901, he received the appointment of first assistant physi- 
cian at Craig Colony. He' is a member of Union Lodge No. 114 F. 
and A. :M.' of Ovid, N. Y.. Ovid Chapter No. 92 R. A. M., St. Augus- 
tine Commandery No. 38 K. of P. of Ithaca, N. Y., the American and 
State Medical Associations, the Livingston County Medical Society 
and the Americo Psychological Society. 

William T. Shanahan, AI. D., second assistant physician, was born 
at Syracuse, N. Y., May 14, 1878. He attended the city schools and in 



588 HISTORY OF LIVINCiSTON COUNTY 

1895 entered Syracuse University, j^radualing from the medical de- 
partment in 1898. The year following he was engaged in hospital 
practice at Buffalo and then took a Post Graduate course in the New 
York State Hospital. He opened an office in Syracuse and was en- 
gaged ill practice until February, 19U1, when he received the appoint- 
ment of second assistant physician at Craig Colony. Dr. Shanahan 
married Miss Fox, a former matron at the Colony. 

George K. Collier, M. D., third assistant physician, is a native of 
North Carolina, having been born at Wilmington in 1S79. His edu- 
cation was begun in the Wilmington public schools and he also at- 
tended a private school at that place. He then entered Cape Fear 
Academy and later took a course in the St. John's Academy at An- 
napolis, Md. He began the study of medicine at the college of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., from which he graduated in 
1900. He was for a time resident Gynecologist at Baltimore City 
Hospital. He then engaged in private and general practice at Wil- 
mington, where he remained until receiving his appointment as phy- 
sician at Craig Colony. Dr. Collier is a member of the Livingston 
County Medical Society, the North Carolina vState ^ledical Associa- 
tion and the American Medical Association. 

Annie M. Tremaine, M. D., woman physician at Craig Colony, was 
born at Fredonia, N. Y. Her education w'as begun in the public 
schools of the place and through private tutors. She then attended 
the I'redonia Normal and Training School, graduating in 1891, after 
whicii she entered Cornell University and in 1895 graduated with the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. She graduated from the W'omen's Medi- 
cal College of New York Infirmary in 1899 and the two years follow- 
ing served as house physician at the Worcester Memorial Hospital, 
Worcester, Mass. She was appointed physician at Craig Colony in 
January, 1901. 

Dr. Bronislaw Onuf, was born in Jenesseisk, Siberia, July 4, 1863. 
He attended the public schools of Zurich, Switzerland, and in 1884 
graduated from the medical department of the University of Zurich. 
He studied with Forel, at Buryholsli Insane Asylum, Zurich, during 
the following two and one-half years and sjjent eight months in the 
study of Ophthalmology in that city. He then served as ship surgeon 
from Holland to India and later from Holland to America. He came 
to this country in 1890 and practiced medicineat Uolgeville, N. Y., for 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 589 

three and one-half years, after which he opened offices in New York 
and Brooklyn, making a specialty of mental and nervous diseases. 
While there he taught at Long Island College on nervous and 
mental diseases and was for several years Neurologist for St. Cath- 
erine's Hospital, Brooklyn. He was Associate in Pathology at the 
Pathological Institute, New York. He came to Craig Colonv in 
June 1903. 

A. C. McFetridge, head book-keeper and postmaster, was born in 
the town of Sparta, November 10, 1873. His education was obtained 
in the district schools and in the Dansville High School, graduating 
from the latter in 1891. He took a course in Oberlin College, follow- 
ing which, for some two or three years he taught in the schools of his 
native town. He then acted as assistant store keeper at Craig Colony 
until 1896 when he was appointed store keeper. In 1897 he received 
the appointment of head book-keeper and on July 25, 1899, that of 
postmaster. He is a member of Mount Morris Lodge of Masons. His 
wife, formerly Miss Florence Olmstead, was previous to their marriage 
employed as stenographer in the otifice at the Colony. They have one 
daughter, Elinor. 

Fred H. Crofoot, supervisor of male nurses, was born in Le Rov, 
Genesee county, N. Y., April 28, 1850. He received his education in 
the public schools of that place and the Le Roy Academy. His early 
life was passed on his father's farm and later he engaged in farming 
for himself. Joel Crofoot, the grandfather of Fred, came to New 
York state in 1816, and located in the town of Pavilion, Genesee 
county. The journey from his home in Connecticut, was made by 
ox team and covered wagon. His son Gideon D., the father of Fred, 
was born in 1816. He married Louisa Hannum, a daughter of 
Chester Hannum, who first came to this vicinity with Sullivan in his 
famous raid. Fred H. Crofoot married Sarah Brown of Wheatland 
in 1874. She died in 1888 and for his second wife he took Catherine 
McDonald of the town of York. Mr. Crofoot has for years been a col- 
lector of Indian relics and curios and his collection, all obtained from 
Livingston county, is probably one of the finest and most complete of 
.any county collection in the state. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SOME INDIAN REMAINS IN THE GENESEE VALLEY, 
By Fred H. Crofoot. 

THE FIRST map of the Genesee Valley was by M. Pouchot, 
about 1758. At that time the Seneca town of Sonnechio was 
located at the junction of the Canaseraga Creek with the Gen- 
esee River; and Kanonskegon, a smaller village, was about a mile west 
on what is now the old river bed. Both villages were occupied at that 
time, but after the lapse of over a hundred and fifty years, much of 
the land comprising the camps and village sites having been under 
cultivation by the whites for half that period, the work of locating the 
different camps, historically unknown, requires a great amount of 
labor and careful exploration. It is quite necessary that the land be 
under cultivation to locate correctly the bound of a village or camp. 
Places that were occupied for years will show flint chips; the soil will 
be of a dark color, and implements will be found. There is a tield on 
the John F. White Dairy Farm whereon, after it was plowed for the 
second time, I counted the sites of over twenty wigwams or huts; the 
dark spots were about eight feet in diameter and on every one I found 
arrow and spear heads, sometimes si.\ or eight within the few feet. 
Some places were used merely as temporary camps for fishing or 
hunting, and on such no flint chips or partially comjjleted implement 
will be found, for the home of the arrow maker was in the village, not 
the hunting camp. But on the temporary sites, and on the trail, some 
of the finest articles are discovered. It is not at all likely that all of 
the villages were occupied at the same time, for it was the custom of 
the Senecas to move their villages every twenty or twenty-five years, 
and sometimes at shorter intervals. Sullivan in 1780 found the prin- 
cipal vSeneca town, called Beardstown, near the present site of Cuyler- 
ville, probably on the bluff at Old Leicester, on what is now the 
Wheelock farm and extending about a mile south; the land from Cuy- 
lerville east to the river was occupied during the summer while the 




Indi&n Mound unearthed at Squakie Hill. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 591 

squaws cared for the vast fields of corn on the flats. This summer 
camp was in the field east of the Pennsylvania Railroad station and on 
the south side of the Geneseo road. Sullivan mentions the large fields 
of corn destroyed by liim at this place, and on these same fields we 
sometimes find the stone spade and pestles used by the squaws in cul- 
tivating and grinding corn. That many of these sites were occupied 
by a people who preceded the Senecas there can be no doubt; this is 
demonstrated by the discovery of many implements that were un- 
known to the Iroquois when the missionaries first came here, the 
flint drills, gauges, flint scrapers, bonner stones and gorgets. There 
are many places along the river on the high land that have never been 
under cultivation where the old Indian fire-places can be found intact 
by removing a f-ew inches of leaves and mould. In their corn fields 
on the flats I have found extensive beds of ashes more than four feet 
below the present surface, and in these ashes broken pottery sufficient 
to fill a bushel basket, pieces of pipes and ornaments, but mostly 
broken. In some places this pottery would 'be of the rudest kind, 
while in others it would be thin and hard and finely decorated with 
figures and designs. The old Fort on the Horatio Jones farm was 
evidently a stockade, as many of the old post holes can be found where 
they go down in the subsoil; these are filled with a black soil of de- 
cayed wood and sometimes several of them are found in line from two 
to four feet apart. I have found a sufficient number to give the gen- 
eral outline of the structure. 

The mounds in this section were for the most part opened long ago, 
and their contents have been scattered and lost to history, but there is 
a very interesting group on the west side of the river just as it 
emerges from the gorge at the High Banks that probably have an 
origin earlier than any other remains in the valley. These were first 
opened by some workmen drawing sand, in 1899. Seven feet below 
the surface they found an axe, a stalactite platform pipe, two gorgets 
and about eighty spear and arrow heads. The axe was made of native 
copper and showed small streaks of quartz running through it. The 
pipe was of the early style with rounded base. Small fragments of 
decomposed bones were also found. There are four more mounds all 
near together, about a hundred rods further down the river. The 
largest one of this group was examined recently. It rises about four 
feet above the surrounding surface of the field, and is about 30 feet in 



5<)2 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

diameter. On one side near the edge was a grave 2)S inches wide and 
48 inches long, on ihe sides and ends were large flat stones set on edge 
and nicely matched together. These stones came very near to the 
surface and extended down about two and one-half feet; some frag- 
ments of bones were discovered in this grave. After removing more 
than a toot in depth of gravelly soil a pavement was found covering 
the entire surface of the mound; tiiis pavement consisted of round 
water- worn stones laid in fine sand, just as a workman would pave a 
gutter. Below this pavement were two feet of gravelly soil and sand 
mixed, ashes, charcoal, bones of animals and in places a black greasy 
earth, below this again a layer of blue clay six inches thick, then more 
ashes, and on tiie bottom burned clay. Near the center of the mound 
were two large flat stones extending up through, the pavement; 
beneath those were the remains of a child — fragments of bones includ- 
ing part of the skull and teeth. On the side of the mound opposite 
the grave first described parts of three skeletons were found ; these 
remains were in the strata of sand ashes and charcoal, about two feet 
below the pavement and just above the strata of blue clay. In the 
first grave were 78 shell beads, evidently around the neck of the child 
at the time of burial: they were made from a shell having a fine lustre 
which is still somewhat apparent after removing the decomposed outer 
surface. They were one quarter of an inch long and some of them 
were of like diameter, but irregular in form, hardly any two being of 
the same shape. When first taken out many had the apearance of 
gold, and some still retain the yellow lustre in patches. With another 
skeleton 780 discoid shell beads were found, evidently buried in the 
hand instead of about the neck; these were very small, most of them 
being less than one sixteenth of an inch thick. Some of them were 
perforated from both sides. When they are perforated from one side 
only, there is quite a difference in the size of the hole. Some of the 
drilling shows spiral markings. They were probably made from the 
salt water clam shell. In the third grave was found a very fine plat- 
form pipe with rounded base similar in style to the one found in the 
mound opened in 1899. It was made of hard granite and finely polish- 
ed and is undoubtedly one of the finest found in the State. There are 
three more mounds in this group that have never been examined ; 
they will doubtless yield interesting relics. At Fall Brook was located 
a very large village covering about twenty acres; the site is an early 




Pipe and Beads fonnd In Indian mound nt Squakle Hill. The pipe is declared by Mr. Be&uchamp to 
belong to the Mound Builders 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 593 

one and was probably occupied before the Senecas came to the Genesee 
country, and was later occupied by them. This is ascertained by the 
implements found there, many of them being unknown to the Iro- 
quois, but many Seneca relics have also been found. This whole 
valley has yielded great quantities of all kinds of stone implements. 
Of my collection ol more than six thousand, about one half came from 
the Genesee valley between Mt. Morris and Geneseo; the remainder 
from other camp sites in Livingston county, of which I have located 
over fitty. 

From Mt. Morris south, instead of following the Genesee along the 
gorge to Portage, the Indian settlements followed the valley of the 
Canaseraga Creek to Dansville; especially on the east side, where the 
creek runs near the high land, it is almost one continuous camp — ■ 
where the land is suitable — from the Mt. Morris and Geneseo road to 
the Hammond farm in Sparta. Three of these camps were evidently 
large villages and upon careful examination will doubtless yield up 
many interesting relics. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

LIVINGSTON COUNTY CIVIL LIST. 

LIVINGSTON county has furnished a Governor of the State in 
the person of John Young, who resided in Geneseo at the time 
of his election, but was earlier a resident of the town of Con- 
esus. Governor Young was elected in 1846 by a plurality of ll,0i'O, 
his opponents being Silas Wright, Henry Bradley and Ogden Edwards. 
Gen. James S. Wadsworth was a candidate of the Republican party 
for Governor in 1862, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour by a vote 
of less than 11,000, on account of the extraordinary conditions then 
existing. 

Three State Comptrollers have come from Livingston county and 
all of them from Geneseo. Philo C. Fuller was appointed December 
18th, 1850, on the election of Washington Hunt as Governor, and held 
the office for the remainder of Governor Hunt's term. James W. 
Wadsworth was elected Nov. 4, 1879; Otto Kelsey was appointed 
Deputy Comptroller February 1st. 1903; upon the appointment of 
Nathan L. Miller, then Comptroller, as a Justice of the Supreme 
Court, in the Sixth Judicial District, in November, 1903, Governor 
Odell iTiade Mr. Kelsey Comptroller for the remainder of the term, 
and he was elected for the full term at the State election in 1904. 

Gen. James S. Wadsworth was made a Regent of the University of 
the State of New York May 4th, 1844, and retained the office until 
his death twenty years later. Governor Young was also ex-officio a 
member of the Board of Regents. 

Lockvvood L. Doty, of Geneseo, was Private Secretary of Governor 
Morgan during 1861, 1862 and a part of 1863; in April of the latter 
year he became Chief of the Bureau of Military Statistics at Albany; 
in December 1862 he was appointed and confirmed as U. S. Consul 
to Nassau, N. P., which was then an important station, but ill health 
compelled him to decline the post. He was subsequently, for a short 
time, Deputy Collector of Customs in New York City, and Assessor 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 595 

of Internal Revenue for the vSixth District of New York, and in April, 
1871, he was appointed U. S. Pension Agent at New York City, and 
died while holding that position. 

Dr. Alvah H. Doty, son of Lockwood L. Doty, of Geneseo, was 
made Health Officer of the Port of New York by Governor Morton in 
1895, and was reappointed successively by Governors Roosevelt and 
Odell; he is now holding that position. Dr. Daniel H. Bissell, of 
Geneseo, was a Deputy Health Officer of the port of New York for 
several years. 

In the diplomatic service, Livingston has been represented by 
Benjamin F. Angel, of Geneseo, who was appointed Minister-Resident 
to Sweden and Norway in July 1857; D wight T. Reed, of Leicester, who 
was Charge d' Affaires of the American Legation at Madrid, Spain and 
later became acting Minister; Craig W. Wadsworth, of Geneseo is 
now Second Secretary of the American Embassy at London. 

Dansville has furnished two Clerks of the Court of Appeals. Ben- 
jamin F. Harwood was elected in 1853 and died in 1856, during his 
term of office. Russell F. Hicks was elected in 1856 and held the 
office for one term. 

Daniel P. Bissell, of Moscow, was appointed a Canal Commissioner 
in February, 1842, and again in 1844. Calvin H. Bryan became 
Canal Appraiser in 1846, and served for one term. 

Samuel P. Allen, of Geneseo, was made Clerk of the New York 
State Senate during the session of 1857. 

William Hamilton, of Caledonia, was appointed in 1893 one of the 
Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara. 

William A. Wadsworth, of Geneseo, was appointed by Governor 
Roosevelt a member of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission. 

John Young, of Geneseo, was appointed a Commissioner for the 
State of New York to the Louisiana Purchase E.xposltion at St. Louis 
in 1904. 

John H. Coyne, of Geneseo, was appointed Deputy Attorney Gen- 
eral during the administration of John C. Davies. 

Job E. Hedges, of Dansville, was made Private Secretary of William 
L. Strong, a recent Mayor of the City of New York, and later was 
appointed one of the Police Magistrates of New York City, but 
resigned before the expiration of his term of office. 



5% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

DELEGATES TO STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVEN- 
TIONS. — Livingston county was represented in the Convention of 
1821 by James Rosebrough, of Groveland ; in the Convention of 1846 
by Allen Ayrault, of Geneseo, and William H. Spencer, of York; in 
the Convention of 1867 by Isaac L. Endress, of Dansville, and 
in the Convention of 1894 by Lockwood R. Doty, of Geneseo. 

STATE SENATORS.— The division of the folate into senatorial 
districts by the Constitution of 1821 placed Livingston in the 8th 
district with the counties of Allegany, Cattaragus, Chautauqua, Erie, 
Genesee, Monroe, Niagara and Steuben; in 1824 Orleans county was 
added. In 1836 Allegany, Cattaragus and Livingston became a part 
of the 6th senatorial district, which included also the counties of 
Broome, Chenango, Tioga, Tompkins, Steuben and Chemung. Each 
senatorial district under the Constitution of 1821 was entitled to four 
senators one of whom was elected each year for the term of four years. 
The Constitution of 1846 divided the State into thirty-two senatorial 
districts, in each of which one senator was to be chosen. Livingston 
was joined with Ontario in forming the 29th district. In 1857 it 
became a part of the .'?Oth district, which included also Allegany and 
Wyoming counties. In 1879 a new 30th district was formed compris- 
ing Livingston, Genesee, Niagara and Wyoming counties. In 1892 
the 29th district was composed of Genesee, Livingston, Niagara, 
Orleans and Wyoming counties. The Constitution of 1894 increased 
the number of senatorial districts to fifty. Livingston is in the forty- 
sixth district with Allegany and Wyoming. Charles H. Carroll, of 
Groveland, was the first State Senator from Livingston County; he 
served from 1827 until March, 1828, when he resigned. He was 
succeeded by Moses Hayden, of York, who served until February 
14, 1830, when he died. Philo C. Fuller, of Geneseo, succeeded 
Senator Hayden and served in 1831 and 1832. The following named 
were Senators from Livingston county during the years mentioned: 
James Faulkner, of Dansville, 1842 to 1845 inclusive; Allen Ayrault, 
of Geneseo, 1848 (Mr. Ayrault resigned from office June 2, 1848); 
Charles Colt, of Geneseo, 1849 to 1851 inclusive; Sidney Sweet, of 
Dansville, 1856 and 1857; David H. Abell, of Groveland, 1860 and 
1861; James Wood, of Geneseo, 1870 to 1873 inclusive. 

JUDGES AND JUSTICES.— Prior to the Constitution of 1846 the 
officer now performing the functions of County Judge was known as 




Lockwood R Doty. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 597 

the First Judge. He was appointed by the Governor and held office 
for five years. The Constitution of 1846 designated this officer as the 
County Judge, made it an elective (jffice and the term four years; this 
term was subsequently by an amendment to the Constitution extended 
to six years. The First Judges of Livingston county were Moses 
Hayden, of York, appointed March 28th, 1821; Charles H. 
Carroll, of Groveland, appointed February 1st, 1823; Hezekiah D. 
Mason, appointed April 8th, 1829, and Willard H. Smith, appointed 
March 24th, 1832. The County Judges have been Scott Lord, of 
Geneseo, who took office in June, 1847; George Hastings, of Mt. 
Morris, elected in 1855; Solomon Hubbard of Dansville, elected in 
1863; Samuel D. Faulkner, of Dansville, elected in 1871; Daniel AV. 
Noyes, of Dansville, appointed in place of Judge Faulkner, deceased, 
August 30th, 1878; Edwin A. Nash, of Avon, elected in 1878; 
Edward P. Coyne, of Geneseo, appointed in 1895 and elected in 1896, 
and William Carter, of Avon, elected in 1902. 

But one resident Justice of the Supreme Court in the county of 
Livingston, Edwin A. Nash, of Avon, has been elected. Judge 
Nash was elected in 1895 and is now holding the office. 

SURROGATES.— The Constitution of 1846 abolished the office of 
Surrogate as an independent office and consolidated its duties with 
those of County Judge, except in certain counties. During its exist- 
ence as a distinct office subsequent to 1821 the incumbent was 
appointed by the Governor. James Rosebrugh was the first Surrogate 
of Livingston county; he was appointed February 26th, 1821, and 
was followed by Samuel W. Spencer, who was appointed March 20th, 
1832; Benjamin F. Angel, appointed March 23rd, 1836; William H. 
Kelsey appointed April 22nd, 1840, and Benjamin F. Angel appointed 
again March 3rd, 1844; Mr. Angel held the office at the time of its 
abolition. 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.- -The presidential electors from 
Livingston have been: Daniel H. Bissell, 1836; John Wheeler, 1840; 
Benjamin F. Harwood, 1848; Isaac L. Endress, 1856; James S. 
Wadsworth, an elector at large in 1856 and an elector from the Living- 
ston Congressional District in 1860; Kidder M. Scott, 1872. Dr. 
Bissell was made the messenger to Washington from the electoral 
college in 1836, and Judge Endress was secretary of the college of 
which he was a member. 



598 HISTOR OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.-Upon the formation of 
the county, it was included in the 21st Congressional District, with 
Allegany, Cattaragus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara 
and Ontario counties; the district was then entitled to two members. 
In 1822 the county became, with Monroe, the 27th district. In 1832 
Livingston and Allegany counties formed the 30th district. In 1842 
Livingston and Ontario counties formed the 29th district. In 1851 
it became with Steuben county the 28th district. In 1862, with 
Ontario and Yates counties, it formed the 25th district. In 1873 the 
same counties formed the 27tli district. In 1883 Livingston, Genesee, 
Orleans and Wyoming became the 31st district. In 1892 Livingston^ 
Niagara, Wyoming, Genesee and Orleans.constituted the 30th district! 
and in 1901 the same counties became the 31st district. 

Prior to its formation one resident of Livingston county was a 
Representative in Congress. This was Samuel M. Hopkins from the 
21st Congressional District in 1813 and 1815, including Ontario 
county, of which Livingston was then a part. He was followed by 
Micah Brooks, who later became a resident of and died in Livingston 
county. Mr. Brooks resigned before the expiration of his term. 
Since the organization of the county it has sent to Congress Elijah 
Spencer, 1821-23; Moses Hayden, of York, 1823-27; Philo C. 
Fuller, of Geneseo, 1833-36, in which latter year Mr. Fuller resigned; 
John Young, of Geneseo, 1836-37, filling out the unexpired term of 
Mr. Fuller, and the full term of 1841-43; Charles H. Carroll, of 
Groveland, 1843-47; Jerediah Hor.sford, of Leicester, 1851-53; George 
Hastings, of Mt. Morris, 1853-55; William H. Kelsey, of Geneseo, 
1855-59, and 1867-71; James W. Wadsworth of Geneseo, 188 -1904; 
Mr. Wadwsorth has just been re-elected for the full term ending 
December 31st, 1906. 

SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.— The first election for School Com- 
missioner occurred in November, 1859. The following named persons 
have been School Commissioners in the county of Livingston, in the 
order named : 

First District, embracing the towns of Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, 
Geneseo, Groveland, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, York; Chauncey 
Loomis, Levi P. Grover, Franklin B. Francis, S. Arnold Tozier, 
Franklin B. Francis, John W. Byam, Lewis C. Partridge, Foster W.' 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



599 



Walker, Russell A. Kneeland, Foster W. Walker, James D. Sullivan 
and Scott L. McNinch. 

Second District, comprising the towns of Mount Morris, North 
Dansville, Nunda, Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater and West 
Sparta; Horace L. Ames, Harvey Farley, Isaac C. Lusk, Thomas J. 
Thorp, Ezra N. Curtice, Austin B. Dunn, H. E. Perkins, S. L. Whit- 
lock, C. F. McNair and Ralph J. Cranmer. Messrs. McNinch and 
Cranmer are the present incumbents of the office in the two districts 
respectively. 

The following is a list of Members of the Assembly from Livingston 
county since its organization, with the date of their service: 



George Smith 1822 

William Janes, Matthew Warner 1823 

George Hosmer, George Smith 1824 

James Faulkner, Robert McKay 1825 

James Faulkner, William H.Spenceri826 

William H. Spencer, Felix Tracy 1827 

Calvin H. Bryan, Wm. Janes 1S28 

Philo C. Fuller, Titus Goodman, Jr.. 1829 
Philo C. Fuller, Titus Goodman, Jr..i83o 
Jedediah Horsford, James Percival... 1831 
George W. Patterson, John Young.. 1832 
George W. Patterson, Samuel W. 

Smith 1833 

Solomon G. Grover, Tabor Ward. ...1834 
HoUum Hutchinson, George W. 

Patterson 1835 

Charles H. Carroll, George W. 

Patterson 1836 

George W. Patterson, William Scott. 1837 
George W. Patterson, William Scott. 183S 
Elias Clark, George W. Patterson... 1839 
Elias Clark, George W. Patterson. ..1840 
Augustus Gibbs, Reuben P. Wisner..i84i 

Gardner Arnold, Chester Bradley 1S42 

Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Daniel D. 

Spencer 1S43 

Gardner Arnold, Daniel D. Spencer. 1844 

Harlow W. Wells, John Young 1845 

Wm. S. Fullerton, John Young 1846 

Wm. S. Fullerton, Andrew Sill 1847 

Gurden Nowlen, Nathaniel Coe 1848 

Archibald H. McLean, Philip Wood- 
ruff 1849 

Archibald H. McLean, Philip Wood- 
ruff 1850 

Alvin Chamberlain, Orrin D. Lake... 1 851 
Alvin Chamberlain, Orrin D. Lake.. 1852 

Amos A. Hendee, Abram Lozier 1S53 

Leman Gibbs, Abram Lozier 1854 



Lyman Odell, McNeil Seymour.. 
Lyman Odell, Alonzo Bradner.... 

Lyman Hawes, Alfred Bell 

John H. Jones, Alfred Bell 

Samuel L. Fuller, John Wiley.... 



Matthew Wiard, Geo. Hyland 

Matthew Wiard, Samuel Skinner 

Hamilton E. Smith, Samuel Skinner. 

Hamilton E. Smith, Jonathan B. 
Morey 

Hugh D. McCall, Jonathan B. 
Morey 

Hugh D. McCall, Samuel D. Faulk- 
ner 

Jacob A. Mead 

Lewis E. Smith 



Richard Johnson 

Archibald Kennedy. 



Jonathan B. Morey 

James Faulkner, Jr 

James Faulkner, Jr 

Jonathan B. Morey.... 
James W. Wadsworth. 



Archibald Kennedy. 
Kidder M. Scott 



William Y. Robinson. 
(( (( 

Jotham Clark 



.855 
1S56 
1857 
1858 
1859 
i860 
1861 
1862 
1863 

1864 

1865 

1866 
.1867 
.1868 
.1869 
.1870 
.1871 
.1872 
.1873 
.1874 
.1875 
.1876 
.1877 
.1878 
.1879 
.1880 
.1881 
.1882 
.1883 
.1884 
.1885 
.1886- 
.1887 
.1888 
.1889 



600 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



E. H. Davis... 
Jesse Roberts. 



. i8go 
.1891 
.1892 
.1893 



Otto Kelsey ,fq4 

" " o 

.< u '^95 

.. .. '896 

i«97 



Otto Kelsey ,898 

1 8go 

1900 

1901 

1902 



William Y. Robinson i 



903 

904 

James W. Wadsworth, Jr 1905 

The following is a list of the various county officers other than those 
mentioned with the dates of their appointment or election: 

ATTORNEY 

Edwin A. Nash Nov. 1869 

" Nov. 1872 

Daniel W. Noyes Nov. 1875 

C. J. Bissell app Aug. 30, 1878 

John R. Strang Nov. 1878 

" Nov. 1881 

Geo. W. Daggett Nov. 1884 

Nov. 1887 

Lubert O. Reed Nov. iSgo 

Fred W. Noyes app May 1893 

Wm. Carter Nov. 1893 

Chas. H. Rowe Nov. 1896 

Nov. 1899 

John F. Connor Nov. 1902 



DISTRICT 

George Hosmer Feb. 1821 

Orlando Hastings Jan. 1824 

George Hosmer May 1824 

Calvin H. Bryan Jan. 1836 

A. A. Bennett May 1S36 

George Hastings May 1839 

Amos A. Hendee June 1847 

Wm. H, Kelsey Nov. 1850 

James Wood, Jr Nov. i8s3 

Amos A. Hendee Nov. 1856 

Gershom Bulkley Nov. 1859 

George J. Davis Nov. 1862 

, " " Nov. 1865 

James B. Adams Feb. 4, 1866 

" " Nov. 1866 



Gideon T. lenkins Feb. 1821 

Wm. Carnahan Nov. 1822 

Martin Nash Nov. 1825 

Russell Austin Nov. 1828 

Augustus Gibbs Nov. 1832 

Josiah Wendell Nov 1814 

Wm. W. Weed Nov. 1837 

James Brewer Nov. 1840 

Wm. H. Scott Nov. 1843 

Wm. Scott Nov. 1846 

Harvey Hill Nov. 1849 

Norman Chappell Dec. 1851 

Wm. Scott Nov. 1852 

Hugh McCartney Nov. 1855 

John N. Hurlbut Nov. 1858 



SHERIFF 



Wm. B. Lemen Nov. 

Thomas C. Chase Nov. 

Geo. Hyland, Jr Nov. 

Henry L. Arnold Nov. 

Elijah Youngs Nov 

Wm. B. Wooster Nov. 

.Martin F. Lindsay Nov. 

Thomas O'Meara Nov. 

Henry S. Gilbert Nov. 

I. Fremont Hampton Nov. 

Frank J. McNeil Nov. 

Cornelius O'Leary Nov. 

Wm. A. Miller Nov. 

W. H. Gray Nov. 

Isaac B. Knapp Nov. 



1S61 
1S64 
1867 
1S70 

1873 
1876 
1879 
18S2 
1885 
1888 
1891 
1894 
1897 
igoo 
"903 



COUNTY CLERK 



James Ganson Feb. 1821 

Sylvester Brown Nov. 1822 

Levi Hovey Nov. 1825 

Chauncey R. Bond Nov. 1828 

" ' Nov. 183, 

Ehas Clark Nov. 1834 

Wm. Stanley Nov. 1837 

Samuel P. Allen r-. Nov. 1840 



Wm. H. Whiting Nov. 

" .' Nov. 

Israel D. Root Nov. 

Jas. S. Orton Nov. 

Chas. Root Nov. 

't (( XT 

Nov. 

Harvey G. Baker Nov. 

Harvey G. Baker Nov. 



■843 
1846 
1849 
1852 

185? 
1858 
1861 
1864 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



601 



Aug. A. Curtiss Nov. 1867 

W. H. C. Hosmer app. 1870 

N. A. Gearhart Nov. 1871 

Hurlburt E. Brown Nov. 1974 

Jerome B. Patterson Nov. 1877 

Mark J. Bunnell Nov. 1880 

" " Nov. i88j 



Carlos A. Miller Nov. 1886 

" Nov. 1889 

Wm. E. Humphrey Nov. 1892 

" " Nov. 1895 

Henry B. Curtis Nov. 1898 

" " Nov. 1901 

Bernard H. Oberdorf Nov. 1904 



COUNTY TREASURER 



Wm. H.Spencer Jan. 1832 

Calvin H. Bryan Nov. 1836 

Wm. H. Spencer Nov. 1838 

Charles Colt Nov. 1839 

Chauncey Metcalf Nov. 1845 

Nov. 1847 

John White, Jr Nov. 1851 

" " Nov. 1854 

Chauncey R. Bond Nov. 1857 

James T. Norton June 23, i860 

" Nov. i860 

Chauncey Metcalf Nov. 1863 

" " Nov. 1866 

" " Nov. 1869 



Theo. F. Olmsted May 9, 

Nov. 

John Shepard Nov. 

Wm. A. Brodie Nov. 

" " Nov. 

" " Nov. 

" Nov. 

Nov. 

James B. Hampton Nov. 

" " Nov. 

Foster W. Walker app. Nov. 

" Nov. 

" " Nov. 

" " Nov. 



1871 
187. 
1874 
1877 
1880 
1883 
1886 
1889 
1892 

■895 
1896 
1897 
1900 
1903 



SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR 



Wm. Finley, Daniel Kelleyjr. ,Chas. 

Colt, Eben N. Buell, Ogden M. 

Willey 1829 

Wm. Finley, Charles Colt, Isaac 

Smith, Ogden M. Willey, Jedediah 

Horsford 1830 

Isaac Smith, Charles Colt, Ogden 

M. Willey 1831 

Isaac Smith, Samuel F. Butler, 

Ogden M. Willey 1832 

Wm. Finley, Charles Colt, Ogden 

M. Willey 1833-34-35 

F. W. Butler, Charles Colt, O. M. 

Willey 1836 

Wm. Finlev; Samuel W. Spencer, 

D. H. Hissell 1837 

Harvey Armstrong, David Shepard, 

Chauncey Metcalf 1838-39 

Russell Austin, D. Shepard, O. M. 

Willey 1840 

Russell Austin, S. Heath, O. M. 

Willey 1841 

Ogden M. Willey. Russell Austin 

Joseph Bement 1842-43 

Russell .A.ustin, Chauncey Metcalf, 

Ogden M. Willey 1844 

O. M. Willey, Chauncey Metcalf, 

Avery Brown 1845 

Russell Austin, Edmund Biidges, 

Ogden M. Willey 1846 



Russell Austin, Ogden M. Willey, 

James H. Vail 1847-48 

Wm. J. Hamilton, James H. Vail, 

Ogden M. Willey 1849 

Russell Austin, Wm. J. Hamilton, 

James H. Vail 1850-51 

Wm. J. Hamilton, Russell Austin.... 1852 
James H. Vail, J. B. Hall, William 

J. Hamilton 1853-54 

James H. Vail, Ebenezer, Leach, J. 

B. Hall. 1855 

Lyman Turner, Ebenezer Leach, 

James H. Vail 1856 

Lyman Turner 1857 



" " 1859 

Almeron Howard 1862 

" " 1865 

Geo. W. Barney 1868 

1871 

1874 

" 1877 

J. C. Wicker 1880 

" 1883 

John L. Scott 886 

" " 1889 

" " 1892 

James B. Frazer 18)4 

" 1897 

Hyde D. Marvin 1900 

" " 1903 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE GENESEE VALLEY HUNT. ' 

By David Gray. 

THE INFLUENCE of the Genesee Valley Hunt upon Living- 
ston County during the past generation has been an interesting 
one to the student of American country life and of much more 
importance than would at first appear. This beautiful farming 
country, like all our Eastern agricultural communities, has had to with- 
stand not only the competition of the Western grain lands hut tlie 
absorption by the cities of a large percentage of the most desirable 
young men and women. To meet the effect of the opening of the 
North-western wheat countries, it has been necessary to change the 
character of farming in the older states. Generally speaking, where 
this has been done successfully, the tendency has been to substitute 
for wheat and corn, high class stock, forage, dairy and garden prod- 
ucts, such as find advantageous markets in the nearest centers of 
population. Indirectly the Hunt has assisted not a little in this 
result. Thoroughbred breeding horses have been introduced and 
buyers come from all parts of the United States in search of young, 
well-bred horses.suitable for making hunters. It costs the farmer no 
more to raise such a horse than a common one and as four-year 
olds they readily command from fifty to a hundred per cent more 
than the ordinary run of farm horses. More directly the Hunt has 
stimulated the business of the community by attracting to the Valley 
for several months each year, hunting men from the cities who 
spend their money in the country and provide a local market for 
forage, horses and supplies. 

In a much broader manner, however, foxhunting has tended to 
benefit Livingston county, as it has benefited those counties in Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland and Virginia where the sport has flourished for 
over a century. The impulse which carries so many of the young 
country bred men to the city is often not so much the belief that a 
greater financial success is likely to be found in the city as that life in 





. ."^I^^ 




^umf fWH 


i^ 


■ 


^Bn^^F^ 




^^^^^^hV^J 


r 




J 



The M. F. H. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 603 

the country is dull and without variety or amusement. All work and 
no wholesome play makes Jack or anybody else a dull boy. Fox hunt- 
ing is the best and most natural sport to amuse and absorb the sur- 
plus energies of a farming community. Schooling a well bred four- 
year old not only doubles the value of the colt by making a hunter out 
of him, but it teaches the boy to ride and develops the courage and self 
control requisite in following hounds across country. And most of 
all it furnishes him with an autumn of the best fun in the world, which 
ought to make him work cheerfully, if anything will, and binds him 
anew to his community by the pleasant ties of sport. 

These are somewhat material considerations as to the relation 
between the county and the Hunt. But there is another which ap- 
peals wholly to sentiment and county pride. During the past genera- 
tion there have assembled at the meets of the Genesee Valley Hunt 
people from all parts of America and Europe, and not only people in- 
terested solely in sport, but men and women distinguished in widely 
varying spheres of life. Some of the best known of American artists, 
literary men, generals, lawyers and statesmen have been introduced 
to the beauty of this historic valley through the pursuit of foxes. 
One very hot Fourth of July afternoon, on the Meadow at the 
Homestead, the present President of the United States rode strenuously 
in the sports and was much respected for the vigor of his blows in the 
Cavalry fight. It is interesting to know that his two favorite horses 
have been schooled over Genesee Valley fences. 

Thus, through an organization which at first thought seems intended 
only to furnish manly sport, has Livingston county been materially 
benefited and its beautiful valley made famous in all parts of the world. 

A memorandum under the date 1876, in Major W. Austin Wads- 
worth's hunt diary says: "Of the older days when 'Lish' Shepard 
and others hunted there is no record. During this summer occurred 
the paper hunt on the Home farm which was the occasion of the first 
regular organization for hunting foxes on horseback in the Genesee 
Valley. W. A. Wadsworth laid the trail and was allowed three min- 
utes start. He started at the head of the lane, went S. W. to the river, 
followed it more or less Northwesterly to the bridge and then came 
back South and was cornered by the crowd and caught by C. C. Fitz- 
hugh in the front meadow. George Williams had a bad fall on cross- 
ing the R. R. and his horse dislocated her shoulder. There were pres- 



604 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ent, W. A. W. on Missy, C. C. Fitzhugh on Royal, J. W. Wadsworth 
Arthur Post, George Williams on Virginia." 

The diary goes on to relate that "before Charles Carroll Fitzhugh 
and W. A. W. started the first regular organization for hunting on 
horseback, foxes had been followed by hounds and men on horseback 
or otherwise for many years in the Valley and there were good men, 
horses and hounds engaged in it." Thus the new hunt had friends at the 
outset. It was named the Livingston County Hunt. C. C. Fitzhugh 
was Huntsman, and W. A. Wadsworth President. The Hunt record 
explains that the organization owned no hounds but hunted with such 
as it could borrow. The hounds were brought by their masters and 
put on as suited them during the run. The meftings were kept very 
quiet, nobody went straight; many followed in buggies." 

Lender the date 1S77, the diary says: "During this year the attempt 
was made to have the Huntsman hunt the hounds with less assistance 
from their owners, but as they did not know him and were kept at 
home they were gloriously independent." 

In 1878, owing to the death of Charles Carroll Fitzhugh. there was 
no regular hunting but the following year the club resumed its meets. 

Under the date of 1879 the diary says: "This year some of the 
hounds were got together in a kennel at the Homestead at the begin- 
ning of the season to get them acquainted with each other and the 
huntsman, but there were always a lot of strange dogs in a hunt. 
An attempt was made at the Homestead to run a drag of anise but the 
hounds would not own it. There were three drags made by dragging 
a dead fox and the man that laid them carried a stick four feet long 
and let down any fence higher than it was long." 

The vicissitudes of the sport in these early days is suggested by a 
note of the Oneida Farm meet in 1878: "Plenty of riders but nobody 
on hand with a hound except Jimmy O'Hara. Ran three miles with 
one dog, going west to Sugarbush, then round Sherwood meadow 
east and then north. As we got to the Nations lane Dave Hurlburt 
turned up with a lot of men and dogs from Mount Morris, and they 
being put on the scent (after chivying and killing a cat), went oflf in 
style to the north. At the Oxbow lane there was a check and J. 
W. (The Hon. James W. Wadsworth) having got into the lane 
got a bad fall in trying to get out and was taken home in a carriage 
Fox was caught and killed on the Little Oxbow." 




A Meet at Ashaintee, November 1894. 



' ll 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 605 

In the Autumn of 1879 Mr. Wadsworth started a pack of his own 
and allowed no strange hounds to hunt. There were eleven hounds in 
this pack. The following year on October 29th the Livingston Coun- 
ty Hunt was reorganized under the name of the Genesee Valley Hunt. 
W. Austin Wadsworth was elected President and Master of Hounds; 
L. R. Doty, Secretary and Treasurer. An executive committee was 
also elected consisting of the President e.x officio, Trumbull Cary of 
Batavia and George Servis. The charter members of the hunt were 
Charles Culbertson, George T. Ewart, William McCory, George Servis, 
L. D. Rumsey, Dr. Charles Cary, Trumbull Cary, Frederick Palmer, 
John Young, C. H. Young, J. W. Wadsworth, L. R. Doty, W. A. 
Wadsworth. 

Good sport was given in 1880 and in 1882 it grew and continued to 
prosper. The territory hunted was extended and a successful meet 
was held as far up the valley as William Slaight's in West Sparta. 

There were many memorable runs that year and the hunting con- 
tinued up to December I'lth. Drag hunting had mostly given way to 
fox hunting and January 1st, 1884 there was a pack at the Master's 
kennels of twenty-three hounds including several English dogs import- 
ed for stud jnirpose«. On July Fourth a hunt meeting was held at the 
Homestead, new members were elected and plans for improving the 
hunting were considered. Those present, after the meeting look a ride 
cross country. 

The following year the Fourth of July meeting was celebrated with 
equestrian sports held on the Geneseo Fair Grounds. The events were 
picking up a hat from horseback, riding at scarfs with lances, riding 
at Turk's head and rings with sabre, '"iding at rings with lances and 
the high jump. 

The hunting season of 1885 opened successfully with a meet at Bleak 
House October 5. The Hunt by this time had become efifectively 
organized with W. A. Wadsworth as Master and Huntsman, two 
whippers-in and a kennel man, to hunt foxes. There were ten couples 
of hounds. On October 23rd the first point-to-point steeplechase 
in the vallev was held, and after an exciting race was won by Thomas 
Cary of Buffalo, who appeared unexpectedly at the finish. 

In 1888, the cards w-ere issued as "Mr. Wadsworth's Hounds" and 
the hunting by this time was firmly established and the Genesee 
Valley rapidly became known throughout this country and in Eng- 



606 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

land as a_hunting center. People from New York and the cities on 
the Atlantic coast as well as from Buffalo and Rochester came to 
Geneseo and Mt. Morris, buying places or renting them or stop- 
ping at the hotels for the hunting season. Drag hunting had been 
abandoned altogether and the Genesee Valley Hounds became exclu- 
sively a pack used for hunting wild foxes. In 1885 The Mt. Morris 
Horse Show was held for the first time. Although managed by an 
organization distinct from the Hunt it was an offshoot of the Hunt 
and depended upon it for its success. In 18'J5 the Mt. Morris shows 
were discontinued and in their place an annual out-of-door horse show 
has since been held under the auspices of the Hunt upon one of the 
meadows of the Home Farm at Geneseo. The entries, which have 
been restricted to hunters and horses likely to make hunters and to 
breeding classes of the same type, usually numbered in the neighbor- 
hood of one hundred and fifty and in quality have been unsurpassed 
and rarely equaled at any American horse show. 

During the season of 1898 while the Spanish war was in progress 
Major W. A. Wadsworth was in the Pliilippines with General Merrit's 
expedition, and the iiounds were hunted by J ames Blower, a professional 
huntsman, with J. S. Wadsworth acting as Master. Except for this. 
Major W. A. Wadsworth has hunted the hounds continuously since 
the death of Mr. Charles Carroll Fitzhugh and has always maintained 
them at his own expense. The county during the season has been 
hunted regularly three days a week and from ten to twenty couples of 
hounds have been kept in the kennels. 




A Meet in the Early Days of the Hunt Club— January. 1886. Major Wadsworth is on a Gray Horse ; 

the Other Riders reading from left to right are : Hartman, Doty, Lauderd&le, 

Scanlan, Potter, Mahoney. 




The M. F. U. at the Homestead with the Pack. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

LIVINGSTON'S MEDICAL PROFESSION. 
Livingston County Medical vSociety- 

THIS Society was organized in Geneseo on May 29, 1S21, by the 
following physicians and surgeons: Charles Little and jared B. 
Ensworth, Avon; Justin Smith, Lima; Samuel Daniels, 
Elkanah French and Eli Hill, Livonia; Royal Tyler and John W. 
Leonard, York; Cyrus Wells, Jr., Geneseo. 

Dr. Charles Little was chairman of the meeting and Dr. Justin 
Smith secretary, and the following officers for the first society year 
were chosen; President, Charles Little; Vice President, Justin Smith; 
Secretary, Cyrus Wells, Jr., Treasurer, Samuel Daniels. 

At that time the proportion of licensed practitioners (by state and 
county societies) to graduates of medical colleges was about two to 
one. Therefore the first code of by-laws adopted by the society pro- 
vided for a committee of three consisting of the president, secretary 
and a censor, to examine students with reference to their educational 
qualifications to study medicine, and give certiScates to those deserv- 
ing them. It was also provided that candidates for license to practice 
must give notice to the president and censors fifteen days before 
examination, show that they had studied medicine and surgery the 
length of time required by law with one or more legal practitioners, 
and that they were twenty-one years of age and of good moral charac- 
ter. They were also required to pass examinations in materia 
medica and pharmacy, anatomy, physiology, and the theory and prac- 
tice of medicine, and candidates for surgery practice in anatomy and 
surgery. If the examinations were satisfactory they would be entitled 
to diplomas. Each neiv member must, at the next meeting of the 
society after his admission, deliver a dissertation on a subject pertain- 
ing to medical science. Dissertations were also required from new 
members coming from other counties. Each president was required, 
at the expiration of his term of office, to deliver an address oni some 



608 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



medical subject, and in case of failure to pay a fine of $25 By-laws 
adopted in 1829 required the delegate to the convention of the state 
society to deliver an address before the county society or forfeit $20 
Of course the rules were changed from time to time.' 
In 1830 the society passed resolutions against intemperance in the 
use of distilled liquors, as "a great moral and physical evil," and 
declaring that "the popular opinion that a common use of ardent 
spirits renders the system less subject to the diseases of this climate- 
was a dangerous and in many cases a fatal error," and that intem- 
perate persons were "more liable to be attacked" by such diseases 
and their intemperance made the diseases "uniformly of a more 
dangerous and intractable character." 

These were among the first pronouncements by a medical society 
against the common use of spirits. 

The society held regular annual an,l semi-annual meetings until 
1834, when they were omitted until 1841 and then resumed. This was 
the period when physicians were agitated on the subject of homeop- 
athy, the new school having put in its claims for legal recognition 
which was accorded it by the legislature of 1844. The action of the 
county society in that year in anticipation of such legislation is inter- 
esting, in that it adopted and had forwarded to the legislative commit- 
tee on medical colleges a resolution urging "the abolition of all laws 
in relation to the practice of physic and surgery. " At this meeting 
It was also resolved to adjourn sine die, and that the society funds on 

hand be expended for books for the medical library room in Geneseo 
established by James Wadsworth. 

The meetings were again discontinued, this time from 1844 to 1852 
when the society was re-organized on the 28th of September, in Gen- 
eseo, the following physicians and surgeons being present ■ D H 
Bi.ssell, T. Morse, J. K Purchase, A. L. Gilbert, S. L. Endress W E 
Lauderdale, William C. Dwight, W. H. Sellew, E. W Patchen B L 
Hovey, Z. H. Blake, A. W. Mercer, A. PI. HofT, L. J. Ames, 'b. F. 
Fowler. Dr. A. II. Hoff was chosen chairman, and R. F. Fowler 
secretary. 

Officers were elected and new bv-Iaws adopted, and again regular 
meetings were held until 1858, when there was another interim until 
January, 1864. At this meeting a new fee bill was adopted to cor- 
respond with the times, two others having been previously adopted. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 609 

There were no more meetings held until July, 1867, when correspond- 
ence brought together Drs. Blake, Patchin, Ferine, Purchase, Ben- 
nett, Mills, Lauderdale and Chase. Dr. Lauderdale was chosen chair- 
man and Dr. Chase secretary, and resolutions were adopted calling an 
annual meeting of the Livingston County Medical Society on Septem- 
ber 18, 1867. 

New fee bills were adopted in 1868 and 1873. 

In 1874 the Legislature in a measure put up the barriers taken down 
in 1844, so far as to discriminate against quackery, but not against 
regular schools of medicine. Practitioners were required by the law 
of 1874 to have a license from a medical society or to be a graduate 
from a medical college. May 29, 1880, an act was passed by the 
Legislature requiring medical practitioners to register in the County 
Clerk's office on or before October 1, 1880, their name, residence, 
place of birth and authority for practicing. Both these laws make 
illegal practice punishable by fine or imprisonment or both. Subse- 
quent laws have further increased the stringency of requirements for 
obtaining diplomas and engaging in practice. 

The following is a list of the early presidents of the society so far as 
recorded, with the dates of their service — that is from 1821 to 1843 
inclusive, or before the sine die adjournment. 

Charles Little 1821, 1833 Daniel H. Bissell 1S32, 1837, 1839 

Justin Smith 18^2 E. P. Metcalf 1834,1836 

Caleb Chapin 1823 S. Salisbury, Jr 1835, 1840 

Charles Bingham 1824, i82q Joseph Tozier 1838 

E. Hill 1825, 1828 Gilbert Bogart 1841 

Samuel Daniels 1826, 1827 William H. Reynale 1842, 1867 

Cyrus Wells, Jr 1830 John S. Graham 1843 

Andrew Sill 183 1 

Here follows, also, a list of the members of the society for the same 
period, with locations, so far as recorded, and the dates of joining: 

Ariel Alvord 1833 John Currie, Caledonia 1830 

Milton Alvord 1828 Samuel Daniels, Livonia 1821 

Loren J. Ames, Mt. Morris 18J3 Aaron Davis, Mt. Morris 1842 

Avery Benedict 1822 Asel Day, Sparta 1824 

Ebenezer Childs, Mt. Morris 1840 E. C. Day 1822 

Josiah Clark, Caledonia 1828 David D. Dayton 1843 

Joel W. Clark, Livonia 1830 George O. J. Du Relle, York 1839 

Lyman N. Cook, Sparta 1821 Wm. C. Dwight, Moscow 1829 

John Craig, York 1840 Charles Bingham, Mt. Morris 1821 

John Reid Craig, York 1842 Eben H. Bishop 1829 

Amos Crandall, Jr., Livonia 1832 Daniel H. Bissell, Moscow 1823 

Alonzo Cressy, Lima 1830 Daniel P. Bissell, Moscow :828 



610 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



829 John W. Leonard, York 1821 

828 Charles Little, Avon 1821 

833 Geo. W. Little, Lima 1823 

842 Josiah Long, York 1541 

841 Lockwood Lyon, Groveland 1829 

8;8 Truman E Mason 1835 

842 James McMaster, Livonia 1828 

833 David McMillen, Conesus 1822 

828 E. H. G. Meacham, Mt. Morris 1843 

829 Elias P. Metcalf, Geneseo 1829 

823 Isaac Minard 1839 

840 \Vm. Heers Munson, 1830 

821 John B. Norton, Springwater 1827 

829 Zina G Paine, York 1831 

821 Asa R. Palmer 1822 

824 Edward \V. Patchen, Livonia 1840 

840 Enoch Peck, York 1824 

833 AbijahE. Perry 1828 

S30 \Vm. S. Purdv, Lima 1834 

821 \Vm. H. Keyriale, Dansville 1827 

843 J. H. Robinson, Conesus 1823 

856 Samuel Salisburv, Jr., Avon 1831 

830 Wells H. Selle\v,'Moscow 1828 

830 Levi D. Seymour, Leicester 1842 

827 Lester G. Shepard 1822 

841 Andrew Sill, Livonia 1827 

8^5 Athelstein \V. Smith, Springwater.. .1841 

825 Justin Smith, Lima 1821 

827 Frederick R. Stickney York 1841 

828 Daniel C. StiKvell, Livonia 1831 

832 \Vm. H. Thomas, Mt. Morris 1841 

821 Absalom Townsend, Cuylerville 1843 

822 W'm. A. Townsend 1821 

842 Joseph Tozier, York 1829 

835 Roval Tyler, York 1824 

834 Walter Wallace 1840 

827 Joseph Weeks, Sparta 1842 

842 Cyrus '.Veils, Jr., Geneseo 1821 

829 Harlow W Wells, Caledonia 1842 

838 J. F. Whitbeck, Avon 1835 

825 Wni. Whitney, Mt. Morris 1840 

829 Asahel Yale, Dansville 1824 

The following biographical notes of county physicians and surgeons, 
prepared from such materials as we have been able to obtain, are 
added. 

Dr. Francis M. Ferine, grandson of Captain William Ferine, a sol- 
dier of the Revolution and Dansville pioneer, was born in Dansville in 
1831. He studied medicine with Dr. Endress of Dansville and gradu- 
ated from the Buffalo Medical College in March, 1S55. He practiced 
medicine nearly half a century, five or six years in Byersville, and the 
balance of the time in Dansville. He held the office of coroner twenty- 



Gilbert Bogart, Mt. Morris 

J. R. Bowers, Mt. Morris 

Wm. Butler, Lima 

Wm. C. Hutler, Avon 

A. C. Campbell, Sparta 

Alex Campbell 

Duncan Campbell, Caledonia 

T. A. Campbell 

John Campbell, Livonia 

John A. Campbell, Lima 

Samuel Carmen, Livonia 

Peter T. Caton, Livonia 

Caleb Chapin 

Samuel L. Endress, Dansville 

Jared D. Ensworth, Avon 

Horatio N. Fenn 

Lewis G. Ferris, Mt. Morris 

Graham N. Fitch, Caledonia 

Henry K. Foote, Conesus 

Elkanah French, Livonia 

Samuel Gallantine, Mt. Morris 

H. S. Gates 

John S. Graham, York 

Abraham Grant 

Arnold Gray, Springwater 

Joel Gray. Geneseo 

Orlando S. Gray, Springwater 

James Green, York 

Wm. T. Green, Livonia 

Benajah Hansan, York 

Francis L. Harris, Geneseo 

Eli Hill, Livonia 

Wm. Holloway, York 

Bleeker L. Hovey, Sparta 

Isaiah B. Hudmutt Jr., West Sparta 

Julius M. Hume, Conesus 

Hiram Hunt, Mt. Morris 

John S. Hunt, Sparta 

Isaac W. Hurd, Sparta 

Robert Kelsey 

J. C. Landon, Geneseo 

Walter E. Lauderdale, Sparta 



ill 




Williani A, Wadsworth, M. F. H., and the Hounds. 




HM>I\<. Tin: SrEM.-.A fO\ HLNT 

scum: in iiic <;[:\lsi:i:: vii.i.t^. 



The Genesee Valley Hum Pack at Work. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 611 

one years. He was a prominent member of the Livingston County 
Historical Society and was its president in 1886. He was for years a 
member of the Dansville board of education. He died in 1904. 

Dr. William P. Squires was born in Churchville in 1865. His later 
education preparatory to medical study was in the Brockport State 
Normal school and Cazenovia Seminary. In 1896 he graduated from 
the medical department of the University of Buffalo, standing second 
in a class of sixty-two. He served eight months in the Buffalo Gen- 
eral Hospital, and later graduated from the New York City Maternity 
Hospital. He has also taken special courses in surgery in the New 
York Post Graduate Medical school. He commenced practice in 
Livonia in 1897, where he is now located. 

Dr. Charles J. Carrick was born in Portage in 1859. After a course 
in Nunda Academy he studied under private tutors, and then en- 
tered Buffalo University, from the medical department of which he 
graduated in 1885. He practiced in Portageville, two years in Hast- 
ings, Nebraska, and established himself permanently in Nunda in 1889. 

Dr. John A. McKenzie was born in Caledonia in 1852. He became 
a pupil in the State Normal School at Geneseo, and was a teacher in 
various schools of Livingston county thirteen terms. Finally he was 
attracted to the medical profession, and after studying a year with 
Dr. Cyrus Baker of Batavia, entered the New York Medical College, 
and graduated from it in 1884. He selected Lima for medical prac- 
tice, and is established in that village of academical and collegiate 
fame. 

Dr. G. T. Borden is a practitioner in Caledonia. He was born in 
Massachusetts in 1853, and was educated in the public schools and 
Portland Collegiate Institute before studying medicine in the Hanne- 
man Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he graduated, in 
1873. 

Dr. John C. Preston was born in Avon in 1867. A part of his edu- 
cation was obtained in the Geneseo State Normal School, and he 
graduated from the medical department of the Buffalo University in 
1892. His medical practice has been in Avon, where he has served as 
health officer several years. 

Dr. Francis Vernon Foster is a Springwater physician. He was 
born in Scottsburg in 1869, and after receiving a common school edu- 



612 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

cation entered the Eclectic Medical College of New York, and grad- 
uated from it in 1892. He first practiced with his father, Dr. D. H. 
Foster of Scottsburg, but has been located since 1896 in Springwater, 
where he is health physician. 

Dr. Edward Cornelius Perry was born in Connecticut in 1865. He 
obtained part of his education in that state, and part in Montreal, 
Canada, and afterward graduated from Cazenovia Seminary, N. Y. 
He graduated from the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons 
in 1892, after losing two years during his course on account of illness. 
He practiced a few months at Nelson, N. Y., and then settled in Avon, 
where he has since remained. He has been one of the presidents of 
the county medical society, has held the positions of health officer and 
coroner, and for ten years has been one of the surgeons of the Erie 
railroad. He now has a prosperous hospital in Avon for the treat- 
ment of nervous diseases. 

One of the Caledonia physicians is Dr. DeForest Cole. He was 
born in Jefferson county in 1854, but his parents moved to Steuben 
county in 1855, and he received his early education there in the dis- 
trict schools and in Woodhull academy. He attended lectures in the 
medical department of the University of New York, and graduated 
later at the Hanneman Medical College of Chicago. He then engaged 
in practice at ^lorrisville, and in 1890 took a post graduate course in 
Hanneman hospital. After practicing awhile in Albion and Batavia 
he went to Caledonia in 1899. He is a member of the American 
Institute of Homeopathy and the Western New York Homeopathic 
Medical Society. 

Dr. George C. Jones, late of Geneseo, was born in Steuben county in 
1855. He graduated from the Rogersville Union Seminary in 1874, 
then taught schools six years and then entered the medical depart- 
ment of Buffalo University, from which he graduated in 1886. He 
first practiced in Scottsburg nine years, and moved from there to 
Geneseo in 1895, where, after a successful professional career, he died 
in 1903. At that time he was president of the county medical society, 
and for years before had been its treasurer. 

Dr. F. W. Green has practiced medicine in Geneseo since his grad- 
uation in 1889. He was born in Nunda in 1844. His later schooling 
was in Dansville Seminary and Nunda Academy. He enlisted at the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 613 

breaking out of the civil war, when only seventeen years old, and par- 
ticipated in a number of important battles. On account of a wound, 
he received an honorable discharge in 1864 when he returned to Nunda 
and engaged in teaching. • He was elected school commissioner for the 
southern district, and held the office six years. Then he took up the 
study of medicine, and in due time graduated from the medical 
department of Buffalo University. 

Another Springwater physician is Dr. Allen B. Becker, and he was 
born there in 1860. He was educated in the Geneseo State Normal 
School and the University of Baltimore, graduating from the latter 
institution in 1890. Since then he has practiced in his native village 
and town. 

Dr. Charles H. Richardson was born in Churchville in July, 1840, 
and died in Livonia in IMarch, 1904. After a course of study in the 
Riga and Webster academies he entered the Buffalo LTniversity, and 
graduated from its medical department in February, 1860. He then 
served a few months in the Buffalo General hospital, and in Decem- 
ber, 1860, went to Livonia and commenced practice. In 1862 he was 
appointed assistant surgeon in the 104th regiment N. Y. V., and went 
to the front. He was in the military service two years and eleven 
months, and was present at every notable battle of the Army of the 
Potomac from the second of Bull Run to the surrender at Appomat- 
tox. For several months he acted as surgeon chief of the artillery 
brigade of the corps, for some time had charge of a division hospital, 
and was promoted from assistant surgeon to surgeon. He resumed 
practice in Livonia soon after the close of the war, and was kept busy 
by his numerous patients until a short time before his death. He was 
elected supervisor of the town three times, and was president of the 
village five years. 

Dr. George Henry Jones is a Fowlerville physician who was born in 
Ontario county in 1855. He moved to Livingston county with his 
parents when he was eight years old, and soon afterward to LeRoy. 
He graduated at the Academic Institute in LeRoy in 1873, and from 
the medical department of Michigan University in 1877. He took 
charge of Dr. Clark's office in Batavia for a short time, and then set- 
tled down to practice in Fowlerville, succeeding Dr. F. P. Stickney. 
He has served nine years as coroner and seven years as U. S. pension 
examiner. 



614 HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Dr. J. Ten Eyck Bettis was born in Albion in 1846, and was edu- 
cated in the Albion public schools and academy. He studied medicine 
in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical college, and graduated from it 
in 1869, then took a post graduate course in the New York Homeopath- 
ic college, graduating from this in 1876. He practiced a short time 
in Albion and Nunda, and then went to Livonia, where he has remain- 
ed in successful practice. 

Dr. Frederick Augustus Wicker has practiced medicine at Hemlock 
and in the town of Livonia since June, 1889. He was born in Con- 
necticut in 1863, but became a resident of Livingston county with his 
parents in 1870. He graduated from the Geneseo State Normal 
School in 1884, took a one-year course in Williams college, then pur- 
sued his. general studies in the Rochester University, and his medical 
studies in the Buffalo University, from which he graduated in 1889. 
He has been postmaster four years and president of the Hemlock Lake 
Agricultural society two years. 

Dr. John P. Brown of Nunda was born in Springwater in 1853. He 
was a pupil in the Geneseo State Normal School two years, and taught 
six years in various schools, during which period he attended medical 
lectures at the Buffalo University, and afterward continued his medi- 
cal studies in the University of New York, from which he graduated 
in 1881. He first practiced in Tuscarora nine years, and then went to 
Nunda, where he has had a large practice. He is a member of the 
New York State and American Medical Societies. He has been presi- 
dent of Nunda village four terms. 

Dr. John Denton was born in Ulster county in 1852. His academic 
studies were pursued at Monk's private school in Elmira, and his pro- 
fessional studies in the medical department of Bellevue hospital, from 
which he graduated in 1879. Then he began practice in Moscow, 
succeeding Dr. L. A. Denton, his brother, and was there until 1891 
when he moved to Retsof, succeeding Dr. D. V. White, and remains 
there. In addition to his regular practice he is physician for the Ret- 
sof Mining company and the Genesee and Wyoming railroad. 

Dr. Robert Rae is a practitioner in Portageville. He was born in 
Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1835, lived there until he was twenty years 
of age, and attended the parish school and the Wallace Hall academy. 
He then began the study of medicine at the Edinburgh Medical col- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 615 

lege, and later, in 1858, continued it in the University of New York, 
from which he graduated. He located for practice in Portageville, 
but enlisted in 1862, and was appointed assistant surgeon of the 130th 
N. Y. v., known as the First New York Dragoons^ He was captured 
by the rebels in June, 1864, and confined in rebel prisons until Decem- 
ber of that year, when he was exchanged. Afterward he remained 
with his regiment until the close of the war, and during seven weeks 
of the time was under fire at the siege of Charleston. He was pro- 
moted to the position of major. He resumed practice at Portageville 
after the army was disbanded, and has had an extended ride in Liv- 
ingston and ^Wyoming counties. He has held the office of coroner 
many years, and for twelve years was a member of the board of pen- 
sion examiners. He is a member of the New York State Medical 
Society. 

Dr. Isaac A. M. Dyke was born in Belmont, Allegany county in 
1854 and was educated in the Lewis private graded school of that vil- 
lage. He began the study of medicine with Dr. P. Baker of Andover, 
remained with him three years and then entered the Bufl:alo Univers- 
ity, and in 1876 graduated from its medical department. In April of 
that year he opened an office in York and has practiced there ever 
since. His ride extends over many miles in all directions, and he has 
been remarkably successful in the treatment of intricate and critical 
cases. He is now supervisor of the town of York. His great grand- 
father was on the staff of General Washington in the war of the 
Revolution. 

Dr. Frederick J. Bowen is a Mt. Morris physician. He was born 
in Harmony, Chautauqua county, in 1865. His education included 
courses in the Jamestown high school and the South Bend, Indiana, 
high school, from the latter of which he graduated in 1886. From 
1883 to 1888 he was assistant superintendent of the South Bend Elec- 
tric Light Company, and thus acquired the necessary funds for com- 
pleting his medical education, he having meanwhile studied consider- 
ably in the office of two South Bend physicians. He entered the Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, and graduated there in 
1890. He located in Tuscarora, N. Y., practiced in that place seven 
years, meanwhile taking a course in the New York Post-Graduate 
School of Medicine and serving several months in Randall's Island 



616 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

hospital He moved to Mt. Morris in 1897, and is still practicing 
there. He has been a U. S. pension examiner since President 
McKinley s first administration, and has been twice elected coroner. 

Dr. Solomon Taintor of East Avon was born in Colchester Con- 
necticut, in 1828. He was educated in the famous Bacon academy of 
that place. After teaching awhile he attended medical lectures at 
Woodstock Vt., and afterward continued his medical studies in the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. Ill health compelled 
him to desist for a time, but he finally returned and graduated in 
ISM. Again his health failed, and he engaged in the less exacting 
business of travel for a firm that was publishing county maps After 
his marriage in 1856 he attended medical lectures in Philadelphia and 
then went to East Avon, his wife's maiden home, and practiced there 
two years successfully, when lung troubles compelled him to stop 
During the civil war he was in the army awhile as a volunteer surgeon' 
Afterward he published maps as one of the firm of Matthews and 
laintor and then S. Taintor & Co., and on account of his health did 
not again return to professional work, but spent his last davs on a 
tarm, where he died on New Year's day, 1902. 

Dr. Fred R. Driesbach has practiced in Dansville since 1889 He 
was born in South Dansville, Steuben county, in 1865, was educated in 
the public schools, Dansville Seminary and Geneseo State Normal 
school, taking in the last a four-years course and graduating in 1886 
His medical education was obtained in Columbia Universitv where he 
received the degree of M. D. in 1889. From that vear until 1893 he 
practiced with Dr. James Crisfield in Dansville, and since then has 
continued practice by himself in that village. He is a skillful and 
popular doctor, and his standing may be inferred from the facts that 
he IS coroner of Livingston county, has been president of the board of 
pension examining surgeons since the beginning of President McKin- 
ley s administration, and has been one of the examiners since Har- 
rison's administration. 

Dr. B. P. Andrews graduated from the Homepathic Medical Col- 
lege of New York, in 1877 at the age of 21, and commenced practice 
in Dansville the same year, and has remained there with a steadily 
increasing practice. He is a native of Preston, Chenango county and 
his general education was obtained in its public schools and O.xford 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(iSTON COUNTY 617 

Academy. He is regarded by the profession as one of the leading 
physicians of the county, and often receives calls from patients in 
other villages and towns besides his own. As president and chief 
organizer of the Village Improvement Society of Dansville, he has 
done much to improve and beautify the village. His great grand- 
fathers on both sides were soldiers of the Revolution. 

Dr. Charles V. Patchin is the family successor of his father as a 
practitioner in Dansville, the latter having been one of its prominent 
physicians from 1840 until his deatli in 1869. Dr. Charles V. was 
born in Dansville in 1853. His academical education was obtained in 
the Dansville Seminary and Cook academy at Havana, N. Y. His 
medical education included three courses at Bellevue Hospital Medical 
college. New York, from which he graduated in 1881. From that 
time until now he has practiced in Dansville and his ready skill both 
as a physician and surgeon has given him plenty of professional work. 
He is a member cf the New York State Medical society, was one of 
the consulting physicians of the Dansville Medical and Surgical hos- 
pital during its existence, and is examiner for several life insurance 
companies. 

Dr. Albert E. Leach has practiced in Mt. Morris since May 1893. 
He was burn in Brooklyn in 186(>, and moved to Lyons with his 
parents when two years old, where he received his academic schooling, 
graduating in 1883. He then entered the Philadelphia school of Phar- 
macy, and then for a year or two was employed as a drug and pre- 
scription clerk. He entered the New York Homeopathic Medical col- 
lege, and graduated from it in 1891. He went to Rochester and prac- 
ticed a year with Dr. Collins, and while there served as interne in the 
Rochester Homeopathic hospital. From Rochester he went to Mt. 
Morris, where he has been a successful practitioner, and a health officer 
of the town for five years. Dr. Leach's great-grandfather on his 
mother's side, Comfort Smith, was one of the first pioneers of Lima 
and erected on Honeoye creek one of the first grist mills of the town. 
His father was a civil engineer of note, and assisted in the construc- 
tion of the Erie canal. 

Dr. Frank B. Dodge, another Mt. Morris physician, was born in 
Leicester, in 1857. He graduated from the State Normal school in 
Geneseo in 1877, and then took a medical course in the Baltimore Col- 



618 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



lege of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating from it in 1880 He 

chairln of h' ^TT ''''''"'^-^■' ^"^ ^'•" ^"'^« ^^e office, is 
cha.rman of the board of education, and was coroner for twelve years 

and WsVhilt' T '''"''"''''' «f ^'■^"-- Cook, William Latham 
toPlZZTl I ^"J.^^-^^^'"^ - 'he Mayflower from DeutschlancJ ' 
Leiceir '■ g^-"df-'her was one of the early pioneers of 

Dr. Robert J. Menzie has practiced in Caledonia nearly forty years 
He was born m the town of Riga in 1833. After studying in the dis 

at P.ttsfield awh.le, and afterward entered the Buffalo University 
where he received his medical diploma in 1866. He at once opened a^ 
and co" f k"- "^' ''' — -vatively remained there as'a healer 
the":;:' ^^'.^^^'="^"'-^--- °f the leading physicians of 
IndtheT vie' ^ "^"^ber of the American Medical Association 

and h? /" u ''""' "^ '"'''"'^^ h'"^^^'^ i" '°^^'' P"W-- affairs 

and has served as school trustee for eighteen years. 

Dr. Hugh Hill is a Dalton physician, and has been a life-long resi- 
dent of that place. He was born there in 1836. After recefvinea 

before the then board of censors, and opened his office in Dalton where 

district, state and national eclectic medical societies. 

Dr. Roy A. Page of Geneseo was born in Nunda in 1870, and received 

h.s preliminary education in the public school of that village He 

hen entered the New York Medical College, and graduated there in 

rrhe se tled'd"" V" '"' '" ''' "--opathic Hospital in Roches- 
ter, he settled down for practice in Geneseo, where he has had a grow- 
ing success by reason of faithful and skillful professional work 
. ^Z,"- LaMont is an Ossian physician and was born in that town 

he leffTh ^l I '?'"'' '" """ ^'""'"^ ^'^'^ N^^'"^' S'^hool after 

he left the district school, and then taught several years, but studied 
medicine during vacations. In 1877 he entered the Erie Medical col- 
lege in Cincinnati, and graduated there in 1880. His first practice 
was in Almond, Alleghany county, where he remained seven or eight 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 619 

years, and then moved to Nunda. In 1896 he went to his fine farm in 
Ossian, and since then has devoted much of his time to raising cattle 
and sheep, gradually giving up practice. He has served his town two 
terms as supervisor. His father was one of the "forty-niners" of the 
California gold fields, going there by ship around Cape Horn, and 
remaining four years. 

Dr. Will S. Trimmer of Livonia was born in Honeoye in 1861, and 
educated in that village and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, 
preparatory to teaching several years in village and district schools. 
He then entered the Pulte college of Cincinnati, O., and graduated from 
its medical department in 1889. He first practiced one year in 
Atlanta, N. Y., and moved from there to Livonia, where he has since 
been an active and prominent physician and citizen. He has been 
supervisor of the town and coroner several years. 

Dr. Frederick A. Strasenburgh of Avon was born at Port Sarnia, 
Canada, in 1862, and educated in the Toronto public schools. He 
studied pharmacy a year or more, and was a clerk in a Toronto drug 
store before entering the Buffalo University, for which he was well 
prepared by previous medical studies and his experience as druggist. 
He graduated at Buffalo in 1886, spent one year in practice at East 
Avon, then moved to Lima, practiced there twelve years, and 
then was in Rochester a year before moving to Avon, where he has 
acquired a large and lucrative practice including an extended country 
ride. He has held several local offices in Lima and Avon, and for nine 
years was coroner. He purchased a farm three miles from Avon a 
few years ago, and there keeps a fine herd of Jersey cattle. 

Dr. George W. Squires has practiced at East Avon ever since his 
graduation from the medical department of the Buffalo University in 
1883. He was born at Union Springs in 1857, moved with his parents 
to Churchville when he was five years old and obtained his preliminary 
education in the Churchville high school and Lima seminary. After 
getting his M. D. diploma he practiced two years with Dr. J. W. Craig 
of Churchville before locating in East Avon. He has been coroner 
and is now health officer. 

Dr. James E. Crisfield was one of the leading physicians of Dans- 
ville from 1873 until February, 1905, when he died greatly lamented by 
his neighbors and an extended circle of acquaintances. He was born 



620 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

in Seneca county in 1851. His academical training was in the Genesee 
Wesleyan vSeminary of Lima, where he prepared himself for college. 
He began the study of medicine with Dr. John W. Gray of Avon, and 
after remaining with him some time entered the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in New York, and graduated there in 1873. He started 
his practice in the town of York, but after three months moved to 
Dansville, where he acquired the largest practice probably of any 
physician in the county. He was known far beyond his own town and 
county as an able physician and surgeon, and was often called as a 
witness in legal cases requiring expert testimony. He was a member 
of the New York vState and Western New York medical societies, and 
had been one of the presidents of the county society. He was active 
in politics, public affairs and sports, was a member of the democratic 
county committee many years, a democratic state committeeman, 
a delegate to democratic state conventions, and in 1892 presidential 
elector. He was president of the village, supervisor four years, and 
postmaster of Dansville four years. He was vice president of the Mill 
Creek Electric Light and Power company and one of the incorporators 
of the Brae Burn Golf Club. 

Dr. John A. Morrisey is a practicing physician in Lima. He was 
born in Caledonia in 1867, and had educational training in the Cale- 
donia High School and Geneseo State Normal school. He studied 
medicine in the L^niversity of Michigan, and received the degree of 
M. D. from it in 18')5. He immediately settled in Lima, and has con- 
tinued his professional work there until now, with a growing practice 
which has included the successful treatment of many difficult cases. 
He has been town health officer for a number of years, and trustee of 
the village for tlie past four years. 

Dr. Frank E. Moyer of Moscow was born in ^It. Morris in 1847, 
and educated in the schools of that village and Nunda, after which he 
taught three years in district schools before taking up the study of 
medicine. He studied awhile with Dr. William B. Alley of Nunda 
and Dr. A. C. Campbell of Mt. Morris, after which he entered the 
Buffalo University, and received his medical diploma from it in 1872. 
He practiced one year in Mt. Morris, then three years in Tuscarora, 
and then established his office in Moscow, where he has remained, 
with an increasing practice. Dr. Mover is a member of the New 
York State and Central New York Medical societies and has been 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 621 

president of the latter. During President Cleveland's administration, 
he was examiner on the board of pensions. He has been a useful 
member of the Livingston County Historical society and one of its 
presidents. His father, Aaron Moyer, was one of the early settlers of 
Mt. Morris. 

Dr. Walter E. Lauderdale of Geneseo, whose father was a physician 
of repute and large practice in and around Geneseo for many years, 
was born in that village in 1850. After a course in the State Normal 
school he began the study of medicine with his father. Then he took 
courses in the Buffalo University, and the New York College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, and graduated from the latter in 1874. 



THE TOWNS. 



AVON. 

THE township of Avon, which originally included the town of 
Rush, Monroe county, and was Nos. 10 and 11 of Range 7, was 
named Hartford by Hosmer and Thompson, its first purchasers 
from Phelps, and the name was not changed to Avon until 1808. The 
town of Rush was set off in 1818. 

Avon is bounded north by Monroe county, east by Lima, south by 
Livonia and Geneseo, and west by York and Caledonia, the western 
dividing line being the Genesee river. 

Its area is 24,891 acres and its population in 1900 was 3071. 

About 1,000 acres of the town are river fiats, and the remainder 
consists of undulating uplands. The fertile alluvial soil has a substrat- 
um of gravely sand mostly, but in some parts gravely clay. Great 
yields of wheat were grown on them during the long wheat period of 
the Genesee valley, and they now produce a variety of fine crops. 
The most of the farms on the uplands are also of rich soil, and some of 
them are as productive per acre as the fiats. The farmers of the town 
are generally progressive, and watchful of agricultural improvement 
in methods and machinery. 

The Genesee valley in Avon and elsewhere has been made more pic- 
turesque and inviting as civilization has advanced by the thoughtful 
care of those who cut down the primeval forest in sparing selected 
trees for shade, and the tree-bordered Genesee is a winding liquid belt 
of perpetual beauty, on which long ago the flat boats plied between 
Rochester and Mt. Morris, some of them even going to iJansville. 
The southwestern corner of the town is traversed by the outlet stream 
of Conesus lake, and southerly section by a creek which starts from a 
large swamp in Lima and ends in the Conesus outlet below the hamlet 
of Littleville. 

The mineral springs in Avon have made their locality a popular 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 623 

health resort, and caused the construction of several large hotels with 
conveniences for baths in the medicinal waters. Bathing in them and 
drinking from them have effected many cures of diseases, some of 
which were of long standing. The springs are considered especially 
remedial in cases of rheumatism and skin eruptions. 

The Lower Spring originally formed a large pool, and was the one 
first used for curative purposes. The Indians had discovered some of 
its properties before the white man appeared, and came to it to be 
healed of diseases of the skin. The Upper Spring has similar medicinal 
qualities, and both are waters of hope for the sick. Other springs near 
by, discovered later, are known as the New Bath Spring, Long's Spring, 
Congress Spring and Magnesia Spring, and all of them have been 
much used for curative purposes. 

All these springs are within or near Avon village, once known as 
West Avon, and earlier as Can-a-wau-gus, the Seneca term meaning 
bad-smelling water. The village had a population of 1601 in 1900. 
It is in the northwestern part of Livingston county, at the junction of 
branches of the Erie railroad along the valley, and to Rochester and 
Buffalo and Corning. It lies mostly on the highlands above the valley, 
but partly on the fiats. It was incorporated May 17, 1853, and the 
first village election was held July 5, of that year. Its hotels, con- 
nected with the springs, continue to attract many guests, and it has 
various stores, fine churches, handsome dwellings, a good newspaper, 
and a large square adorned with a soldiers' monument. The churches 
are Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian and Catholic. A good union 
school and a Catholic school provide the home educational facilities. 
Absence of water power prevented the development of manufactories at 
this point. A library was established in 1805, and the "Avon Relig- 
ious Society" was organized in 1810. 

East Avon is a hamlet one and one-half miles east of Avon village. 
It became a little center of trade early in the century but has never 
grown beyond about 300 residents. It has some small manufactories, 
a general store, a hotel and a Presbyterian church. The church was 
organized in 1795 by Rev. Daniel Thatcher, and was the first church 
in the town. The foundry which turned out the famous Wiard plows 
was established there by Thomas Wiard, Sr. , about 1830 and the busi- 
ness was continued there until 1877, when it was moved to Batavia. 

Littleville, another hamlet, is one and one-half miles south of Avon 



624 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

village, just where the Conesus outlet cuts through the bluffs in its 
course to the Genesee. It is a few years younger than Avon village, 
and for a long time rivaled it in business because of its water power 
and machinery. The late E. H. Davis said: "Had the state road 
been run a little farther to the south and Avon village been located 
where Littleville now is, it is safe to assert that Avon would have 
been designated as the county seat instead of Geneseo. " The hamlet 
was named from Norman Little, who settled there in 1830. A Con- 
gregational church was built there in 1836, and the society continued 
many years under two successive resident ministers, but the member- 
ship slowly dwindled, and in 1884 the building was taken down and 
its timbers were put to secular uses in Avon village. Littleville's 
manuactures have included two flouring mills, a saw mill, a carding 
and fulling mill, two stills, and a foundry, in the last of which stoves 
were manufactured, and later the well-known and widely distributed 
Strouse plows. 

Down the stream a short distance were other manufacturing indus- 
tries. 

South Avon is a "huddle" three miles south of Avon village, with 
a post office. Formerly it had a store and hotel, but they were closed 
long ago. 

The first settlement of the tract of land which is now the town of 
Avon was begun in the spring of 1789, and the first settler was Gilbert 
D. Berry. He emigrated from Albany to Geneva, and after living 
there awhile, came to a spot near Canawaugus and put up a log 
tavern in which during many years settlers, explorers and travelers 
were housed and fed. He also opened a store there, and later estab- 
lished trading posts at Big Tree and the mouth of the Genesee river. 
He did an active business with the Indians, and sent furs to Albany on 
pack horses. When he built his tavern, and was about to seek some 
Indians to help him lift the heavy logs, a hunting expedition came 
along and put them in place for him, one of the hunters being the late 
Judge Hopkins of Niagara county. He was a busy pioneer for a few 
years, and after he died, in 1797, his wife managed the tavern. 

William Rice came to Avon the same year as Mr. Berry, and prob- 
ably settled there soon afterward, but the second settler was Captain 
John Ganson, an officer in Sullivan's expedition. He returned to the 
valley in 1788, and purchased land on the river two miles below Avon 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 625 

village, and now in the town of Rush. His sons John and James 
wintered there in a cabin in 1788-9, and their father and the rest of his 
family came on in the fall of 1789. The next winter he built a rude 
"tub mill" on a small stream which has now nearly disappeared, en- 
tering the river on the Markham farm. As boards were not obtainable 
the curb was made of hewed plank. The spindle was a straightened 
section of a cart tire, the grinding stones were quarried out of native 
rock and shaped on the spot, and hand sieves of splints were used in- 
stead of bolts. But the mill was an acquisition to the facilities of the 
region, and grain was brought to it from far-away clearings. Bough- 
ton hill was twenty miles distant, and Jared Boughton brought from 
there his buckwheat to be ground and mashed in the Ganson mill. It 
was the first flouring mill in the Genesee Valley, the historic Allen 
mill being opened for business several months later. Captain Ganson 
found that the title to his land, which was probably obtained from 
the Indians, was defective, and he was obliged to vacate it. His suc- 
cessor was Col. William iSIarkham, and Ganson, after remaining a few 
years longer in town, moved into a tavern which he had purchased 
near LeRoy, and made it a popular stopping place. 

Dr. Timothy Hosmer and Major Isaiah Thompson seem to have 
been the next settlers after Captain Ganson. They emigrated from 
Connecticut to the Genesee country in 1790, and purchased of Phelps 
the township of Avon (Nos. 10 and 11, Range 7) for a company consist- 
ing of themselves and three others. The price paid was eighteen 
pence an acre. At the suggestion of Dr. Hosmer the township was 
named Hartford after Hartford in Connecticut, and it was not changed 
to Avon until 1808. Major Thompson died of bilious fever the next 
season after his arrival; he had been a cavalry officer in the Revolu- 
tion and a brave soldier. Dr. Hosmer, after exploring the region in 
1790, went back in the fall to his Connecticut home, but returned the 
next year accompained by his son Frederick and Algernon Sydney, and 
built a log house for a home, where he established his family in 1792. 
Gad Wadsworth had come from Connecticut with Hosmer and Thomp- 
son, and in 1792 settled on lands in Avon which his relatives James 
and William Wadsworth had purchased, his farm being what was 
afterward the farms of his son Henry and Asa Nowlen, which include 
the Avon Springs. 

Colonel William Markham explored the wilderness of the Genesee 



626 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

country in 17S8, accompanied by surveyors and chain-bearers, and 
surveyed the first line from Canandaigua to the Genesee river. He 
became the possessor of Captain Ganson's land, after the latter found 
that his title would not hold, and thus the land became known as the 
Markham farm, famous for two things — the first flouring mill in the 
valley, and the "king elm" elsewhere described. 

John Kelsey was one of the earliest settlers, and in 1798 brought 
the first cargo of salt that came from Onondaga by water and around 
the portage at Genesee Falls. For this salt he paid a pound of pork 
a bushel, and sold it for $10 a barrel. 

Others who settled in Avon about the end of the eighteenth and 
beginning of the nineteenth centuries were John P. Whaley, Benjamin, 
John, Jesse, Joseph and David Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Waters 
(the latter a sister of the Pearsons), John Beach, Stephen Rogers, 
Pantry J. Moore, Joseph Rathbone, Gideon Dunham, and a little 
later the Bensons, Johnsons, Campbells, Chapels, Bonds, Riggses, 
Hendees, Millers, Demings, Littles, Todds, Pecks and Beckwiths. 

The Avon pioneers were nearly all from New England, and nearly all 
the New Englanders from Connecticut. 

The next Avon tavern after Berry's was built by Nathan Perry, 
who was its landlord. It was a frame house located on the north side 
of the present square in Avon village. A popular tavern four miles 
west of the river was opened by Isaac Smith in 1800, and became a 
favorite stopping place of the pioneers west of the river. The tavern 
known as the "Hosmer Stand," noticed elsewhere, was built in 1806. 

The first saw mill was built by Timothy Hosmer at Littleville on 
the Conesus outlet in 1796. Paul Knowles and Judge Riggs pur- 
chased the Hosmer property there about 1807, and soon afterward 
a still and carding mill were put up near by, the former by Judge 
Riggs and the latter by Paul Knowles. In 1810 Judge Riggs built a 
flouring mill there, and later another distillery. 

The first school house was made of logs, and located in Avon village 
near the site of the present Episcopal church. The precise date of 
its construction is not on record, but probably it was near 1800. 
Judge Hosmer read the Episcopal service in it on Sundays. 

In 1813 Avon had 5 saw mills, 1 grist mill, 6 distilleries and 1 card- 
ing and cloth-dressing mill. In families there were 76 looms, the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 627 

annual product of which was 21,325 yards of woolen, linen and cotton 
cloths. 

Returning to the pioneers, Gilbert R. Berry, who has been men- 
tioned as the first settler, first builder and first landlord of the town- 
ship, married a granddaughter of Hendrick Wemple, who was the 
interpreter for General Herkimer in his interview with Brant at Una- 
dilla, previous to the fight at Oriskany, and a very efficient wife she 
proved to be. His large business with the Indians has been referred 
to. He became General Chapin's local Indian agent, and kept in 
communication with his principal and the Buffalo post by means of 
an Indian runner named Sharp Shins. He was a young man when 
he died in 1797, after which his wife carried on the tavern — which was 
known as "Widow Berry's tavern"- — with an increasing popularity. 
She also had charge of the rope ferry across the river at Canawaugus, 
which her husband had established. 

Dr. Timothy Hosmer, who came from Farmington, Conn., with 
Major Isaiah Thompson to purchase the township in 1790, had served 
as surgeon in the Sixth Connecticut regiment in the war of the Revolu- 
tion, and had a diploma of membership in the Society of Cincinnati 
signed by Washington as president and Gen. Knox as secretary. 
When he settled in Avon in 1791, and for several years afterward, he 
was the only accessible physician for other settlers in the clearings 
for many miles in all directions, and the Indians also went to him to 
be cured, calling him At-ta-gus, or healer of diseases. When Ontario 
county was organized he became one of its judges, and succeeded 
Oliver Phelps, the first judge — an office which he held until sixty 
years of age. He had literary tastes and a library of miscellaneous 
as well as medical books. His manners were courtly and his dress 
corresponded. He was the grandfather of W. H. C. Hosmer, the poet. 

Capt. John Ganson, who built the "tub mill, " and was obliged to 
abandon mill and land on account of a defective title, was both loved 
and feared by the Indians, who came to him for counsel, and whose 
drunken frolics he was strong enough to quell. 

Col. William Markham who succeeded Capt. Ganson at the mill, 
was one of the first members of assembly from Ontario county and 
one of the commissioners chosen to locate the county seat of Living- 
ston county. He was a public spirited and hospitable pioneer. 

Thomas Wiard, who went from Wolcott, Conn., and settled in Gen- 



628 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

eseo in 1804, moved from Genesee to a farm half a mile from East 
Avon the next year and lived on this farm until he died. He was 
active in local politics, and an enthusiastic worker in the campaign 
which ended in the election of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. 
He held the office of justice of the peace many years, and was elected 
supervisor of the town of Avon nine times and member of Assembly 
twice. He carried on three kinds of business — farming, blacksmithing 
and the manufacture of the famous plows. 

John P. Whalley settled in Avon in 1805. He had a notable ancestry, 
being a descendant of the Richard Whalley who sat as one of the 
judges of the high court of justice to try King Charles I, and which 
sentenced him to death, resulting in the accession of Cromwell to his 
high office, almost kingly, of Lord Protector. When Charles II be- 
came king the lives of the judges who tried Charles I were in danger, 
and two of thein, Whalley and Goflf, came to America and remained in 
seclusion. 

The "Hosmer Stand," built in Avon by James Wadsworth in 1806, 
was first occupied by Nathan Perry as lessee, then by Finley and 
Lovejoy as proprietors, then became the property of Algernon Sydney 
and William T. Hosmer, and was managed by Timothy Hosmer, and 
wife, who made for it an enviable reputation. Col. W. H. C. Hosmer, 
the poet, a nephew of Timothy, said that the Senecas called the tavern 
Jo-win-sta-ga, meaning "big fire," and referring to the capacious fire 
place with big back logs and firesticks and flaming fagots piled high 
in winter. The poet said the roar of its chimney was sweeter than 
bird music to the chilled Indians, and added: "Generals Jacob Brown 
Scott, Ripley, Hall and their military found rest and refreshment 
under the tavern's ample roof and Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-king of 
Spain, Louis Philippe, Commodore Perry, the exiled hero of Hohen- 
linden, General Moreau and Marshal Grouchy, the marplot of the 
Waterloo campaign, were among the distinguished names inscribed 
on its register." 

James Hosmer was brought from Connecticut to Avon by his par- 
ents. Graves and Amy Hosmer, in 1801. He lived in the town until 
he died in 1880, and was prominent in town and neighborhood aflFairs. 
His father was a midshipman in the Continental navy one year during 
the Revolution. 

When Charles Kellogg came from Connecticut in 1810 his family 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 629 

consisted of nine children. Ephraim Hendee came the same year 
with six children. 

Benjamin, John, Jesse, Joseph and David Pearson, brothers, settled 
a little east of East Avon in 1797. 

Col. Jonas Hogmire of Maryland came to the Genesee country about 
1801, and purchased of Mr. Wadsworth on the river in Avon 1,500 
acres of land, on which his sons, Conrad and Samuel, afterward re- 
sided. The father remained in Maryland. 

Col. Abner Morgan was a later settler but he had a career to be 
noted. He graduated at Harvard College, Mass., in 1763, practiced 
law in Cambridgeport, and there in 1775 was commissioned major 
and adjutant in the first regiment of Continental troops raised in 
the war of the Revolution. This regiment formed a part of the force 
with which General Benedict Arnold joined Montgomery before Que- 
bec, and after Montgomery was killed and Arnold disabled Major 
Morgan took command and led the last attack of Jan. 1st, 1776, which 
was repulsed by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. He came 
to Avon in 1828 and died in December, 1837, at the age of 100. 

John Pierson moved from Connecticut to Schenectady county, N. 
Y., in 1767, when twenty-one years old, and moved from that county 
to Avon in 1797. He had nine children, and one of his sons, Freder- 
ick B., acquired notoriety for the excellence of his stock farm, a part 
of the stock being fine horses. 

Col. Samuel Blakeslee came from Connecticut to Avon in January, 
1808. He had an excellent military record, and was esteemed by his 
neighbors as a kind, genial and conscientious man. He was only 
• fifteen years old when the war of the Revolution broke out, and the 
next year, or as soon as he was old enough to be accepted, enlisted, 
and afterward re-enlisted for three years. After much marching and 
some fighting he was placed in a brigade of infantry commanded by 
Gen. Wayne, and assisted in the successful storming of Stony Point 
fort. At the end of his term of enlistment he was honorably discharged, 
and after the war held prominent positions in the militia. He was 
also elected a member of the Connecticut General Assembly. In the 
war of 1812 he started for the front from Avon with 33 exempts, which 
were augmented by volunteers in Batavia to 230. (ien. Hall directed 
all the eastern troops to report to him, and he soon distinguished him- 
self for skill and bravery. He and his men did hard fighting at Black 



630 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Rock, where he was complimented by some of the British officers 
whom he encountered. He died in 1834. 

George Hosmer was twelve years old when his father came to Avon 
His early studies were with Rev. Ebenezer Johnson of Lima, who 
tutored him. He studied law in the office of Nathaniel W. Howell of 
Canandaigua, was admitted to the bar in 1802, and opened his law 
office in Avon, being then the only lawyer west of Canandaigua. He 
was an able advocate, and his professional business became large for 
that time. He was associated with all the important trials in this 
section of New York and was in the habit of attending the courts in 
Albany and Buffalo. He was the first district attorney of the county 
and member of assembly in 1824, and in this office distinguished him- 
self as a debater. In the war of 1812 he served on the frontier as aide 
of Major General Amos Hall, who extolled him for his braverv and 
alacrity. He died in 1861. 

The best known and most talented of the later Hosmers was the 
poet, W. H. C. Hosmer, the author of various poems which recite in 
beautiful verse the Indian traditions of the Genesee Valley. He was 
born in Avon village in 1814, graduated from Hobart' college in 1837 
read law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law'until 1854,' 
when he received an appointment in connection with the New York 
custom house. He served in the civil war, and afterward devoted 
himself to literature and public lecturing. It is said that Horace 
Greeley was the discoverer of his uncommon poetical gifts. His 
most important poetical works are Yonnondio, The Fall of Tecumseh 
Warriors of the Genesee, Indian Traditions and Songs, The Months' 
Bird Notes and Legends of the Senecas. Many of his Indian tradi- 
tions and legends were gathered from the Indians themselves, whose 
language he learned, and with whom he talked much in his younger 
years. He died in 1877. A more extended sketch of this gifted man 
elsewhere appears. 

Dr. James Rice wrote a letter to Norman Seymour in 1877 from 
Patchogue, L. I., where he was practicing medicine, relating his 
grandmother's story about his father, the first white babv born in the 
Genesee Valley. She was living at Canandaigua. then called Cana- 
doc, when Gen. Sullivan's army passed through, and did washing for 
the officers. From there she went to Canawaugus, and lived among 
the Indians several years before any white family came into that 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 631 

region. Her child was born among them before she had a house to 
cover her, and they regarded with curious interest the first white baby 
they had ever seen, and would often borrow him for a few hours. 
They called him "Little Canawagus." The year of the child's birth 
is not given. He learned the Seneca language, and did not speak a 
word of English until he was five years old. His mother thought he 
would have been always called Canawaugus if Mr. Phelps had not given 
him a hundred acres of land, on account of which circumstance he was 
named Oliver Phelps Rice. 

Among the residents of Avon who took part in the war of 1812 were 
Col. Samuel Blakeslee, George Hosmer and Captain Ezekiel Wads- 
worth, all of whom distinguished themselves by bravery in the fight 
at Black Rock. Col. W. H. C. Hosmer said that "Avon lost more 
men in defense of our invaded frontier than the county of Niagara." 
He has also stated that there are evidences that one of the decisive 
battles between the French under DeNonville and the Senecas under 
Cannehoot took place in Avon not far from the railroad bridge across 
the Genesee. 

The Markham Elm on the bank of the Genesee, two miles north of 
Avon village, in Rush, once a part of Avon township, has been one of 
the renowned landmarks of the Genesee Valley, but its last vestiges 
have now almost disappeared, its rapid decay commencing in 1852, 
when it was accidentally set on fire by some careless sportsmen. In 
1857 it measured twenty-si.x feet nine inches in circumference, and its 
estimated age was over a thousand years, according to Lossing, the 
historian. The late George H. Harris stated that the diameter of 
the trunk in the smallest place below the branches was over eleven 
feet, and just below them the circumference was thirty-eight feet, 
while three feet above the ground it was forty-five feet. The limbs 
were remarkably long and slender, and at noon the foliage shaded an 
acre of ground. It was the king tree of the Genesee Valley. The 
Indians made the locality a general camping ground, and under the 
big elm the tribes held council fires. It was on the farm where Cap- 
tain John Ganson located when he returned to the valley after the 
Sullivan expedition, to the ownership of whose land and mill Col. 
William Markham succeeded, as elsewhere stated. 

The trustees of the first library established in Avon, in 1805, were: 
A. Sidney Hosmer, Job Pierce, Joshua Lovejoy, Jehiel Kelsey, Ekan- 



632 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ah Whitney James Lawrence, William Markham, George Hosmer 
and Stephen Rogers. 

When the "Avon Religious Society" was organized in 1810 the fol- 
lowing trustees were chosen: John Pierson, George Hosmer, Nathan- 
iel Bancroft, John Brown, Ezekiel Mosely and William Markham 
At the organization meeting Samuel Bliss and Asa Clark presided 
Iheir preacher before and afterward was Rev. John F. Bliss. 

The earliest of the town records are for 1797, and at that time Ebe- 
nezer Merry was supervisor, William Hosmer town clerk, and Timo- 
hy Hosmer and Gad Wadsworth commissioners of highways In 
1798 the supervisors and town clerk were the same as in the previous 
year, the assessors were: John Beach, John Hinman and John Pearson 
the commissioners of highways Stephen Rogers, Josiah Wadsworth 
and John Markham. 

A census taken in 179U showed a population of ten families sixty- 
six persons. ' • ^ 

At the election in Avon for Governor in 1800, George Clinton re- 
ceived 25 votes and Stephen VanRenselaer 41 votes. 

When the first election for Avon village was held on July 5th, 1853 
the following first officers were chosen: Trustees, George Hosmer' 
Orville Comstock, James Hosmer, David Brooks, Benjamin P Ward- 
Assessors. Joseph F. Miller, Orin H. Coe, Curtis Hawley ; collector' 
rhomas C. Chase; treasurer, John Sabin; clerk, Charles A. Hosmer- 
fire wardens, Edwin M. Price, Darius M. Gilbert, William W Tones' 
pound master, William E. Pattee. 

Avon was well and worthily represented in the civil war, but town 
records are meagre on the subject. In August, 1863, the town voted 
$300 for the relief of the wives and children of drafted men, and in 
November. 1863, the additional sum of $1,000 for the same purpose 
m August, 1864, a special town meeting was held at which it was re- 
solved that the town clerk be authorized to issue town bonds bearing 
interest at seven per cent, to pay each volunteer for three vears $400 
in addition to all other bounties, and $200 for each volunteer for one 
year, the bonds to be paid in five annual installments. At another 
meeting in September the town was authorized to pay $1,000 to each 
recruit under the last call of the President for 500,000 men, provided 
the recruits or their substitutes were credited on the quota of Avon 



m 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



633 



In February, 1865, the town voted to pay $300 for one year men, 
$400 for two year men, and S600 for three year men. 

The soldiers' monument on the square in Avon village was erected 
by the town at a cost of §3,000, the superintending committee being 
E. H. Davis, J. A. Dana, Orange Sackett, Jr., ]\Iatthew Wiard and 
Hugh Tighe. The monument was accepted February 17, 1877. It is 
a fine granite structure forty-five feet high, and the names of forty 
civil war soldiers who went from Avon are inscribed thereon, with 
the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness and At- 
lanta. The column is surmounted by a marble statue of an infantry 
soldier. 



The supervisors of Avon have been as follows: 



Tliomas Wiard 1821-22-29-30-35-42-45 

Asa Nowlen 1823-24-25-26 

Win. T. Hosmer 1827-28-34 

David Firman 183 1 

Tabor Ward T832-33 

Curtis S. Hawley 1S36-37-48-51 

Matthew P. Thomas 1838-39-40 

Richard Toreuce 1841 

Lewis Chandler 1843-44 

Aaron Barber, Sr 1846 

Amos Dan n 1847 

Norman Chappel 1849-50-53-54-55-56 

Charles L. Shepard 1852-57 

Matthew Wiard 1858-59-60-76 

Hiram B. Smith 1861-62 

Russell Beckwith 1861 



George D. Cutler 1864 

Jame s Hosm e r 1865 

George W. Swan 1866-67-68 

Charles H. Marsh 1869-70 

Homer Sackett 1871 

George D. Dooer...... 1872-73-74-75-77-85 

Aaron Barber, Jr 1878-82-83-84 

W. R. Newman 1879-80 

J. A. Dana 1881 

E. H. Clark i886 

R. S. Taintor 1887 

Frank N. Isham 1888 

Wm. Carter 1889-90-91-92-93 

Lewis Tripp 1894-95-96-97 

Walter H. Sherman 1898-99-00 

Frank E. Hovey 1901-02-03 



Assessed valuations and tax rates of the town have been as follows: 







Tar Rate 






Tar R«te 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valuation 


on tlOOO 


1875 


Valuation 


on $1000 


1890 


Valuation 
2,361,000 


on»1000 


i860 


1,122,186 


6.99 


2,275,354 


6.29 


5.28 


I86I 


1,141,282 


6.8s 


1876 


2,147,748 


5-59 


1891 


2,440,950 


4-13 


1862 


1,088,341 


9.24 


1877 


2,085,803 


7-25 


1892 


2,267,057 


5.86 


1863 


1,089,563 


12.96 


1878 


2,031,509 


5-04 


1893 


2,390,477 




1864 


1,089,907 


17.30 


1879 


2,149,106 


4.18 


1894 


2,323,709 


4.96 


1865 


1,077,147 


38.20 


1880 


2,181,566 


6.23 


1895 


2,344,018 


5-27 


1866 


1,272,925 


21.50 


1881 


2,229,294 


4.12 


1896 


2.301,509 


4.89 


1867 


1,077,429 


18.00 


1882 


2,240,582 




1897 


2,34^901 


4-45- 


1868 


1,098,878 


14-75 


1883 


2,534,720 


3-i6 


1898 


2,372,745 


4-42 


1869 


1,100,451 


8.60 


1884 


2,459,203 


2.96 


1899 


2,333,919 


5-17 


1870 


1,098,347 


10.77 


188s 


2,563,382 


3-82 


1900 


2,347,775 


4.60 


1871 


1,093,485 


11.87 


1886 


2,433,679 


5-25 


1901 


2,335,210 


4.16 


1872 


1,102,225 


15-35 


1887 


2,397,019 


5-03 


1902 


2,368,157 


3-37 


187.^ 


1,095,41s 


12.04 


1888 


2,535,698 


5-09 


1903 


2,399,112 


2.79 


1874 


2,167,418 


5-17 


1889 


2,535, "4 


6.13 









634 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

LITTLEVILLE. 
By the late Hon. E. H. Davis. 

About one .rile ind a half south of Avon village, where the Conesus 
outlet cuts through the bluffs to reach the Genesee river, a little pic 
turesque hamlet greets the eye as you drive by the old stage route 
from Geneseo to Avon. To contemplate now its drowsv listlessness 
one would hardly imagine that it was once a busv little manufacturing 
mart, hardly second in that respect to any other place in the county 
1 he rapidly descending Conesus furnished ample water power for the 
driving of machinery, and it was utilized at an early day The vil- 
lage of Avon antedates it by a few years, but for a long time in a 
business point of view, Littleville was a warm rival. Had the' State 
road been run a little farther to the south and Avon had been located 
vvhere Littleville now is, it is safe to assert that Avon would have been 
designated as the county seat instead of Geneseo. At the time that 
question was agitating the county and the strife was narrowed down 
to the two towns of Avon and Geneseo, Littleville was soberly and 
earnestly considered as a compromise. Should the history of a place 
which just escaped immortality, be suffered to pass into oblivion' 
Ihe gathering and preserving such records as these that only exist in 
the memories of the few survivors and their descendants, is the high- 
est and the most useful work that any Historical Society can engage 
m. In the attempt to rescue this little hamlet, fast floating ou"t of 
sight and memory upon the waters of oblivion there must necessarilv 
occur mistakes and omissions, as the writer has had to depend mainly 
upon the memory of the descendants of its earliest settlers, more par- 
ticularly those of Paul Knowles who settled there in 1807- but if the 
writing of this little sketch shall lead to a fuller and more correct his- 
tory of the place he will feel himself amply repaid and it will be a 
pleasure to make all needful corrections in the records as they shall 
finally remain the property of this society. 

The first proprietor of the territory of Littleville was a man named 
Lovejoy, but it soon became the property of Dr. Timothy Hosmer 
who with Major Isaiah Thompson purchased the township of Avon in 
1790. The first saw-mill erected in Avon was built by Timothy Hos- 
mer of Littleville in 17%, directly opposite the flouring mill on the 
south side of the stream. About 1807 Paul Knowles and Judge Riggs 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 635 

uncle of Merrit Riggs, purchased the property and in 1810 Judge 
Riggs built a flouring mill, and soon after a still and carding machine 
were built, the latter by Paul Knowles and the former by Judge Riggs, 
and both located between the mill and bridge. The first bridge was 
of wood and built in 1818. Paul Knowles retained the land on the 
west side of the main road, a portion of which is still retained and 
occupied by the family. Reuben McMillan was the next owner of the 
mill property, and so remained until about 1830, when Norman Little, 
after whom the place was named, became the proprietor of the mill 
and distillery, and in 1813 built a large store on the bluff above the 
mill and ran it in connection with his milling business. The carding 
mill was abandoned in 1834, and the distillery was not run after Mr. 
Little sold out, which was about 1837, and went to Michigan, being 
largely instrumental in locating and building up the city of Saginaw. 
Holum Hutchinson, a miller from Hutchinson's Hollow, on the Hone- 
oye outlet, became the next proprietor of the farm and mill, and soon 
after the store became the property of Wm. H. Chandler and son 
Lewis. Hutchinson took for partners Richard Williams of Pittsford, 
and Frederick Clark of Lima. Clark sold his interest to Curtis Haw- 
ley of Avon, who afterwards sold it to a Josiah Porter, of East Bloom- 
field, and he in turn sold his interest in 1852 to Paul Knowles, Jr., 
who retained it until his death in 1856. Horace Clark, a resident of 
the place, then became a partner of Williams, and about 1862 the 
Marsh Brothers and Dr. Campbell became owners of the mill property 
and christened it the "Glen Avon" mill. Marsh Brothers sold their 
interest to George W. Sherman about 1865, and after Dr. Campbell's 
death Mr. Sherman became the sole proprietor. It remained in his 
hands several years when he sold it to Griffin and Dobney, of Buffalo, 
who conducted it until it was destroyed by fire in 1878. In 1879 E. 
Light, of Hemlock Lake, purchased the site and built the present mill, 
of which he is still the owner. 

About 1825 Archibald Green, of Rush, built a foundry on the south 
side of the creek, nearly opposite the mill, and ran it for a time when 
it fell into the hands of Robert Martin, of Mendon, who conducted it 
for a long time; then it passed successively into the hands of Parmeley 
and Northrup, of Lima, George Babcock, of Henrietta, Yorks and 
Strouse, William Knowles and Ashur Merrill. In the meantime the 
foundry had been moved across the road and the land lease expiring, 



636 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTOxN COUNTY 

William Knowlfs about 1S40 rebuilt it on the bluff west of the mill 
and on the same side of the stream. About 1846 it was sold to Lewis 
Chandler who engaged in the manufacture of stoves, the principal 
pattern bemg the " North American. • ' Chandler closed his store about 
ISM, and the foundry passed into the hands of Samuel Strou.se who 
for years manufactured the celebrated Strouse plow so well and favor- 
ably known throughout Western New York. Some eight or ten rears 
ago this industry was moved to Avon. 

In 1836, so promising was the outlook the erection of a Congre- 
gational church was begun and soon after completed, but its mission 
was destined to be short. It had but two resident ministers Rev 
Hezekiah B. Pierpont, who retained the charge for eighteen years and 
was followed by the Rev. Mr. Hurlburt. This church was taken down 
and removed to Avon, and put to other uses about 1864. 

Lower down the stream, but somewhat disconn.ected with Littleville 
proper, other industries were started such as a woolen factory, saw 
mills and the somewhat famous Morton's flouring mill, and'all of 
which did a flourishing business, particularly the saw-mill while in the 
hands of Wm. E. Hall. 

The advent of the railroad threw the balance in favor of Avon, and 
with the exception of the milling interest, the industries of Littleville 
died out. As long as Avon had nothing but sulphur water to 
offer in competition Littleville was an able competitor, but the rail- 
roads and sulphur water combined proved too much for the busy and 
thriving little mart. 

.Many other places in the county have a similar history. The 
old Genesee Valley canal could tell a wonderful storv of changes that 
took place during its life time and which will soon be forgotten if not 
garnered by the local historian. Some of the best men of our country 
have been connected with these little centers of manufacturing and 
trade. Of Littleville, to name the Hosmers, the Riggs, the Littles 
the Knowleses, the Hawleys, the Chandlers, the Williamses, is to name 
some of the foremost men of the Genesee Valley in their day. 

AVON CHURCHES. 
In the latter part of 1806 a few of the inhabitants of the then town 
of Hartford united themselves in "covenant" and formed the Second 
Baptist Church of Hartford. Elder William Firman was called to be 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 637 

their pastor. In the fall of 1807 it had a membership of twenty-three. 
In 1808 the name of the church was changed to the Baptist Church of 
Avon. From this time until 1830 the place of meeting was about a 
mile east of East Avon. There is no way of ascertaining when Elder 
Firman ceased to minister here; but among those who had charge 
during the early years of the church were the Revs. Reuben Winchell, 
David Tenant, Philander Kelsey, S. Goodall, J. G. Stearns, E. Stone 
S. M. Bainbridge, William Curtis and S. F. Campbell. In later years the 
Revs. E. Nisbet, Thomas Rodgers, H. G. Nott, S. J. Lusk and B. F. 
Mace have been in charge. The students of the Rochester Theologi- 
cal Seminary rendered faithful service for many years. Another 
change was made in the title of the Church on the 18th of July, 1827, 
when it was named the First Baptist church of Avon. A church edifice 
was dedicated in 1830. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, EAST AVON.— The church thus 
designated was and is the First Presbyterian Church of Avon, being 
next oldest to Zion church at Avon Springs. When this church was 
organized East Avon was t//r village of the township. Consequently 
the first (non-prelatical) church, was located here. The church was 
organized A. D. 1795 by Rev. Daniel Thatcher. It maintained a 
dubious existence up to Nov. 10, 1810, when it was re-organized as a 
Congregationalist church. Rev. John F. Bliss was installed its first 
pastor in 1812. 

In the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Whittlesey in 1822 "the church united 
with the Presbytery of Ontario oii the 'accommodation' plan, but still 
remained Congregational until March 23, 1844, when it became fully 
Presbyterian by recognition of the Presbytery and election of a board 
of ruling elders. " For twenty years the church was served by only 
three pastors, an average of nearly seven years each. For thirty-two 
years thirteen stated supplies cared for the church. 

During a period of eighteen years neighboring clergymen gave tran- 
sient services to the church, some of these ministers (like Rev. Drs. 
Patton of Rochester and Ward of Geneseo) having previously won 
special distinction as scholars and metropolitan pastors, of large 
efficiency and popularity. 

In 1819 the church had seventy communicants. Its largest number 
(in 1839) was 150. In 1835 and in 1866 the church was greatly weak- 
ened and depleted by the dismission of many, to form new churches. 



638 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

About eight hundred persons have been connected with this church 
since 1810. 

The old brick church of East Avon was commenced in 1812. used for 
fifteen years in a more or less incompleted state until in 1827 it was 
finished and dedicated. In 1841 the church received its third pulpit 
and steeple. 

In 1845, Rev. Dr. Hopkins being pastor, a bell was procured which 
being cracked by patriots during the Civil war, was removed late in the 
autumn of 1903 and replaced by one bought in Kendall, of Mr Daniel 
Jones. In 1850, the late Dr. E. B. Walsworth, pastor, the parsonage 
was erected. In 1875, Dr. J. R. Page being minister, the church was 
furnished with a pipe organ, and the manse with a large and conven- 
ient study at an expense of over a thousand dollars. In 1879 the 
chapel was begun and was dedicated in 1880. 

Since 1881 the church has been served by Rev. Mr. Calkins Rev 
Mr. McKenzie, Rev. Mr. Robinson, now of East Bloomfield, and Mr 
Wm. W. Chambers, a graduate of Auburn. 

The present incumbent, Rev. Howard A. Hanaford, who came from 
the Congregationalists and from New England recentlv, was inducted 
into the acting pastorate January, 1903. 

The First Presbyterian Church has the largest Christian Endeavor 
society in this section of Livingston county, the second largest Prot- 
estant Sunday school in the town and about one hundred communi- 
cants, to which should be added no less than twenty-five other church 
members worshipping steadily with this church, and serving on church 
boards and in the Sunday school and Endeavor societies, there being 
at present no Baptist, Methodist or Episcopal church in the vicinity 
and the Baptist church of East Avon having disbanded, or ceased to 
hold services, the meeting house being sold. 

The first church essentially a "union" church is Presbyterian in 
polity, and with the recent softening of old time creedal rigors and 
the removal of sectarian fences, it hopes to remain true to the new 
Presbyterian faith and to its effective churchly order. 

ZION CHURCH at Avon was organized in 1827. The first 
steps thereto were taken at a meeting in the school house in West 
Avon on Monday, October 8th, of that year. A building committee 
was appointed to erect a church "at or near the public square. " The 
building was comp'cted the same year and was consecrated as Zion's 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 639 

Church by the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, Bishop of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of New York. The first regularly installed rector was 
the Rev. E. G. Gear. He was succeeded by the Rev. R. Kearney. 
The third was the Rev. Beardsley Northrop. Following him in suc- 
cession were the Revs. Thaddeus M. Leavenworth, Bailey, 

Samuel G. Appleton, P. P. Kidder, Bethel J add, D. D., George B. 
Eastman, Fortune C. Brown, Henry M. Brown, Francis Gilliat, James 
A. Brown, and others. James Wadsworth presented the church with 
a bell in 1830. The rectory was built in 1836. 

About 1834 there was organized at Littleville a church which was 
independent in its origin and originally Congregational in its govern- 
ment. But it was soon placed under the Presbytery and was known 
as the Presbyterian Church of Littleville. It had but two pastors, the 
Rev. John Hubbard and the Rev. Hezekiah B. Pierpont. During the 
pastorate of the latter its membership is said to have reached two hun- 
dred. After the close of this second pastorate the congregation rapidly 
dwindled and in 1864 the'church building was sold. 

THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Avon 
was organized in 1835. From this time the society was visited by 
circuit preachers until 1839, when the Rev. Calvin Coates became pas- 
tor. In 1840 the Rev. Eleazer Thomas became pastor and in 1843 the 
Rev. James M. Fuller took charge. The Rev. Richard L. Wait was 
pastor in 1844, the Rev. D. Hutchins in 1845 and the Rev. J. K. 
Cheeseman in 1846. 

ST. AGNES CHURCH of Avon was organized about 1850. 
About that time Father Maguire purchased the old Baptist church. 
This was rebuilt, and afterwards enlarged. Father Maguire became 
the rector in 1853 and was succeeded by the following pastors in suc- 
cession : Fathers O'Brien, Quigley, Bradley and O'Keefe. During the 
rectorship of the last named the brick church was built in 1869 at 
a cost of more than thirty-five thousand dollars. 

THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH of Avon was 
organized May 9, 1876, by a commission from the Rochester Presby- 
tery. The name "Central" was given to distinguish it from the First 
Church in East Avon and also in honor of Dr. Campbell, a member of 
the commission and pastor of the Central church, Rochester. It con- 
sisted of forty-two members. Rev. Dr. Bogue, its first pastor, began 



640 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

his pastorate the second Sabbatli in June, 1876. The Sunday services 
were held in Nisbet Hall, but in the fall were transferred to Opera Hall 
where they continued to be held till the church was readv for occu- 
pancy. The trustees from the beginning were: Messrs. Barker Hos- 
mer, Carson, Westfall and Stevens. A parsonage and lot were pur- 
chased and ground broken for the church July 9, 1877. The corner 
stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies September 4; the church 
parlors were occupied for services February 17. 1878, and the audito 
num August 18, 1878. On October 1 the church was dedicated and 
the pastor installed. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev 
Dr. Shaw of Rochester in the morning and in the afternoon t'he in- 
stallation sermon by Rev. Dr. Campbell of Rochester. 

After the church was finished the .society was in debt to the amount 
of $8,7^0. In 1881 a movement was made to remove the debt and 
after some unavoidable delay, in 1883 the church was entirely set free- 
a mortgage remaining on the parsonage of $1,675. In 1886 t'he society 
expended $2,200 in improving and enlarging the parsonage. In 1891 
not only had this amount been paid, but the mortgage was reduced 
to $1180. 

The amount of money raised by the society in the first fifteen 
years was, in round numbers, $50,100. From that time until 1001 the 
society had raised $16,758. In addition to the foregoing amounts 
$2,400 had been raised as an organ fund. 

In 1901 the indebtedness on the church property was a mortgage of 
$350. An organ fund was started in 1894. The cost of the organ was 
$2,400. It was first used at the recital given October 11, 1898 
Miss A. L. Pattee was the first organist. 

After a pastorate of 21 years Dr. Bogue was succeeded bv Rev A 
T. Harrington as stated supply, February 15, 1899. This relation con- 
tinued until October 18, 1899. On November 27 of the .same year 
Rev. Samuel W. Steele became pastor. 

Of the original members but si.x remain: Mrs. E. G. Sackett Sr 
Stephen Hosmer, A. W. DeWitt, Mrs. W. H. Griffith, Miss Kate m' 
Gallagher and Mrs. Hawthorne. 

The following interesting sketch of W. H. C. Hosmer has been 
contributed at the request of the editor. 

W. H. C. Hosmer known as the "Bard of Avon" was born at Avon 
May 26th, 1815, and died there May 23d, 1877. His father, Hon. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 641 

George Hosmer, was a man of liberal education, a fine classical 
scholar and an able lawyer. His mother was Elizabeth Berry, a 
daughter of Gilbert R. Berry, one of the pioneers of that country. He 
was a fur trader and owned the first ferry across the Genesee river at 
Canawaugus. 

The poet's grandfather. Dr. Timothy Hosmer, came to the "Gen- 
esee country" from Connecticut, in 1792, shortly after the Revolution. 
He was one of the patriots who pledged "their lives, their fortunes, 
and their honor, in the sacred cause of liberty," and served as a sur- 
geon in the Revolutionary war, a portion of the time on General 
Washington's staff. It became his duty to feel Major Andre's pulse 
after his death, and announce that fact to Washington. He used to 
tell his descendants that it was one of the saddest duties he ever per- 
formed. Dr. Hosmer was a man of fine education, and "a gentleman 
of the old scfiool; honest, high-toned and outspoken." Although not 
learned in the law, being a physician and surgeon by profession, he 
was made Judge of Ontario county, when it comprised a good share of 
the Genesee countr)' and held the first court of that county in 1794. 
Dr. Hosmer belonged to the "Order of the Cincinnati." He was the 
first white man to use the Avon Springs for curative purposes, and 
had the first bath house and sanatarium of that region attached to his 
hotel at Avon. He also gave the land upon which the quaint old 
Episcopal church is built at Avon. 

Dr. Hosmer came of a family with superior mental endowments 
and great patriotism. He was proud of the fact that there were four 
Hosmers in the fight at Concord Bridge. The second to fall was 
Abner Hosmer, and Major Joseph Hosmer formed the line on the 
Bridge that fateful day when our country became a world power. Dr. 
Hosmer's relatives, Hon. Titus Hosmer and Chief Justice Hosmer, were 
among the greatest men Connecticut ever produced. Dr. Noah 
Webster classed the first as one of the three "mighties'' of Connecti- 
cut, the other two being William Samuel Johnson, LL. D., and Oliver 
Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States. Both father and son were 
graduates of Yale. Titus Hosmer died at the age of 44, but he had 
been elected a representative of the General Assembly, 1773 to 177S. 
In 1777 he was speaker of the House of Representatives and had great 
influence in prompting the Legislature to the adoption of vigorous 
measures against Great Britain. He was also a member of the Coun- 



642 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

cil of Safety, and in 1778 a member of the Continental Congress. In 
1780 when Congress established a Court of Appeals, he was made one 
of the three judges, but died suddenly in 1780 before he could enter 
upon the duties of this appointment. 

Judge Titus Hosmer's son, Stephen Titus Hosmer, was a worthy 
son of a noble sire. He was made LL. D., by his alma mater, Yale 
College, and was Chief Justice of Connecticut for 14 years. His opin- 
ions and rulings on law have placed his name in the rank of the 
most distinguished and respected jurists, and more than all else, he 
was a person of the highest character and most blameless life. 

The first ancestor of the Hosmers came to this country and settled 
in Connecticut in 1630, from Hawkhurst, Kent Co., England. 

W. H. C. Hosmer was a student at Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, 
and a graduate of Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. He studied law 
with his father at Avon and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He 
entered into partnership with his father and remained with him until 
he was appointed chief clerk in the Navy Department of the Custom 
House in New York, in 1854, by President Franklin Pierce. Col. 
Hosmer, like his ancestors, was always an ardent Democrat, and his 
descendants are all firm believers in the principles of Democracy. At 
an early age he gave indications of his literary and poetic talents and 
became a contributor to the best publications of that day. Among 
these were the old New York Mirror edited by Horace Greely ; the Home 
Journal (now Town and Country) edited by N. P. Willis and George P. 
Morris; the Knickerbocker Magazine, edited by Willis Gaylord Clark; 
Graham's Magazine and the Rochester Union and Advertiser. 

Col. Hosmer was married in 1838 to Miss Stella Z. Avery, a daugh- 
ter of Hon. John H. Avery of Owego, Tioga Co., N. Y., one of the 
leading lawyers and prominent men of his time. 

Of their si.x children only two are living, Mrs. Sidney V. Arnold 
of Ipswich, South Dakota, and Miss Florence Hosmer of the same 
place. The oldest son, Dr. George H. Hosmer, was in the navy 
during the civil war and fought with Admirals Dewey and Schley at 
Port Royal. After the war he studied medicine with the eminent 
physician Dr. A. C. Campbell of Mount Morris, and graduated at the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city. He died in 
Joliet, 111., in 1889, having been the leading physician there for many 
years. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 643 

The second son, Charles Avery Hosmer was a volunteer in the 27th 
New York Infantry and was killed at Fredericksburg, Va., May 3d, 
1863, in his 13th battle, when he was 19 years old. His captain said 
of him that "in time of danger, he knew no fear. " "He lived as 
mothers wish their sons to live; he died as fathers wish their sons 
to die.'.' The youngest son, William M., a youth of great promise, was 
drowned at Owego, New York, when 15 years of age. He was at his 
grandAiother Avery's home, preparing for college at the Owego Acad- 
emy. One daughter died in infancy. 

In 1844, the poet published "Yonnondio," a poem describing events 
that transpired in the valley of the Genesee, during the summer and 
autumn of 1687; of the memorable attempt of the Marquis de Nonville, 
under pretense of preventing an interruption of their French trade, 
to plant the standard of Louis Fourteenth in the beautiful country 
of the Senecas. George D. Prentice, the poet-editor, said of W. H. 
C. Hosmer: "He was the first of the poets to sink a shaft into the rich 
vein of Indian tradition and legend; Longfellow and others are but 
squatter sovereigns, where he reigns king." This book was followed 
by the "Legends of the Senecas" and "The Months." Like most of 
his poems, the material was gathered from home sources; from the 
beautiful Genesee valley he loved so well. 

In 1854 all of his poems were gathered together and published by 
Redfield of New York in two volumes, and in 1873 D. M. Dewey of 
Rochester published "Later Lays and Lyrics." Many of these are on 
patriotic themes inspired by the civil war. Col. Hosmer is said to 
have raised more men for the war, by his eloquent appeals to their 
patriotism than any other man in Livingston county, and he enlisted 
himself in Barnes Battery in 1862, to show that he would not ask 
others to imperil their lives while he remained safely at home. He 
was appointed an aid to Captain Arnold, and kept a most interesting 
journal during his service, abounding in fine descriptions and unswerv- 
ing patriotism. This command was sent to New Orleans as a part of 
Banks' disastrous expedition, where disease and incapacity decimated 
the army faster than shot and shell. His youngest brother, George 
Hosmer, served in a New York cavalry regiment, in Virginia, and died 
in Andersonville prison. These Hosmers fought and died to preserve 
the Union their ancestors had fought and died to found. Col. Hosmer 
suffered from ill health during the last years of his life and died from 



644 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

disease contracted from exposure and lack of proper food while he was 
South. All who were on that fatal expedition who survived seem to 
have lost their health. Livingston county never had a more loyal 
and loving son than the poet, who threw a mantle of romance over the 
delightful "Genesee country," and he was never happy nor contented 
when absent from the scenes of his youth. He voices this sentiment 
in his poem "My own dark Genesee." 




CALEDONIA. 

The town of Caledonia, in the northwestern part of the county, is 
bounded north by Wheatland and east by Rush, both in Monroe 
county, south by Avon and York, and west by LeRoy and Pavilion, 
both in Genesee county. Area 26,199 acres. Population in 1900, 
2,072. 

The surface of the town is gently undulating except in the northern 
part, where it is quite uneven and broken. The eastern boundary line 
is the Genesee river. White creek rises in the northern part and 
flows southeasterly into the Genesee, and the Caledonia springs, also 
in the northern part, form another stream emptying into Allen creek. 
The springs are among the largest in the country, and have been one 
of the most interesting features of Livingston county from the earli- 
est settlement. The water rises from crevices of the cuniferous lime- 
stone rock formation, and is cold and pure, the temperature varying 
only a few degrees the year round. The outlet flow, always large, 
begins to rise in October, continues rising slowly until April, is even 
for about two months more, and then slowly diminishes until October 
again. When highest the discharge is about 8000 gallons a minute. It 
makes a good water power a few rods north of the spring, where the 
mills have been built. In the pond and along the stream a water 
plant, the chara fradills, grows summer and winter, and is food for 
a species of insect which multiplies rapidly, and is in turn a favorite 
food for trout. Thus the pond and outlet are the finest of trout wat- 
ers, and none better could be found for the state hatchery established 
there thirty years ago. 

The soil of Caledonia is a clay loam with a substratum of limestone, 
and is richly fertile almost throughout the town, producing fine crops. 
There are large deposits of marl extending over several acres about a 
mile east of Caledonia village, along the Lehigh Valley and New York 
Central railroad tracks, which have been made available lately by a 
company in the manufacture of large quantities of Portland cement. 
There are also quarries of building stone and gypsum which have 



646 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

been valuable. The original timber was largely oak, hickory, maple, 
chestnut and beech. 

Caledonia village had a population of 1 073 in 1900. It is in the 
northwestern part of the town, and is served for transportation by two 
railroads. The citizens are intelligent and public spirited, as is well 
illustrated by their public library, system of water works and good 
fire department. Its early settlement by Scotch Presbyterians has 
made the Presbyterian faith predominant in its religious life. 

Canawaugus, a small hamlet, is in the southeastern part on the Erie 
railroad. It was once a meeting place for Indian chiefs, and is sup- 
posed to have been the birth-place of Red Jacket. 

In 1797 all the territory in the state west of the Genesee river was 
constituted a single town of Ontario county, and called Northampton. 
The first town meeting of this extensive tract was held at Big Springs, 
now Caledonia, Gad Wadsworth presiding. In 1802 Northampton was 
separated from Ontario county and named Genesee county, and the 
same year the territory was divided into the towns of Leicester, Ba- 
tavia and Southampton. The Caledonia settlement was included in 
Southampton, and the town of Caledonia was set off in 1806. In 1812 
it was made smaller by the separation from it of a new town named 
Bellona, which is now the town of LeRoy in Genesee countv, and in 
1819 still smaller by setting off another section into a town now 
known as Wheatland, Monroe county. 

Two Englishmen named Kane and Moffatt were the first settlers of 
Caledonia. They arrived at Big Springs in 1795, and built there the 
first house, necessarily of logs, and kept tavern in it for three years, 
but being suspicious characters, accused of robberies, and even 
murder, other settlers finally drove them away. They were succeeded 
by L. Peterson and David Fuller about 1798, who built other log 
houses and entertained incoming emigrants and passing travelers. 

It was in 1798 that a number of families from Broadalbin, Perthshire, 
Scotland, emigrated to America. They arived in New York in April 
and immediately proceeded to Johnstown, now in Fulton county. 
Colonel Charles Williamson, agent for the Pulteney estate in the Gen- 
esee region, with characteristic enterprise went to Johnstown to see 
them and induce them to come to this land of promise. He offered 
them lands around Big Springs for $2 an acre, payable in wheat at 
si.x shillings a bushel, and agreed to furnish them i)rovisions until 



I 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 647 

they could provide for themselves. The ofifer was tempting, and they 
decided to send five of their number to the Genesee country to inves- 
tigate and report. Their names were Donald McPherson, Malcolm 
McLaren, Hugh McDermid, James McLaren and John D. McVean. 
Being out of money they were obliged to travel the two hundred miles 
on foot. They were pleased with the lands around Big Springs, and 
concluded to report in favor of settling there. When returning they 
met Colonel Williamson between Geneva and Canandaigua, and on 
the highway closed a written contract with him which secured to 
them the Big Springs lands. Donald McKenzie left notes of this trip 
and the settlement afterward of the Scotch families, in which he 
praised Colonel Williamson and said that they "found him more noble 
and generous than he had agreed or promised." The start of twenty 
of the Scotch company, women and children included, for their new 
home was made almost immediately after the return and report of their 
five representatives, and they arrived there in March, 1799, others 
remaining at Johnstown until the next fall and spring. The first ar- 
rivals included Peter Campbell and wife, Malcolm McLaren and wife, 
Donald McVean, Hugh McDermid and John McPherson. The fall 
arrivals were Donald McPherson, Donald Anderson and Alexander 
Thompson. All of them found temporary shelter and accommodations 
in the log guest houses of Peterson and Fuller. After looking about 
they agreed with Colonel Williamson to purchase 3,000 acres under 
his offered stipulations before stated, and because the purchase was a 
large one Colonel Williamson generously agreed to give them two 
hundred acres for the support of a minister, and two acres more on 
the state road on which to build a church and school house. They 
were an industrious and hopeful company, and the men began at once 
to put up log houses, clear away trees and cultivate the rich soil, their 
wives and children helping them as they could. 

Others soon followed from Johnstown and Scotland, and there were 
accessions to the little colony of their Scotch countrymen nearly every 
year for several years. Arrivals in 1800 were John and Daniel Ander- 
son, John Christie and family, John McLaren, Major Isaac Smith, 
Smith McKercher and his sons, Peter and John. Afterward, and 
before or during 1804, came John McKay, and his mother and sister 
Jeannette, Alexander McDonald, his wife, son Donald and daugh- 
ters Jeannette and Catherine, Robert Whaley, William Arm- 



648 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTOxN COUNTY 

strong, Angus Cameron and his three sons, Duncan, Donald and John 
I hey experienced privations, but soon became attached to the land 
of their adoption and the new republic that had just been formed in 
which they were not subject, as in the monarchy which they left be- 
hind, to various oppressions including impressment into the navv to 
fight against France. Colonel Williamson was more than faithful to 
his promises in furnishing them with needed provisions and means 
or cul tivating the land. The wheat they used at first was grown in 
Dansville and ground at the mill in Conesus, but in 1802 thev had a 
flouring mill at home, which was built on the outlet of the springs by 
Colonel Williamson. It was a small mill, with one run.of stones and 
^.'as the second flouring mill built west of the Genesee river. John 
McKay purchased the mill and two hundred acres of land, which in- 

i"nnn ^^u 'P""^'' '^' °"'''' ^"'^ ''^" '''' "^ ^^^"'^^ford, in 1803 for 
*-,UOU. Ihe next year he erected a saw mill on the outlet There 
was no other flouring mill in Caledonia until 1814. when one was built 
by Moses Gibson and Colonel Robert McKay on a stream near the 
^ork line. The mills made the progress of the farmers more rapid 
and were conveniences which the settlers in other towns were slower 
in obtaining. 

Other settlers not named who came about 1804, and perhaps some 
of them a little earlier, were Duncan McCall and son, Donald, Lachlan 
Daniel James and Neil McLean, all brothers, Archibald Gillis, Archi^ 

Co hn GUlLs and John McKenzie. The most of the.se men broughi 
with them their families, and others followed; the Scotch settlen^ent 
was increasing rapidly. The most of the settlers for the first few 
>-ears were Presbyterians of the strictest sort, some of them with the 
Westminster confession at their tongue's ends. It was probably a 
more religious and moral community at that period than almost any 
other in the Genesee country, and this fact contributed not a little to 
Its prosperity. 

The pioneers soon felt the need of a school hou.se for their children 
and having met and resolved to have one, cau.sed it to be built-of 
course with logs-in 1803 near the centre of the settlement, where the 
hrst teacher was probably Alexander McDonald. On Sundays the 
people met there regularly for religious worship, consisting of pravers 
readings from the Bible, comments and exhortations; and PeterFar- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 649 

quharson, who was better educated than his neighbors, often read ser- 
mons to them from an approved collection. Occasionally a minister 
came from another settlement and preached to them. 

The first church was organized there by Rev. Jedediah Chapman of 
(ieneva in March, 1805, and three elders were chosen, who are believed 
to have been Donald McKenzie, Duncan McPherson and Donald An- 
derson. The church became a part of the Presbytery of Geneva, and 
for a time was supplied occasionally for services by the organizer, 
Mr. Chapman, and Rev. ]Mr. Lindsley of Big Tree, now Geneseo. 
The community had failed to obtain the two hundred acres of land 
promised by Col. Williamson for the support of a minister because the 
deed could not be given until there was a legal religious society, and 
the Colonel had ceased to be agent for the Pulteney estate in 1802. 

Lock wood L. Doty in his history says: "Colonel Throup, Colonel Wil- 
liamson's successor, though bound, of course, to fulfill all his engage- 
ments, seemed unwilling to give the society the promised deed, and it 
was not until 1805, after repeated solicitations by letters and by messen- 
gers, that he did so. When the deed came from Geneva, a meeting of the 
society was called at the house of James McLaren to receive it. It was 
first resolved to deposit the deed in the hands of Peter Farquharson. By 
a second resolution, 'all persons were excluded from having any interest 
or property in the donation land, except such as lived on the Pulteney 
lands.' This resolution was directed against the new comers from In- 
verness, who had the year before bought on the Forty Thousand acre 
tract. 'Against such un precedented proceedings, which had a tenden- 
cy to tarnish the Christian religion and dismember societies and con- 
gregations,' Peter Campbell and Alexander McDonald "protested." 
Here was the beginning of the strife that for so many years agitated 
the settlement. The donation land, intended to be so useful, resulted 
for a time at least in very great injury. The church became divided 
into two factions, and a long series of quarrels ensued, resulting 
sometimes in violence, often in bitter words and bad feeling through- 
out the settlement. It was not until ten or twelve years had elaps€d 
that the controversy was ended by an equitable division of the prop- 
erty between the two societies into which the original church had be- 
come divided. 

"Beside the two hundred acres given to the society — they lay on the 
south .side of Allen creek, and included what is called 'the old bury- 



650 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ing ground' — a lot of two acres lying in the village laid out near 
the springs was granted as the site of a church and manse. Upon 
this lot, in 1805, the people built a log meeting-house, thirty feet by 
forty. In this work, though they were already, as we have seen, 
alienated from one another, the people from Inverness and those from 
Perthshire labored harmoniously together. This primitive church 
stood not far from the site of the house now occupied by Jlr. Hatch, 
its gable ends facing east and west. Alexander Dencon was secured 
as minister." 

Donald jMcNaughton, who emigrated to America in 1805, and came 
to Caledonia in 1806, was one of the most prominent and useful men 
among the earliest settlers. He built a log house on the present site 
of !Mumford in that year, and made it a shop for cloth dressing, a trade 
which he had learned, and thus became the pioneer in that business of 
all the country west of the Genesee. His patronage came from a ter- 
ritory now comprised of not less than ten counties. In 1809 he added 
a carding machine, which was the second west of the Genesee. Soon 
afterward he built a framed shop, and in this did a thriving business 
until it was destroyed by fire. Meanwhile he had purchased about four 
hundred acres of land of the English company at Geneva. On this 
he built a large stone factory, the stone being quarried from his land, 
and there continued the woolen business, and added the manufacture 
of many kinds of cloth. He also built a large grist mill on Allen 
creek, a little east of Mumford, with which he did a successful busi- 
ness until stopped by a succession of misfortunes, one of which was 
the burning of his stone factory, and another the loss of a large section 
of his land. The fire destroyed many thousand dollars' worth in build- 
ings and machinery. But undaunted he built on the outlet a large 
saw mill in which he did a profitable business for a number of years. 
His wife, whom he married in 1809, was the daughter of William 
Hencher, called "the prince of pioneers," who settled near the mouth 
of the Genesee river in 1792. 

Alexander McDonald, Colonel Williamson's sub-agent came from 
Scotland to America in 1775, was taken prisoner by the British in 
New York with other emigrants as soon as he arrived, was enlisted in 
the 84th regiment and served five years and then became agent of 
Lord Dunmore's estates in the Bahamas. He came to the Genesee 
valley at the now extinct village of Williamsburg, to help Col. Will- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 651 

ianison, in June, 1793. When the latter left the agency in 1802, Mc- 
Donald moved to Caledonia. He was the first postmaster of the 
village, and kept tavern there a number of years. 

John Cameron, who arrived in Caledonia in 1806, purchased the old 
log cabin tavern and a large farm adjoining and built a framed dwell- 
ing and a store. He ran away from Scotland with the daughter of a 
wealthy lease-holder, who opposed their marriage, and brought his 
beautiful bride to the Scotch settlement after a short residence in 
Geneva. They popularized the log tavern, and many prominent men 
stopped there, among them Aaron Burr, his daughter Theodosia and 
her husband, Daniel Webster, Chief Justice Story, and the military 
officers who occasionally went to and fro. They had eight children. 
Mr. Cameron died in 1820, leaving his business affairs in bad condition, 
but his widow and her son Angus retrieved the estate, educated the 
children, and accumulated more property. 

The first death among the settlers was that of Finley McLaren, and 
the first wedding was the marriage of Hinds Chamberlin to the widow 
of McLaren. The earliest physicians were Dr. William H. Terry and 
Dr. Peter McPherson. Different writers have named as the first 
schoolteachers, Archibald and Jeannette McDonald and Peter Farqu- 
harson, and these may have follwed each other in regular sequence in 
the original log school house. The first settled minister was Rev. 
Ale-\ander Denoon who was installed by the Geneva Presbytery in 
1807 and was pastor of the church 44 years. The first merchant was 
John Cameron, his decendants say. 

Daniel S. Dickinson, afterward V. S. Senator and a famous orator, 
worked at harness-making in Caledonia in his early life. He became 
known as "Scripture Dick," on account of his familiarity with the 
Bible and frequent quotations from it in his public addresses. 

A paper by Duncan D. Cameron of Caledonia for the historical so- 
ciety says of Peterson, who has been mentioned as one of the four first 
settlers, that he had been a sea captain, and was said to have been a 
pirate; that at Big Springs he had a bad reputation, and committed 
a misdemeanor which so aroused the indignation of his neighbors that 
he was arrested and sent to the Canandaigua jail, and upon his release 
left the country, and was reported to have died at sea. He was a 
Dane. 

Chester Harding, one of the best American potrait painters, lived in 



652 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Caledonia in 1814 and 1815. He came from Conway, Mass., and as \ 
partner of a man named Osgood painted the wood-work which Osgood I 
made. He became famous as an artist and was in every way a worthy j 
citizen. But he took notes for furniture in Caledonia, and failing to I 
collect on them, became involved to the extent of §5<in, and was 
threatened with imprisonment for debt under the law then in force. 
Lawyer W. II. Smith took hold of his case, secreted him from the 
officers, and afterward told him to "make for the woods," which he 
did, and from the woods went out of reach of his pursuers. In Pitts- 
burg, Pa., he learned to paint portraits, after which his road to fame 
and fortune was easy. 

One of the true poets and musicians was John H. McNaughton of 
Caledonia, where he was born in 1829. He has written the words and 
music of over one hundred songs, some of which became universally 
popular. His Onalinda — A poetical Romance, is one of the high- 
grade American poems, and has been admired by many in England 
as well as America. He also wrote a Treatise on Music. Among his 
most popular songs in the past were Belle Mahone, Faded Coat of 
Blue, Mary Aileen and Love at Home. 

Willard H. vSmith was the first Caledonia lawyer. He was a grad- 
uate of Williams College, and studied law in Albany and Waterford. 
He commenced his practice in Caledonia in 1813, was appointed the 
first judge of the court of common pleas of Livingston county in 
March, 1832, and held the office sixteen years. He was one of the 
best lawyers in the state at that time, and proved an able and impar- 
tial judge. 

Of the Caledonians who became distinguished in other states may 
be named Hon. Angus Cameron, who was U. S. senator from Wiscon- 
sin, Hon. John R. McPherson, who was U. S. senator from New Jer- 
sey, Hon. Norman ]\Ieldrum, who has been secretary of state and sen- 
ator in Colorado, and Hon. James B. Beck, at one time U. S. senator 
from Kentucky, and reputed to be the most rapid speaker in the sen- 
ate. Mr. Beck resided in Caledonia nearly ten years, ending about 
1850. His father built the horse railroad from Caledonia to Scottsville. 

James Frazier Gordon was a Caledonian before he was a Rochester- 
ian, and was born there in 1842. His greatest invention has been of 
incalculable benefit to the grain growers of the country and the \vorld, 
for it was the first successful automatic binder for reaping machines. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 653 

It is also believed that he made the first printing machine which with 
one passage through it would print the paper on both sides, but this 
he never patented. lie made his first binder model in 1862, when only 
twenty years old, and his first full-sized machine in 1864 when he filed 
his caveat. He obtained his first patent for a harvesting and binding 
machine in 1868, it being delayed on account of his lack of funds. 

Another of the later residents, Dr. Thomas McPherson, had distin- 
guished himself in Scotland, before emigrating to America, as a physi- 
cian and surgeon in advance of his time, and by dissection discovered 
the seat of a then unknown disease of the brain and mastered it. He 
came to Caledonia in 1831 and died there in 1841. His reputation as 
a surgeon was such that he was called to distant places to attend 
patients, and performed many operations in Buffalo. During the 
cholera scourge in Rochester in 1832, he voluntarily spent two weeks 
among the cholera patients without asking for or receiving any fee. 
His death was a great loss to Caledonia and western New York, and 
the very large concourse of people which gathered at his funeral 
showed that the loss was felt. His oldest son has been for many years 
a well-known lawyer of Rochester. 

The first town meeting of Southampton when present Caledonia 
was the greater part of it, was held March 1, 1803, and the following 
officers were elected: Supervisor, Christopher Labourn ; town clerk, 
Job Pierce; assessors, Peter Shaft'er, Ebenezer Green, Peter Anderson; 
collector, James Ganson ; overseers of the poor. Hinds Chamberlin, 
Peter Shaffer; commissioners of highways, Thomas Irvine, Andrew 
Wortman, Asher Bates; constables, James Ganson, Cyrus Douglass, 
Daniel Buell; fence viewers and overseers of highways, John Ganson, 
Jr., Isaac Smith, John Christie, Peter Shaffer, James Wood, Andrew 
Wortman, Henry Mulkin; pound keepers, James McLaren, John Gan- 
son, Jr., Charles Duggan. At the next years town meeting Mr. La- 
bourn was re-elected supervisor and Hugh McDermid was elected 
town clerk, and the two held these offices until the name of the town 
was changed to Caledonia. At the first town meeting after South- 
ampton became Caledonia, held April 1, 1807, Mr. Labourn was 
again chosen supervisor, and Asher Bates was chosen town clerk. The 
next year James Ganson was chosen supervisor and Alexander 
McDonald town clerk. 

The state fish hatchery established at Caledonia in 1875, had been 



654 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

started by Seth Green of Rochester as a private enterprise in 1864. 
He" conducted the business four years, then sold it to Andrew S. Col- 
lins for §14,000; Collins kept it going seven years more, when he sold it 
to the state for about the sum he paid for it. Seth Green was appointed 
superintendent of the hatchery, and the first appropriation for carry- 
ing it on was only $1,000. This was increased in ISSO to $15,000. 
The hatchery is now only one of several owned and controlled by the 
state, but it has been the mother of nearly every one of them, and the 
most useful among them all. Over 200,000 fish of various kinds are 
bred there annually and the eggs and fry distributed annually number 
many millions. The state grounds c:ontain about forty ponds, with 
thousands of fish in each enclosure. The fish are in different stages 
of growth, from the embryo in the ova to the salmon trout weighing 
fifteen or twenty pounds. Many lakes, rivers, creeks and brooks of 
the state that have been stocked with fish suitable for their respective 
waters from the Caledonia hatchery, now abound with grown swimmers 
as a result of the distribution furnishing large supplies of delicious 
food for the i)eople from water sources where before there was almost 
none. The hatchery has also been the means of introducing several 
new kinds of fine food fish into the waters of the state. A paper pre- 
pared by A. H. ^IcLean of Caledonia says: "There really seems to be 
no apparent good reason why every valuable fresh water fish of 
Europe should not be plentiful ultimately in the state of New York." 

Two important and productive facts in the lives of Caledonians — 
one intellectual and moral and the other physical — are its library and 
its water works. An organization for a public library was formed in 
187.'?, under the lead of Miss Christine Cameron, and by voluntary sub- 
scriptions and village aid the library was started almost immediately, 
and has been an increasing public blessing ever since. 

The water works were built in 1897 at a cost of $22,000. It is a 
pumping system, with a capacity for 300 gallons a minute. The water 
is of the purest, and is obtained from the never-failing springs at the 
east end of the village. The number of users in 1904 was 200 and the 
revenue to the village corporation $125 a month. 

The name given to Big Springs by the Senecas was Gan-e-o-di-a, 
meaning "small clear lake, " and they called the outlet Na-gan-oose, 
meaning "clear running water." The springs were on the great Indian 
trail east from Fort Niagara, and were a favorite camping ground. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 655 

It was said that the Indians camped there so often that the camp fire 
was always burning. Near the springs they celebrated their war dances 
and burned and otherwise tortured their enemies in accordance with 
the cruel customs of Indian savagery. Nearby also were the council 
house of the Senecas and the grounds for their games, races and 
athletic feats. Many Indian relics have been found in the vicinity of 
the springs. It was natural that the red men should concentrate at 
the spot where water was so pure, trout so abundant, and much game 
could be killed not far away. 

Domestic animals of the pioneers were often killed by bears and 
wolves, which were numerous in the surrounding forest. John 
Fowles, who afterward moved to Wisconsin, has related a wolf story 
of that period in which he was the star actor: So many sheep had 
been destroyed by wolves one season that the farmers organized a 
special hunt for a large grey timber wolf that had often been seen and 
hunted. Fowles, then only 15, was one of the hunting party, and 
while riding on horseback near a tamarack swamp, saw the wolf ap- 
proaching. The animal had eaten so much lamb as to cause indiges- 
tion, and was tired out from running — so Fowles said — ^and Fowles 
saw him plunge into a clump of bushes and lay down. He crept up, 
tied the wolf's leg to a sapling with his bridle, and ran for help, but 
while he was gone the wolf cut the bridle with his teeth and escaped. 
The party then taunted Fowles as a romancer, but the wolf was caught 
soon afterward with a piece of the bridle strap around his leg. 

The Portland cement plant which has been referred to is owned by 
the Iroquois Portland Cement company, which started business in 
Caledonia in 1902. The marl and clay deposits extend over four hun- 
dred acres, contain no magnesia, and average eight feet deep. The 
cement is of a fine quality, and is made by a dry process on an e.'cten- 
sive scale. 

The village of Caledonia was incorporated in May, 1891. Its first 
president was C. W. Blackman and its first clerk F. A. Christie. In 
addition to its public library and water works, which have been 
elsewhere noticed, the village has an excellent fire department for pro- 
tection against the most dangerous element in cities and villages. It 
consists of two hose companies and one hook and ladder company, 
the last organized in 1878 and the others in 1897. 

When the war ot 1813 broke out a company of volunteers was 



656 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



formed in Caledmiia with Robert McKay as captain and Thomas Duer 
as heutenant. They marched to Lewiston and remained there until 
relieved by regular troops. In 1813 Captain McKay was promoted to 
the rank of Colonel, and with others of the Caledonia company marched 
to the defense of Buffalo against the British, who had crossed the 
Niagara river, captured Fort Niagara, and burned Youngstown and 
Lewiston. They fought at the battle of Black Rock under Gen Hall 
and Col, Blakeslee, and Col. McKay was taken prisoner and confined 
at Montreal until exchanged the ne.xt year. 

For the civil war Caledonia furnished 207 soldiers, includin.r those 
who enlisted from other places to fill its draft quota. The record^of each 
year, with bounties, is given as follows: August, 18(.2, (,2 men, boun- 
ty $100 each; July, 1863, 22 men commuted; October, 1863 28 men 
bounty $423 each; February, 1864, 9 men, bountv for three $300 each' 
and for six $320 each; July, 1864, 33 men, bounty about $900 each' 
December, 1864, 25 men, bounty $600 each and $100 hand money,' 
also 28 men who enlisted at various towns without bounty, and with 
bounty trom other towns. Thirty-five of the volunteers of 1862 enlist- 
ed in the 8th N. Y. Cavalry regiment. 

It was not until the construction of the Erie canal, which was com- 
pleted in 1824, that the early Caledonia farmers found a remunerative 
market for their products. This great waterway increased the value 
of their land and brought them the prosperitv they had been laborino- 
for. * 

The supervisors of the town of Caledonia have been as follows; 



SOUTH.\MPTON— NOW CAI,EDONI.\. 

Christopher Labourn 1803-4-5-6 

CAI,EDONI.\. 

Christopher Labourn 1807 

James Ganson 1808-9-10-11 

John Finch j8,2 

Robert McKaj- i8i3-i5-:6-I7-iS-T9- 

21-22-23-24-25-26-29-32 

Powell Carpenter 18 1_. 

John Garbutt 1820 

Feileral Blakeslee 1827-28-30-31 

Donald McDonald 1833-34-35-36-37 

Alexander bnnpson 1838-39-40-41 

Wni . Barron 1842-43-44.45.46-47.48- 

49-50 



Harlow \V. Wells 1851-52 

Archibald Renwick 1853-54-55-72 

Henry E. Rocliester 1856-57-58-50 

Hugh D. McColl 1860-61-62 

David Walker 1863-64 

Alexander Ferguson 1865-66.67-68-69. 

70-71-73-74 

Wm. Hamilton 1875.76.77.78.79-80-82 

James Frazer igSi 

George McKay !!""'!i883 

Angus Cameron 1884 

Wm. H. Walker 1885-86-87.88 

M. M. Cauipbell ...18S9.90-91-92-93 -94-95 
F. A. Christie. .1896-97-98-99-00-01-02-03 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 
Assessed valuations and tax rates have been as follows: 



657 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valtiation 


on $ioco 




Valiiatiou 


on $1000 




Valuation 


on Jioco 


i860 


1,182,679 


6.92 


1875 


2,388,919 


6.42 


1890 


2,112,625 


5-55 


I86I 


1,145,533 


7.04 


1876 


2,271,575 


4-56 


1891 


2,134,750 


4.61 


1862 


1,235.814 


9.80 


1877 


2,144,530 


5-72 


1892 


2,045,35s 


5-41 


1863 


1,180,091 


12.87 


1878 


2,054,598 


4.36 


1893 


2,260,825 




1864 


1,199,608 


15-50 


1879 


1,894,440 


5-09 


1894 


2,202,792 


4.72 


1865 


1,158,923 


44.00 


1880 


1,890,895 


9-74 


'o^§ 


2,214,629 


5 -70 


1866 


1,182,840 


22.00 


1881 


1,884,943 


3-97 


1896 


2,180,379 


5-24 


1867 


1,177,930 


21.00 


1882 


1,901,559 




1897 


2,197,695 


5.30 


1868 


1,195,708 


17.18 


1883 


2,084,284 


4.78 


1898 


2,198,985 


4-79 


1869 


1,167,022 


10.11 


1884 


2,065,596 


4.09 


1899 


2,222,994 


6.06 


1870 


1,145,447 


12.74 


1885 


2,242,636 


4-54 


1900 


2,222,684 


4-95 


1871 


1,193,745 


13-85 


1886 


2,230,607 


5.63 


1901 


2,237,781 


4.22 


1872 


1,172,307 


17.20 


1887 


2,192,875 


5-98 


1902 


2,300,264 


3-03 


1873 


1,045,211 


14.64 


1888 


2,197,018 


5-04 


1903 


2,345,726 


3.01 


1874 


2,222,941 


14.49 


1889 


2,181,052 


6.36 









CALEDONIA CHURCHES. 



THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH of Caledonia, N. 
Y. was organized March 4, 1805, by the Rev. Jedediah Chapman of 
Geneva, N. Y., and consisted at that time of fifty-two members, forty- 
one of whom were received by certificate and eleven on confession. 
Its membership was made up mostly of the Scotch settlers from Johns- 
town who had made their homes in the neighborhood. The congrega- 
tion depended on pulpit supplies till 1808. On the eighth of August 
of that year Rev. Alexander DeNoon was installed pastor and con- 
tinued in that office till his death in 1850., The following are the 
names of his successors with the period of their pastorates: 

Rev. John W. Major, 1854-1856. Rev. William E. Jones, 1857-1859; 
Rev. Malcom N. McLaren, D. D., 1860-1871; Rev. John K. Fowler, 
1874-1877; Rev. Thomas Stevenson, 1878-1882; Rev. John M. Car- 
michael, 1882-1886; Rev. Johnson Henderson, 1888-1892; Rev. J. A. 
Sherrard, 1893-1899; Rev H. H. Barstow, 1900. 

The first church building was destroyed by fire in 1855 and the 
present edifice replaced it. At the same time the present commodious 
parsonage was built. The membership of the church now is about two 
hundred and forty. In the spring of 1905 the church will celebrate 
its centennial anniversary. 



658 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



THE FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH has also 
been a great power for good in Caledonia since its founding in the old 
pioneer days. The following sketch of this church, tracing its develop- 
ment from the days when the hardy Scotch settlers found it impossible 
to agree as to church polity has been furnished: 

A number of families from Inverness, Scotland, settled on a tract of 
land called "The Forty Thousand Acre Tract," owned by a company 
in Holland and lying next to the "Pulteney Estate." All these being 
of the same religious faith with those in Caledonia, it was agreed after 




IIKST INITKl) 1'KESI1VTKK1.-\N CllUKcJH. 



consultation to build a log house for Sabbath meeting on the two acre 
lot granted by the agent. Shortly after a preacher was procured from 
Scotland. But soon difficulties arose by which the people were divided 
into, two parties of about equal number. This division resulted in 
the existence of the two Presbyterian churches which, though never 
united under the same name, learned to live in peace and good will 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 659 

with each other. The part opposed to the proceedings of the church 
and of the Presbytery (the General Assembly Presbytery) were firm 
in their determination not to submit, and so were left without church 
privileges. 

After holding several meetings they concluded to strive for a union 
with the "Associate Reformed Church." In January, 1809 one of 
their number met a man from Geneseo who, after learning of the 
difficulties in Caledonia, advised him to seek the counsel of Mr. Wil- 
son, who kept the academy at Geneseo and who was also a minister of 
the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church. Several months of dis- 
couragement followed. Efforts to have Mr. Wilson visit the field and 
organize the congregation failed. At last an effort was made to reach 
Presbytery in connection with the Associate Reformed Synod. The 
moderator of Presbytery, who afterward proved a great friend of the 
congregation, was addressed by letter. The Presbytery of Saratoga 
was called and the letter read before it. Rev. Robert Forest was 
appointed to visit Caledonia and ascertain the condition and circum- 
stances of the petitioners. In June 1809, Rev. Forest visited Cale- 
donia and preached in a log barn to an eager audience. Three weeks 
from that day he again preached, and soon, when the Presbytery of 
.Saratoga met, he presented tlie case of the congregation. The request 
of the people was granted. Mr. Wilson of Geneseo was appointed to 
organize the congregation and ordain elders. ]\Ir. Wilson came the 
fourth Sabbath of October. ISIO. Messrs. William Armstrong, Peter 
McKircher and John Mc\'ean were elected and ordained as elders. 
Only about twenty-five persons partook of the Lord's Supper that day, 
since some were in suspense as to the duty of leaving the Presbyterian 
Church. The Presbytery paid careful attention to the congregation, 
sending able supplies. It was a rule that every man should pay 
twenty-five cents for every minister sent as supply. 

In the spring of 1812 John Campbell of Scotland came as a supply. 
He was a student under the care of Dr. John M. Mason, well reported 
iiy all. His preaching gave such satisfaction that it was without a 
negative voice voted to give Mr. Campbell a call. It was accepted, 
and in 1813, in November, Mr. Campbell was settled as the first 
minister of the First Associate Reformed Church in Caledonia. A 
meeting house was built on the 40,000 acre tract. Mr. Campbell's 
salary was $500.00. Four hundred dollars of this was to be raised in 



660 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Caledonia, and the other hundred was to be raised in York where he 
also preached. 

Mr. Campbell most faithfully performed his duties a spreacher and 
pastor for three years and went to his reward on the first of May, 
1817. His body rests in the cemetery of the church. A new house of 
worship was built in 1816. 

In the first year of Mr. Campbell's ministry three elders were 
chosen, viz., John Christie, Donald ]\IcPherson and Dr. Peter McPher- 
son. After the death of Mr. Campbell the church was without a pas- 
tor for about two years. Rev. William Boyce was settled over the 
Caledonia congregation in 1819. He served the congregation three 
or four years, and was dismissed by Presbytery at the request of the 
congregation. 

In May, 1826, Rev. Donald C. McLaren became pastor and con- 
tinued to serve the church for about twenty-si.\ years. During his 
pastorate, in January of 1833, on a Sabbath, the church was burned. A 
substantial stone structure was erected by November of the same year, 
and was paid for with about $1,000 surplus left. Rev. Donald C. 
McLaren was a pioneer in temperance work. In 1852, on the 13th of 
November, a call was extended to Rev. W. S. McLaren, son of Dr. 
Donald C. He continued as pastor till Sept 8, 1869. He was followed 
by Rev. D. F. Bonnar who remained in charge till January, 1884. 
In May of the same year a call was extended to Rev. R. M. Russell, 
a graduate of Allegheny Seminary. This pastorate continued till 
Oct. 12, 1890. Dr. Russell was followed by Rev. Henry W. Moore, 
who was installed June 14, 1893. Rev. Moore was succeeded by Rev. 
Huber Ferguson who served as pastor from July 21, 1896 till Feb. 19, 
1899. The next pastor was Rev. Gilbert O. Miller, from Nov. 6, 1899 
to June 16, 1902. Mr. Miller was followed by Rev. Edgar P. Smith, 
the present pastor, who began his pastoral labor Nov. 11, 1902. 

NARRATIVE OF DONALD D. l\IcKENZIE. 

The following narrative of Donald D. McKenzie, described by him as 
"a few brief historical sketches of early settlement in the valley of the 
ancient Genesee river in the western part of the State of New York," 
is a literal reproduction of the original manuscript and appears to the 
editor to have sufficient interest to deserve its appearance here, not- 
withstanding its great length. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY . 661 

In order that the reader may be better able to understand this nar- 
rative and also myself better able to do justice to my subject, I must 
take the reader to the City of Inverness, in the north of Scotland, near 
which I was born. There was living there, about the commence- 
ment of the 19th century, a small band of intrepid men within short 
distances of that royal borrough, and who were at this period in the 
prime of life, and were also in what might there be called midling 
comfortable circumstances, but whose minds began to be allienated 
about this period and from several causes particularly the implacable 
unceasing and mortal enmity and strife between Great Britian and 
France. You can see in the history of those days how that the govern- 
ment of Great Britain disdained to treat with Boneparte, especially 
after his breach of the treaty of Amiens. I think it was the British 
Government swore then that he would not be permitted to rule one 
peaceful year on the throne which he had usurped, and in order to 
carry out this measure an immense sacrifice, of treasure and human 
lives must be yearly made, and also new victims must be furnished. 
In order to do this every kind of stratagems were used to enlist men 
and every species of taxation was resorted to. Every now and then 
modern rumor would have it that the French had landed or that they 
were on their way for that purpose. These things taken together 
made these men desirous of finding a more peaceful place of abode, 
some contiguity of shade, and which they were after some time and 
trouble fortunate in finding near the fertile and peaceful banks of the 
Genesee river, where they spent the remaining part of their lives 
in peace and contentment. Many of them are now reposing in the 
silent tomb, who died in the hope of a blessed and glorious immor- 
tality. 

I had an uncle by the name of William McKenzie, who taught a 
parish school before and after this period for about forty years, with 
good success and reputation, and who was in possession of Mr. Morse's 
large geography of America — the only history of this country, except 
MacKenzie's travels and some living monuments of the soldiers of the 
Revolution who had been in this country, and whose histories were 
various and contradictory, varying, I suppose, according to the differ- 
ent circumstances they happened to be in, in this country. Some of 
them represented it as a place unfit for civilized people to live in, 
that it was swarming with ferocious Indians, and that the people were 



662 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

afflicted with all the plagues of Egypt and plagues that were not in 
Egypt, all of which was excusable in persons in their situation and 
employment. The pens of the ablest historians have failed to delin- 
ate but in a feeble degree the horrors and misery of war; imagination 
has to do the rest. I need not here take up time in relating the var- 
ious schemes and snares that those in authority resorted to in order to 
delude and ensnare the simple ambitious and unwary to enlist in the 
army or navy, thus following the pernicious principle which some ad- 
vocate at this day, viz., that necessity has no law. Be that as it may, 
I admit that every government has within itself ample authority over 
Its own citizens, especially in cases of so much emergency as was this 
period. There were indeed many Godly and upright men then in that 
country, but very few of them were in authority. Matters continued 
in this way going from bad to worse, if possible, until we left in the 
summer of 1803. These few men which I mentioned before began 
seriously and prayerfully to talk of and also to prepare to emigrate to 
America, but were yet undecided which of the States they would 
choose for their future residence, until after two of their number made 
a journey to Grenock City, a seaport in Scotland, and I believe it is 
the nearest seaport in Scotland to America. After these faithful 
messengers returned, there was no further delay. Accordingly about 
the middle of July in 1803 the following named heads of families, with 
their effects took up their long line of march: Donald MacKenzie 
who afterwards was an Elder in Rev. Alexander Denoon's Church in 
Caledonia until his death in June, 1896, and his family; Simon Eraser, 
a truly pious and good man; Donald Eraser, his son, also an Elder in 
the same church, still living; John demons, now of Caledonia, and 
his young wife, having been married only a few months before that 
time, and who is alive yet; John McKenzie and family, well known in 
all this region and was deservedly respected— he died June 15, 1840; 
Angus McRean, Esq., came to Grenock at the same time, but from' 
some cause did not sail in the same ship, but came in a brig to Balti- 
more, thence he went to Ohio state, where he sojourned till the fall 
of 1804, when he came to the town of York where he has resided since 
and is alive, now old; John Eraser, as he has been familiarly called, 
and family— he died in 1848, I think; William Eraser, a pious young 
man and who was an Elder in Rev. Donald C. McLaren's Church— he 
died in 1843. There was still another truly pious young fohn 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 663 

McDonald, that came in the same ship; he worked at Johnstown in 
Montgomery in this State, about two years, so that he did not come to 
this town till 1806. As I said, these persons took up their long line of 
march and a long line it was — about four thousand miles — and here let 
me remark that it was quite different then than what it is now to 
travel the same road; we were one week on the road between the cities 
of Invernys and Glasgow; we stayed one week in Glasgow and five 
weeks in Grenock waiting for an American ship then in port to 
get ready as there was but few vessels trading between that country 
and this then, as you can learn from the history of that time, the 
British government claiming the right of search which was 
indignantly objected to and opposed by the American gov- 
ernment and people, and which ended in the war of 1812. Free trade 
and sailors' rights was the toast and watch word them days. 
The ships name that we sailed in was the "Drapper of New York;" 
William Taylor, Captain. On the morning of the eighth of Septem- 
ber, 1803, she spread forth her joyful wings to the breeze which wafted 
us on our way to our destined home, as if proud of her precieus load. 
I delight yet to think of the merry and cheerful "heo-heave" of the 
gallant sailors as they hove up her heavy and cumbrous anchor and let 
her loose like a thing of life before the breeze. iShe was over 500 tons 
burthen. In order to check emigration, ships were not allowed to take 
but a very limited number of passengers, and every emigrant ship was 
exposed to be searched by British ships or taken prisoners by the 
French, as many were. Consequently the price of passage was very 
high, forty dollars for a child not more than four months old, which 
Donald McKenzie had to pay for one that would not weigh half 
as many pounds. The ship was a slow sailor, but well balanced, and 
the sailors were efficient and civil — all Americans. There might be 
about sixty persons on board all told. Mr. D. McKenzie paid about 
400 dollars for the passage of himself and family. My mother being 
sick during the passage, our condition was more uncomfortable. What- 
ever were the feelings of others, for my own part, I felt buoyant and 
cheerful. We were supplied with the ship's provisions which were 
very unpalatable indeed. As soon as we were fairly under way, 
application was made to the Capt. for the privilege of holding religious 
worship among the passengers, night and morning, which he readily 
granted, and religious exercises were observed during the six weeks 



664 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and three days of the voyage. I verily believe that the Capt. and his 
men felt a greater security and safety on account of this humble 
acknowledgement of God's protecting care over us and them. Al- 
though a journey across the wide ocean is tedious and monotonous, it 
is not devoid of interest to a contemplative mind. Sometimes you are 
becalmed for a number of days; then wild Ocean looks like a molten 
sea of glass and is then a delightful scene to contemplate bounded by 
the outmost verge of the horizon — anon the stormy winds speed forth 
and awfully change the scene. There is not any comparison that I 
can make or description that I can give that would comijare with the 
sublime descri[)tion given by the Psalmist in the 107th Psalm 23rd 
verse where he says: "They that go down to the sea in ships that do 
business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord and his won- 
ders in the deep, for He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind 
which iifteth up the waves thereof; they mount up to Heaven, they 
go down again to the depths," etc., and to a beholder it would seem 
almost impossible to rise again from these yawning troughs of the 
sea. We encountered two of these terrible storms, one of which drove 
us a great distance out of our course and in the same storm siiipped a 
tremendous wave which scattered the cooking utensils and floated 
some of the people about like empty casks and made the noble ship 
quiver in all her joints, struggling to throw it off — in the otiier the 
bowsprit was loosened by it on a Sabbath morning before daylight, 
and it was truly doleful to hear the sound of the sailors' voices heav- 
ing in the darkness amidst the furious storm, but which before long 
they were successful in fastening again. We did not meet but one 
ship to speak to, besides a British sloop of war named, Leander, of 
Halifa.x, which I have no doubt was there for the purpose of intercept- 
ing emigrant ships, which made us heave too, and undergo a search for 
men for some time after she hove in sight. The Captain was uncertain 
as to what nation she belonged as she did not hoist any colors. At 
first thought she was French, and would rob and take us prisoners; 
he advised the passengers to secure their money and disguise them- 
selves the best they could by wearing the most ragged and dirty 
clothes they had, which the most of them complied with and looked 
ridiculous enough. After Hearing us a good deal, having fired a can- 
non several times, they hoisted the union jack, upon which tiie Capt. 
told us their object was to get men, but notwithstanding this declara- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 665 

tion of the Capt. the passengers breathed more freely, but continued 
to wear the disguises, all but two young men from Argileshire, 
brothers, who wore sailors' dress. After she came near enough she 
took position to the windward of us, her ports open and her broadside 
frowning on us. Her marines were paraded on her decks and their 
music playing. She looked frowning enough as if she said "Capt. 
Taylor, you must obey, nolens volens, or do worse." Presently plunge 
went a large boat into the water and then another, which were imme- 
diately filled with officers and men. There did not but one of them 
come to us. Several of the officers came on board, who, after having 
examined the ship's papers told our captain they wanted men, and 
men they would have. Our captain told the other that his hands were 
all Americans and that he had none too many. After examining them 
he left them and ordered the passengers to be mustered, and which 
was no sooner done than, with an eagle eye, the man of wars man 
pounced on the two Argile men, and they and their chests were low- 
ered into his boat. Entreaty was in vain; the pathetic eloquence of 
Mr. Donald McKenzie pleading in their behalf was also in vain; the 
unfeigned and gushing tears of these young men were also poured like 
rain in vain. Go they must and go they did, and the darkness of that 
night shut them finally from our view. As soon as it was dark the 
captain ordered all the lights to be extinguished, or put under cover, 
and the other ship lost sight of us, or did not choose to follow. The 
disguise used made even the most enterprising among us look like 
decrepit old men, and we saw no more of them. We had good weather 
the rest of the voyage, but were becalmed several days, which time 
was busily improved by the mariners in taking observations and in 
repairing the injuries which they received in the storms, in scraping 
the ship and painting her, so that they made her look quite trim. We 
received a pilot when yet a great distance from ~ New York, the ship 
having a rich cargo for those days. Before reaching the quarantine 
grounds the captain ordered one and all to change their garments and 
put on their best, which was done, being in sight of land. The change 
and excitement made the passengers look well. Finally the doctor 
came; his surprise was visible to all ; he complimented the captain, 
and left ordering him to land us. "Well," we exclaimed, "this is 
New York, which we so long looked for and so anxiously prayed to 
see, and how unlike the great cities we left behind." The golden 



666 . HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

dreams of some began to vanish Avhen they saw the dilapidated con- 
dition of many of the buildings near the wharves, together with the 
number of deserted houses and desolated streets caused by the raging 
of the yellow fever that season, which carried off great numbers of the 
people; all that could flee had fled and had not returned. Then there 
was no familiar voice or countenance to meet and congratulate or 
cheer and welcome the new comers. Our sojourn in New York was 
short, only two days. The party agreed with a man who had a rickety 
sloop to bring us to Albany for one dollar each, small and big, without 
any provision or accommodations of any kind. He said he would be 
there in a week but it took him longer. I suffered more hunger on 
that inland voyage than in all the time since, for when he had provi- 
sions he would not stop and where he had to stop we could get none 
and he had none to give or sell. After much exposure and fatigue we 
arrived at last in Albany. I did not take much notice of anything in 
this place, excepting indeed the ancient Dutch church, which was so 
unique in its architecture, different from anything that I ever saw, it 
attracted my youthful curiosity a good deal. The different families 
separated in Albany for the f^rst time in three months at least. The 
next place of rendezvous was to be Johnstown, Montgomery Co 
where all arrived safe in a few days. We now began to breathe the 
free air of a free country, the smell of which was as the smell of a field 
which the Lord hath blessed. Although we were far from being in 
comfortable circumstances, there was no murmuring indulged in. 
The winter was very severe, different from any that any of us ever 
saw before. We were thankful for being in a safe haven. The men 
were learning to chop, some threshed, and at times explored tracts of 
land which were offered for sale in that section, but which did not suit 
the new comers. The Genesee country was talked of, but there were 
none there that could give correct information to us about it. They 
had a current report among the people there that it was very sickly, 
and which was partly true. Picturing the danger of living in the 
neighborhood of the Seneca Indians, by which all Western New York 
was thickly inhabited, far from every outward comfort, the picture to 
be sure did look dreary enough. They called it the West, yes, the far 
West, and so it was even on the confines of civilization. There were 
indeed a few families living in what was known then by the following 
names: Hartford, now Avon ; Big Springs, now Caledonia; Ganson 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 667 

Settlement, now LeRoy; Batavia; Buffalo, &c. , a few in Lima, and 
but few in Big Tree, now Genesee. All the rest of this large territory, 
excepting the Indians, was uninhabited, and a howling wilderness. I 
will here relate an incident which took place at this time, to show 
more clearly the indomitable principles which ruled in the minds of these 
early pioneers and was also characteristic of several of them all their 
lifetime. Mr. D. McKenzie being at dinner one day in the house of 
Rev. Simeon Hoosick, a Presbyterian minister in the village of Johns- 
town, the conversation turned on the Genesee country. Mr. McKenzie 
was asked if he intended to go there. He promptly replied, "I do." 
After a short pause, Mr. Hoosick said, "You seem to me to be a good 
sort of a man, and my advice to you is that you buy yourself a buck 
saw and saw wood in the village during the winter; it will be better 
for you than to throw yourself away among ferocious Indians, deprived 
of every temporal and spiritual comfort." The reply was, "I will die 
behind a stump of starvation first." He however thanked Mr. Hoos- 
ick and began to make preparation for removing his family to the 
Genesee country. He then bought a good yoke of oxen and built a 
sled at the wagon shop of Mr. John Hamilton in the place now of 
Avon, Livingston county, on which his family and goods were con- 
veyed to the place where we have ever since resided. We were two 
weeks on the road. The Sabbath we passed at an Indian tavern in 
Oneida county. Mr. D. McKenzie and Mr. William Fraser, now of 
Caledonia, spent a portion of the day in religious worship unmolested 
by the savages. Next Saturday night we arrived at a log cabin tav- 
ern at the Big Springs now in Caledonia. This inn was indeed a log 
cabin, similar to those so common in the political excitement of 1840, 
which latter strongly reminded me of this specimen of Genesee hotel. 
We remained in it however until Monday morning. Some time on 
Monday, the kind hearted Mr. Peter Campbell came to the inn where 
we were and insisted on our going to his hospitable and friendly man- 
sion, which he said was rather limited for our comfort, but to which 
we would be heartily welcome until we could do better, which offer we 
were glad of and accepted. We remained here about six weeks during 
which time and ever since there was a strong and abiding friendship 
formed and cultivated in the minds of those twi) eminent men, and 
which nothing could sever during the long period in which they were 
both efficient elders in the First Presbyterian church of Caledonia of 



668 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

which the Godly and beloved Rev. Alexander Denoon was pastor for 
forty-four years. The hungry and weary never went awav from the 
house of Mr. Campbell without being refreshed. When the snow had 
melted the exploring party resumed their occupation. There was a 
large tract of land, then newly offered for sale, known by name of 
Triangle Tract," lying west from a parallel line between LeRov and 
Brock-port. The agent thereof, Mr. Stoddard, was very anxious to 
get part of it, at least, settled by Scotch men. The partv spent about 
a week exploring it, but when they returned they brought up rather 
an unfavorable report and it was abandoned, although the agent 
made them liberal offers. I have had occasion to travel on business 
through a good portion of this fertile savannah, of late, and saw there 
many large and stately mansions, many handsome and fertile farms 
indicating both comfort and refinement through all that region Thev 
had also liberal offers of land for nothing from an agent of the British 
government, who tried to persuade them to settle there in Canada 
but they declined that also; having once expatriated themselves 
they resolved to remain so. There was then on every side of 
them any quantity and quality of unoccupied lands, which have since 
proved to be exceedingly fertile, especially since they sow so much 
cloverseed and plaster, together with manure, &c., but which had 
then a very sterile appearance, owing, I think, to its being so 
often burnt over by the fire in the fall or spring. Thev would not 
settle then on some of the now best farms in Caledonia as a gift and 
be obligated to till them. This sterile looking tract extended on the 
State Road, from the Indian village near Canawaugus to the now 
town of LeRoy, and which had a dreary and desolate appearance 
especially on a cold winter's day when covered with snow of whicli 
I often heard the travelers complain. When the ground 
dried, which it did early in April that spring, the emi- 
grants concluded to make a part of the forty thousand acre tract 
their future home, although it was not surveyed nor for sale at the 
time. The writer of this narrative, in companv with Donald McKen- 
zie and William Fraser, since of Caledonia, and who soon afterward 
was chosen an elder in the Associate Reform church, of which the 
Reverend and Godly Donald C. McLaren has been the worthy pastor 
for a great many years, came to what was to be my future residence. 
We staid two days and one night clearing the under-growth, and fell- 



a 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 669 

ing some of the largest trees. When night came we kindled a large 
fire to keep us warm and frighten away any wild beasts that might 
roam through the wilderness. After refreshing ourselves with food, 
the night being calm and not cold, we sang for a long time in sincerity 
a number of the good old Psalm tunes which were wont to be often 
sung on the hillsides in Scotland, such as "Old Hundred Martyrs," 
"Bangor," etc., and then prayed to the God of Heaven and of America 
to protect us and prosper so humble a beginning. As a proof that 
this prayer was heard, I have for the most part of the time since 
slept within six rods of that to me sacred spot of ground. The 
glare of the fire shining on the tall trunks of trees which stood 
within the circle of impenetrable darkness, the stillness of the 
night and the solitude of the place, together with the echo 
of the woods mingling with the sweet strains of sacred song 
poured forth for the first time in this place, and the 
canopy of the majestic forest constituted a scene truly novel and 
sublime, and one which I can never forget. I have this sacred spot 
inclosed in my garden now. All the party left Johnstown about the 
same time, but the others having hired horse teams to bring them to 
the Big Springs, they arrived a week before us, and quartered in the 
house of a kind man by name of John McVean, who lived then on the 
farm, now and for a long time owned by Col. Robt. McKay, about 
two miles from the village of Caledonia. 

The following are the names of heads of families who resided then at 
the Big Springs and around Allen's Creek: Big John McNaughton, 
living on the same farm where he now lives., and whose hospitality 
was proverbial; Angus Cameron, his son Duncan A. Cameron, Dun- 
can j\Ic Pherson and John Christie; Donald McKenzie, and Donald 
Anderson were the first elders ordained west of the Genesee River; 
John McVean, an honest old Christian, also an elder in ]\Ir. McLaren's 
church, one or two families by the name of McKerchers; black Alex- 
ander ^IcPherson, as he was familiarly called; Peter Anderson; John 
McDermot, who was elected Town Clerk — after this he was a good 
penman; old John McDermot as he was called ; Soldier John McPher- 
son, as by way of eminence he was known and is still; Thomas Ervin, 
father-in-law to Angus McBean, Esq. — there was still another fam- 
ily of McPhersons — and William Taylor, all these were living near 
Allen's Creek, Alexander McDonald was a land agent for a Mr. Will- 



670 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

iamson, and Donald McDonald, Esq., his son, who kept a tavern and 
store at the Springs for a great number of vears-h,s family keep a 
store there still; William Armstrong, who was a worthy man was 
one of the first elders, and for a long time in Mr. McLaren's church- 
o d John McLaren and sons Duncan, John, James and Peter and Don- 
ald McVean, his son-in-law, a worthy man. The kind and worthy 
man Duncan McColI and family came in the same time that we 
came. John McKenzie Argyle, Angus and Neal Haggart Lachlan 
and Neal McLean all came about the same time, that" is they were 
m before or came in, in 1804. Soon after this Donald 'McKenzie 
clothier, as he has been called, came in. He built a small shop at 
Mumford, known then by the sobriquet of Slab Citv where he carried 
on the business of carding wool and cloth dressing for many years with 
profit to himself and his customers. He afterwards built a respectable 
shop and was doing business on a large scale, when in an evil hour 
his shop took fire from some cause I did not learn, together with all 
Its content.c;. The loss was 2,500 dollars, no insurance. He after 
this built another large stone factory bv his indon.itable and perse- 
vering principle where he was doing a large business in manufacturing 
cloth as well as carrying on the other branches, but that too was 
doomed to the same fate with all its contents, and without being 
insured. These heavy losses would be enough to discourage ordinarv 
minds, but he struggled on, aided no doubt, bv the counsels and see- 
ing the fortitude of his peerless wife are still in comfortable cicum- 
stances, etc. John McKay, Esq., was then an enterprising youn- 
man, living where he now does, and owned a good grist mill and the 
only one west of the Genesee river. He commenced then erecting 
a saw mill. That spring he lived in a log cabin near where his house 
now IS. His pious mother and Jennet, his sister, kept house for him 
He soon after this married an amiable young woman, a dauo-hter to 
Major Isaac Smith, who lived and kept a tavern on the fam now 
owned by Mr. Sylvester Hosmer, who also married another of those 
virtuous young ladies and daughter of Mr. Smith. Manv who were 
quite young then and numbers who were not born at that date ire 
now heads of families, and are looked on as being somewhat in years 
Forty-seven years since then, during the winter of 1805 and 1806 
Rev. Alexander Denoon came in company with Alexander Eraser' 
Francis Bean and Donald Eraser, Jr. Mr. Denoon and D Fraser were 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 671 

unmarried; the others had families. Mr. Denoon after this married an 
amiable young woman by the name of Ann Fraser and sister to this D. 
Eraser who is now and has been an efficient elder in Mr. Denoon's 
church, for a great number of years. He has been supervisor of 
the town of York several years. Those hardy pioneers did not wait 
to erect houses before they moved in; they merely built temporary 
wigwams after the manner the Indians do in their journeys. It was 
some time before they got everything ready. Some of the men had 
to travel eight or nine miles to get here, and the same distance back 
again, who helped in building the first log houses in the town of York, 
formerly in Caledonia, and before that it was called North Hampton. 
They bought a yoke of oxen each and two cows with their calves. 
My father bought his oxen in Johnstown, as I said before. I heard him 
tell that after he bought the two cows he had not two shillings left. 
He had bought, however, before this, wheat and corn enough to last 
till harvest, and then every one that could worked in the harvest for 
a bushel of wheat a day for good reapers, which the most of them 
were — even some of the females. What they earned in the harvest 
served for brea'd and seed wheat for them, together with what growed 
on patches which were not more than half cleared, but on which we 
planted corn and potatoes late, to be sure, and which did not yield 
much. We made out to live until the next harvest. The only avail- 
able material for roofs for the houses was the bark of some trees ingen- 
i(iusly flayed of something like the skinning of a beef creature, which 
made a pretty good roof. We could not get atiy boards for floors 
until Mr. McKay got his saw mill fitiished which he did sometime 
that season, and was the first ever built west of the Genesee river. I 
must not let this opportunity slip without paying a small tribute of 
deserved praise to the peerless pioneer mothers, who, with wonderful 
fortitude, forsook all their former convenience and associations, and 
who, with him, the man of their choice and idol of their hearts went 
forth from the parental roof for the first time, perhaps exclaiming 
with Ruth, "Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following 
after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go, and v.'here thou lodgest, 
I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy (xod shall be my 
God; where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried;" sur- 
prising love and sacrifice. Who could not go forth and do battle with 
such a companion, and soon make a comfortable lodge in some vast 



672 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

wilderness, some contiguity of shade! I draw not on imagination here; 
no, it is as perfect and true as that two and two make four, etc. The 
reader will honestly inquire what it was that encouraged you and 
others to persevere and patiently endure so much hardship and toil, 
deprived of many comforts. I can only answer for myself, and that 
by stating that the star of hope glimmering in the future sometimes 
indeed more bright, at others more dim, but never extinguished, 
beckoned us to constant perseverance and endurance. At times an- 
nouncing like the morning star that an unclouded day was approach- 
ing and near us that would in its onward course dispel much of the 
chaos and discomforts which is inseparable from a pioneer life and 
from which I can assure the gentle reader we were not altogether ex- 
empt. It was not the main object of this people to get riches; no, to 
be sure they wanted most of all a permanent place of abode where they 
could dwell peaceably and worship the Lord God, not only of Britain, 
but also of America, according to the rule given by God himself in 
his Word; and in order to secure this they made considerable sacrifice 
in the personal comforts and used every lawful means and endeavor to 
accomplish so desirable and necessary a result and in which laudable 
efforts they were finally successful in securing. Every pioneer in the 
state of New York or any other state will involuntarily attest to the 
truth of a remark which I will here make, and that is that there is an 
alluring, anxious and constant pleasure in improving, cultivating and 
paying for a new farm and all at the self and same time which is 
almost imknown in any other occupation. This business is a special 
cure and preventive of that horrible disease termed dyspepsia; the sleep 
of the laboring man is sweet whether he eats much or little. The his- 
tory of these persons after this would be the history of thousands of 
other pioneers. I often shudder when I call to mind how careless and 
yet how exposed the [jcople were often. I may say always when 
building log barns and log houses; some of the barns w-ere often from 
40 to 50 feet by 30 to 36 feet and often 20 feet high, 3 or 4 of the top 
logs whole, the whole length of the barns for each side and large in 
proportion, often attended with a confusion of tongues caused by the 
diversity of languages spoken, together with the free use made of 
whiskey, some talking English, some Gaelic, some Dutch, &c. I 
almost always notched the logs on the corners, which was heavy and 
hazardous work, and I continue still to wonder at the mercy of God in 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 673 

preserving us all from being hurt or maimed, when I remember the 
teinp'^rnrv vic:or nnd ambition created by the too free nse of liquor. 
It was not then considered disreputable, after a heavy day's work of 
this kind, to see some stagger, some when going home, from the 
effects of it, brush and roots would have to bear a share of blame. I 
forgot t(> mention in the proper place the names of two worthy young 
men, sons of Duncan McPherson, and who were in the place before we 
came, John and Finley McPherson. John was one of the four first 
elders in Mr. Denoon's church after a part of the congregation seceded. 
Archibald Gilles was and still is one of the first elders, a worthy and 
God fearing man. A goodly number of people came in soon 
after we did. I will here mention the names of a few of them: 
big James Sinclair and big John Sinclair, big James Stuart 
and Donald Stuart, a worthy and Godly man, and his two 
scr.s by (he name of Ale.xant'er ]\I;'ni\ bis .'"on Fev. Doi aid 
Mann is a Baptist ininister, a profound scholar. Federal and Gad 
Ble.xly, sons of Col. Blexly of Avon, Donald Campbell, father of Rev. 
John Campbell, the first settled minister in the Associate Reform 
Church of Caledonia, and his other sons, Malcom, Daniel and 
Joseph, John and Duncan McLaughlin, Peter and James McNaughton, 
brothers to big John, James Calder and family, William Forbes and 
Thomas Duer, John Campbell, brother to Peter, Archibald Ferguson, 
and Daniel, his brother, John Mclntyre Wheelright, a kind man, Alex- 
ander McDougal and his two sons Neal and James, and his son-in-law 
Alexander Stuart, Athol, Donald, John and James McNab — brothers 
— John R. Mclntyre and his sons Allen and Peter R. Mclntyre, Alex- 
ander Stuart Argyle, who married one of my aunts. There are a 
number of other names which I will mention after I make one or two 
remarks, which I deem appropriate in this place, and which will apply 
with equal force to most of the names I shall hereafter mention, and 
the first is viz: these new comers [_being thus placed in the most 
primeval condition that any people ever was or can ever be again is 
worthy of notice and more than a passing thought. They were all at 
once introduced into a new world, a new system of government, new 
scenes, a new manner of living, in fact everything new; the S3'stem of 
government itself was only problematical at that early period of its- 
existence, but they inhaled the free and balmy air of republican prin- 
ciples with avidity, aided by the teaching of the blessed truths of the 



674 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

word of God, which many of them made the Man of their counsel all 
their days. I think the prescriptions of this blessed book, the bible, if 
carefully obeyed, is a wonderful panacea for all the ills of this life. 
There were then in 1804 a number of enterprising and respectable 
families residing in Hartford in Ontario county, now Avon in Living- 
ston County: Hon. Timothy Hosmer and his sons, Hon. George, 
William, Sylvester, Sidney, Timothy, Frederick'and Albert, all honor- 
able men and good citizens. There were four brothers by the name of 
Parsons, Benjamin, John, Joseph, and Ira, all wealthy and good 
citizens, Col. Malcom, Mr. Kelsey, Aaron AVilliams, Dr. Naramore, 
Col. Larrance, Mrs. Berry and her amiable daughters, Job Pierce, a 
Mr. Rogers, a tanner, and another tanner by the name of Gilbert, Mr. 
Wiard, Mr. Knowles, Gad Wadsworth: there might be others, but not 
many. There was one other, the veteran and gallant sailor, Graves 
Hosmer and brother to the Judge. Mr. Benjamin Parson kept a tav- 
ern tiien in the east part of now Avon for a long time, where the weary 
traveler always found a good resting place and a friendly welcome 
home. 

John Parson and Job Pearce kept the first dry goods stores in Hart- 
ford, now Avon, for a number of years; the only ones in this part of 
the country, and to which all the early settlers had to go for articles 
which they could not do without — the only ones they bought. En- 
deavoring for a long time to live on the products of their farms and 
herds, there was a good deal of social intercourse and honest dealings 
between the new comers, and the first settlers in Avon, and strong 
attachments were formed which grew with their growth, and which 
death only severed. Hon. George Hosmer soon after this period 
appeared on the stage of life, an eminent lawyer and a profound scholar 
and jurist and was considered one of the most brilliant stars in western 
New York. The first bridge that ever spanned the Genesee river was 
built in the summer of 1804; it stood on the line of the State Road 
between Avon and Caledonia. A large share of the longest and largest 
timbers used in the construction of it was cut on my land and floated 
down the river; one stick of the large and longest of them was cut 
within 15 rods of where my house stands, and one of my brothers 
narrowly escaped being crushed, and floated with it in rolling it down 
the bank of the river. I believe the first freshet floated it away; it 
was built I think by the state, which opened also the State Road to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 675 

Buffalo. Avon, originally called Hartford, is one of the fourteen towns 
in Livingston county; it was organized by general sessions of Ontario 
county in 1889, of which county it then formed a part; this town was 
settled in 1790 by five families from Farmington in Connecticut, 
among which was the family of Hon. Timothy Hosmer. The situa- 
tion of the village of West Avon is beautiful, it has an academy, and a 
great number of dwelling houses. The valuable medicinal qualities of 
its springs combine to render this one of the most attractive watering 
places in the country, and at which the invalid and the most fastidious 
can be accommodated and every want be supplied that a rich country 
and a large market can furnish in one or another of six or eight large 
and well furnished hotels in West Avon and near the medicinal springs. 
These springs have already become places of great resort in the warm 
months for not only by the invalid but by parties of pleasure-seeking 
people who come to them from all parts of the country. Here is the 
place of residence of the Hon. George Hosmer, Curtice Haley, mine 
host !Mr. Comstock, Capt. Nowlen and a host of other worthies. Its 
location is on the east outer bank of the Genesee river and on the State 
Road between Albany and Buffalo and about twenty miles south from 
Rochester and ten north of Geneseo, about two and a half east from 
the Genesee Valley canal at Canawaugus. I will here, once for all, 
state that I consider it unnecessary to give the number of inhabitants 
in towns and other places of which I may speak or describe. All the 
places that I shall have occasion to write concerning are generally 
healthy and teeming with a flourishing and prosperous population. It 
is worthy of a remark here that there is here nowhere any local fevers 
or epidemics or contagious diseases, although death here and there 
often steals in among us. The people in many parts of this section of 
country used to be very unhealthy when newly settled, caused no 
doubt, by exposure, hardship and hard fare, and from which the early 
pioneers had no way of escape. As I said before the history of these 
few pioneers which I mentioned first would be substantially the his- 
tory of thousands of others in and out of the state of New York, with 
this exception, having to travel so long and so expensive a journey 
across the Atlantic ocean many of them spent their last dollar by the 
time they were ready to commence improving their farms, but if there 
were any vvho with regret remembered the flesh pots of Egypt, they 
kept it to themselves, having their minds made up from first that they 



676 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

would have to endure hardships and privations which are incidental to 
all new countries, being now as they thought permanently settled for 
life, they began to contrive and to execute measures to make them- 
selves more comfortable, which many of us continued to do, yet in hot 
pursuit, to get rich was with them but a secondary consideration, 
their object and aim was to secure a peaceful home in the first place, 
and having that object constantly in their mind's eye they struggled 
with and overcame many obstacles and inconveniences which often 
obstructed their path. Among many other things, the want of good 
mechanics was for a long time severely felt, consequently their imple- 
ments of husbandry and also culinary were crude and of the rudest 
kind and even at that few and far between, still we were not quite as 
badly off as the very first settlers were, who were in two or three years 
before us when there was no grist mill built nearer this place than on 
the outlet of Canandaigua lake, about thirty-five miles east from York. 
I have often in my mind compared the industry, patient endurance, 
economy and indomitable perseverance of the first pioneers to the 
story of and about the Swiss family in our school libraries, borrowing 
the good wife's bag from which she was able at all times and on every 
occasion of emergency to furnish them with all they needed; not so 
with the pioneers, for what they had not, they could not get very 
easily, and had to do often without for years. That portion of the 
state west of the Genesee river was but thinly settled before the war 
of 1812, but filled up rapidly soon after the close of that war in 1815, 
with a hardy and intelligent class of people mostly from the 
New England states and the eastern sections of this state, several 
from the state of Pennsylvania, &c. During a winter season in which 
I was a waiter in the tavern kept by Major Smith in Caledonia and at 
another that I was with Mrs. Berry of Avon, it was no uncommon oc- 
currence to lodge six, some times more, young, healthy, hardy looking 
men from the everlasting New England states, harnessed under a well 
filled knapsack and staff in hand, filled no doubt by a kind mother, or 
perhaps by a still more kind sister, as the last kind act which in all 
probability would be ever in their power to administer to them, full 
of energy, glee and jokes which no discouragement could daunt or 
turn aside from their purpose and destination, bound still further 
west, and I would not be surprised should this notice meet the eye of 
some of them, if I should receive a kind response, for I cannot believe 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 677 

that all of them went back with evil report. Livingston county was 
taken from Ontario and Genesee counties, having in it twelve towns 
then in 1821; two towns were annexed to it since, taken from Allegany 
county. This county would not lose by a comparison with any other 
in the state as to the intelligence of the population, the fertility of the 
soil and in the rural beauty and grandeur of the landscape. The 
ancient Genesee river runs through it a distance of nearly thirty miles 
north and south, with its rich and wide spread alluvial fiats. There 
are several spots through the country in which rich and almost un- 
equaled views will open to the eye of the traveler, extending to the 
very verge of the horizon interspersed, to be sure, with tracks of the 
original forest left for beneficial purposes. Having had occasion 
lately to travel on business through the towns of York, Leicester, Mt. 
Morris and Geneseo, my mind was involuntarily led to contemplate 
and contrast the changes that have taken place in all these places since 
I first saw them and passed through them 43 or 44 years ago, while 
looking for a stray horse, at which I spent a week in traveling in 
every direction through this valley. It was in the month of June, 
although there was but little improvements made then and but few 
inhabitants in all these places, yet there was a peculiar grandeur 
accompanied with a feeling of solitude and a solemn awe produced on 
my mind in traversing for hours together through an unbroken wild- 
ernes in beholding the majestic forest and in looking on the rich soil 
in all its primeval glory and loveliness, covered with all kinds of wild 
flowers in traveling through this contiguity of shade. I was often 
ready to explain with the Psalmist, "Lord, how manifold are thy 
works, in wisdom thou hast made them all." As I have said before, 
traveling through the forest is a good preventative of that horrible 
disease dyspepsia. My fare on this journey was mush and milk for 
supper and for breakfast milk and mush with the addition of some 
butter and johnny cake, and with which I was contented, except one 
breakfast which I got in a house that stood about half way between 
Mount Morris and Geneseo, of ham and eggs, rye coffee and johnny 
cake sweetened by hunger and maple sugar, which was very palatable 
. indeed and for which I paid a shilling without one grudge. There 
were no villages in Geneseo nor at Mount Morris at this time; only one 
tavern in each of these two places, together with a few dwelling 
houses; there were a great many Indians scattered up and down the 



678 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

valley from Lake Ontario to the line of Pennsylvania and beyond it; 
there was a hard beaten path near the bank of the river; some said it 
extended to Pittsburgh. Although I was but young at this period of 
early settlement, I remember that I could not help but admire with a 
sort of superstitious awe, if nothing better, the sublime and primeval 
grandeur of some of these scenes and through which I wended my 
devious ways when I looked through and around on this extensive 
contiguity of shade and clear space, much of the flats being but thinly 
timbered with large oaks, elms, maple and butter wood. Principally 
the thought would often obtrude on my mind when and from whence 
will they come that will inhabit and cultivate this vast wilderness; to 
be sure, there were a great many Indians scattered on either side of the 
river from the lake to the interior of Pennsylvania. Although they 
were there and they the original lawful owners, yet it did not seem so 
to me. There is no remnant of them now in this county. I fre- 
quently stopped among them to make inquiries about my stray horse 
by language and by signs, but without success. Although I am not 
writing a history of my life, yet I will relate a little incident that took 
place one morning. While I was among the Indians at Squakie Hill, 
as usual, I introduced myself by making inquiries if they had seen my 
stray horse. Presently a young Indian about my age appeared among 
a number of others and attracted my notice by the even and nice 
manner in which his hair had been cut, a sight which created in me a 
desire to have mine cut as handsome and which I thought would be in 
a little better style than I could get it done in the colony after I re- 
turned. So after making inquiries for the barber, I bargained with 
him for a sixpence to cut my hair; the fashion of cutting the hair in 
those days was to cut it very even around the back part of the head 
and middling short with heavy ear locks and lawyers fore top heavy 
and bristling, which was much admired and gave a manly look to 
young men. After giving instructions to the Indian, I sat on a log 
surrounded by Indians and squaws. I began to surmise before he 
finished by some chuckling which I observed among them that I was 
or would be completely shaved, and that if I should not lose a great 
portion of my strength as Samson did I would be as completely shorn* 
in the operation, but had no means of ascertaining the fact, so I paid 
him the sixpence and left to resume my devious ways. Sometime in 
the afternoon I came to a house occupied by a white family by the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 679 

name of Scoth. It happened that there was only the woman in at the 
time. I excused my intrusion by telling her my business and humbly 
entreated her to let me have something to eat for pay, which she 
kindly set about getting for me, and while she was engaged, I stole a 
glance at a seven by nine looking glass that hung against the log wall. 
Reader, you may imagine if you can, my horror and chagrin while 
looking on my bare skull for the first time, but I cannot by any kind 
of words do justice to my feelings at that time. I clapped my hat on 
it and apologized to the landlady for so doing; she sympathized a 
good deal with me and advised me to wear my^hat constantly for fear 
I might take cold, for my head was as bare as a white turnip, and as 
white. She furthermore counseled me by kindly telling me that in a 
month or two I should have as good or better growth of hair as that 
which I just lost, all of which happened. I have at all times since, 
when I thought of this occurrence, set her down as a sensible and good 
woman. She comforted me a good deal in my distress. There were 
three delightful spots then and from whence I had extensive views 
over the green and umbrageous tops of the tall forest and of which I 
delight to think now after an interval of almost half a century, and it 
would gladden my heart if I was sure that it was by the same spirit 
that made David remember three particular places which he called to 
mind; Hermon Hill, Mesior Hill and a place on the banks of the river 
Jordan, etc. The places which I have reference to are one place in 
York, the others in Mt. Morris and Geneseo. I have often since 
stopped at these points of observation to look with a secret delight on 
the beautiful panorama spread out before my'gaze, and I can yet see 
unmistakable traces of the old landmarks, which I delight to look on 
as mementos of the past. There flows and overflows the same ancient 
river, the Genesee, in the same meandering and muddy channel as un- 
wearied and as constant as when I first beheld it; there too is the same 
fat and alluvial flats, spread out on either side for miles teeming with 
flocks of sheep of the finest grade of wool, other spacious fields filled 
with herds of the best breeds of horses and also of the best stocks of 
cattle; others as spacious, loaded with bright grain and grapes ready 
•for the sickle and scythe. At the same time I can see that same 
stupendous, sombre gateway between which the Genesee river 
flows as of old, a short distance above the toll bridge near Mt. Morris, 
divested, however, of much of its former grandeur and natural beauty. 



680 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

by the cutting away nf the trees and shrubbery that grew on and near 
those ponderous walls whose foundations were laid by that same word 
of power which created out of nothing all the works of creation that 
doth still sustain them. Livingston county was taken from Ontario 
and Genesee counties. in 1821. It is about thirty miles long north and 
south, and about twenty-two east and west on the State Road. There 
are four thriving villages on this road: Lima, originally named Charles- 
ton; it has upwards of a hundred dwellings and is remarkable for their 
neatness. The Genesee Wesleyan University, a highly flourishing and 
well endowed institution, is situated here, and is well conducted and 
sustained. East and West Avon, of which I made mention already ; 
Caledonia, also, is beautifully situated, and is beginning after a long 
night of repose to develop its resources and capital by extending and 
embellishing its area. The land in this town is as suitable for wheat 
crops as any in the county. Here too is the residence of Hon. Willard 
H. Smith; since 1814 he has been First Judge of the county courts in 
this county for upwards of fifteen years. He is a profound scholar 
and an eminent jurist. Near this village also was the place of res- 
idence of that Godly and devoted servant of Christ, Rev. Alexander 
•Denoon; he came to the place in 1806 and was ordained in the fall of 
1807, the first minister west of the Genesee river; of him it may be 
said emphatically that he was the voice of one crying in the wilder- 
ness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make His paths straight." 
The burden of his message and preaching for forty-four years was, 
"Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; I indeed baptize 
you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is 
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize 
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. " He continued thus a burning 
and a shining light during all these long years until the 16th of June, 
1850, two weeks from the .Sabbath on which he administered his last 
communion on earth, assisted by his young and worthy brother, Rev. 
Mr. Doolittle, of Scottsville. He observed in his walk and conversa- 
tion what he preached to others. The day of judgment alone can 
determine the amount of good which he was eminently the means of 
doing to souls in this place, and I trust that the Lord of Heaven will 
preserve a root of this precious vine which his own right hand hath 
planted in this place to the latest posterity, for verily the Lord did 
manifest himself graciously in this place. Fowlerville is pleasantly 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 681 

situated on the south bank of a stream called Fowlerville creek; it 
has already more of the air and characteristics of a Yankee or New 
England hamlet than any place I know. It was first settled by Wells 
Fowler, after whom it was named soon after, and a post- 
office was established there of which he was the first postmaster in 
York. Soon after EliakimWeller, Ira Torrey, ilr. Whitcomb, William 
Janes and William Taylor came in. Col. Henry Janes lived about half 
a mile northeast from there. I think all these men came from near 
Pittsfield in Massachusetts. Capt. Pliny Waller built a saw mill in 
this place soon after it was settled. There is now and has been for a 
number of years a large mechanical business carried on here by Mr. 
Hamilton E. Smith, employing between thirty and forty men and 
boys in building threshing machines, reapers, ploughs, cultivators, 
chairs, tables, bedsteads, straw cutters, planing machines, bureaus 
and lastly well finished coffins for the weary to lie down in when the 
storms of life are past. James M. Bigelow is house carpenter of more 
than ordinary capacity in that business, employs a great number of 
men in that branch of useful mechanism. Frederick R. Stickney is 
and has been a successful and popular physician in that place for many 
years, a self made man. Mr. William Fraser, Esq., keeps a large dry 
goods store on the corner of Buffalo and Genesee streets, and John 
Casey and Robert Grant on the other side of the same street, where 
they carry on a large and profitable business in their line. John Casey 
is the postmaster. John M. Beach, Esq., is Justice of the Peace. 
Deacon Israel Casey lives about three quarters of a mile northeast 
from the village. Daniel McPherson and James two miles northwest. 
Elihu Lyman and deacon Eastman Elias, a short distance south of it. 
Mr. Robert Vallance lives a short half mile east, and like the writer, 
may be classed among the early pioneers in the town of York. Spen- 
cerport, one mile east, and on the canal, was settled by John Spencer 
and Alexander Hubs, contractors on this section of the canal, and 
Alonzo and Amos Fowler, James McPherson, Esq., resides there now. 
The center of York was settled first by Ralph Brown, an Englishman, 
as early as the summer of 1804. Soon after John Russ and Nathan, 
his brother, came in. Capt. Russ, John, is the oldest Yankee pioneer 
in the town; he has resided on the same farm since he came in. Tim- 
othy Rice is an old resident. David McDonald, merchant, has been 
in town about thirty years; he has been living in the county nearly 



682 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

forty years. I went through this place looking for cattle. Ne.xt 
spring after Mr. Brown came to the place, in 1805, he, like all others, 
lived in a small log cabin, and for anything I could see, was monarch 
of all he could survey. Deacon Archibald Kennedy was one of the 
earh' pioneers. Since the Genesee canal was built, several flourishing 
villages have grown up near it, Canawaugus, Spencerport, Cuylerville 
and PifiEardinia. Piflfardinia was settled by Campbell Harris; it is 
a place of considerable business and on the road between York and 
Geneseo and on the canal. Cuylerville is now and always will be a place 
of much business. It sprung into being under the eye and skillful 
management of Col Cuyler of that place. Leicester was settled by a 
man by the name of Leicester, as early as 1802, but since the canal 
is built the business is done in Cuyler. Moscow owes its origin and 
was laid out for a large place by Hon. Samuel Hopkins, who was then 
proprietor of a large tract of land there, on which he built a large and 
extensive mansion; he was appointed in 1821 First Judge of Livingston 
county courts. Hon. Moses Hayden was First Judge in Livingston 
county; he was also member of Congress for one or two terms; he lived 
in York. I forgot to relate in the proper place that the oxen which Mr. 
D. McKenzie brought to this place strayed about the time of harvest 
in 1804, he having no closed field to turn them in; there was however 
excellent pasture on the Genesee flats, where large herds of cattle and 
horses used to roam and find pasture enough ; he never ascertained 
how they got across the river, but some time in August he heard that 
they had been seen on the east side of the river; he tracked them to a 
place east from Rochester near Lake Ontario, known by the name of 
Irondequoit, where he found one of them and with which he retraced 
his steps and crossed the river somewhere not far from the falls, and 
where the city of Rochester now is. I have often heard him speak of 
the wild and rural grandeur of the place, as showing forth the wisdom 
and unlimited power of God as manifested there in the work of cre- 
ation; he spoke of a little grist mill being there and that the owner of 
it would not be troubled with scarcity of waters, for all he would get 
to grind. Very soon after he came home he was taken with the fever 
ague, and was sick with it the rest of the season. About the same 
time, the two cows we had strayed also and were gone several weeks, 
so that their milk nearly dried and they were of little benefit to us the 
rest of that season. The milk of two good cows, which they were. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 683 

would go far towards supporting a famil}- of young children. In 
those days milk was used then, and could be now, in six different 
ways, as it was where it could be had. I have seen a good mother 
from New England serve up to a large party, of which the writer was 
one, good sweet pumpkins in six dift'erent modes, and every one of 
them wholesome and palatable. I don't know but J would weary the 
gentle reader if I were to relate the many and different modes in which 
Indian corn could be used as a diet besides Johnny cake and mush. 
Major Downing commended highly the Christmas dumplings which 
his good mother used to pile in smoking heaps before the family on 
that and other proper occasions, and I can commend them, too, as 
being wholesome and nutritious. I think it was considered by many, 
at least of the early pioneers, that two bushels of corn to one of wheat 
would, in the hands of a good cook, be a good proportion of these 
grains, and with other things that could be served up with these staple 
articles would make a good diet in the woods or anywhere else. Of 
the truth of this I have had ample proof by experience, and yet have 
no cause to regret the experiment, and I can further affirm that people 
nowadays would enjoy better health if they used more simple food in 
their diet. Sometime in October, 1804, word came to Mr. McKenzie 
that the other ox was to be found at big Sodus Bay, also on Lake 
Ontario. Mr. McKenzie being still sick with the ague, Angus ^Ic- 
Bean, Esq., volunteered his service and went for him and brought him 
home again. Although these oxen were very notable, yet the method 
of communication was more difficult than the over and under ground 
railroad and telegraphs in use nowadays, and the manner of traveling 
slow and tedious, generally on foot and alone, and through large dis- 
tricts without public or private houses to stop at, with scarcely any 
sign of a road, except a cattle path or a blazed sled track. This 
description of traveling might safely be applied to all the places west 
of the Genesee river and to large portions of the State east from it as 
far at least as L^tica at this date, with the only exception of the State 
Road, which runs through Avon and Caledonia, Batavia, &c. 

In describing Caledonia village more particularly, I will state that it 
is situated on the State road from Canawaugusand Buffalo, about forty 
miles from the former and sixty from the latter place, twenty miles 
southwest from Rochester and seventeen east of Batavia, seven east 
of LeRoy and seven west of the Genesee river and fourteen northwest 



684 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

from Geneseo, the county seat, and seven miles north of York Centre. 
It is situated now in the heart of a rich and productive district, es- 
pecially for wheat. Here the best Genesee wheat is grown, as well as 
all other kinds of grain and grapes. At the risk of repeating the 
names of some that I have already mentioned, I will here mention 
the names of prominent men who were early in and others who came in 
later: John McKay came in 1803; Alexander McDonald and his son 
Donald, about the same time; John Cameron and wife and one child, 
Angus Cameron, came in the fall of 1806; Doctors Stockton and Terry 
came in early; Capt. Alden Ayres and family came in an early day, 
his son Capt. Ayres is now and has been for many years a saddler and 
harness maker in the village; Isaac I. Lavis came in early and was 
Justice for a number of years; Hon. Willard H. Smith came to Cale- 
donia the 31st of December, 1813, where he has resided ever since; he 
was born in Cheshire county. New Hampshire, Sept. 30th, 1785. In 
1792 his father with his family removed to Hampshire county in the 
State of Massachusetts where he continued until he completed his ed- 
ucation; he graduated at Williams College, Mass., Sept. 10th, 1810. 
He studied law for some time in Albany, and was admitted to prac- 
tice as an attorney of the Supreme Court of New York, in October, 
1813, the duties of which he continued to discharge for the period of 
sixteen years. Although many political changes took place within 
that time, his dignified and impartial way of dispensing justice to all 
concerned, his great learning and eminent talents as a counsellor and 
jurist qualified him above many of his contemporaries for this impor- 
tant and arduous office. Mordecai McKay came to the place before 
1812. Hector McLean and James Fraser, Sen., now of Wheatland, 
came in 1809 or '10. Hon. Archibald McLean is his only son; he 
was in the Legislature two sessions and is a talented young man and 
much respected. James Hill and family came in 1813; they were 
formerly from England; he was an intelligent man and was Justice of 
the Peace for a number of years in Caledonia. Alfred Collins settled in 
the village of Caledonia in the year 1816; he was Justice of the Peace 
for several years while there. He is son-in-law of the above James 
Hill; he removed into the town of York in 1821 and was Justice of the 
Peace two or three terms; his hearing having begun to fail he resign- 
ed. His oldest son, William A. Collins is established at York Centre, 
Livingston county, attorney, solicitor and counselor, and is in a fair 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 685 

way of attaining to distinction in his professional career. Orange 
Dean and his son Orange Dean, Jr., came in 1811 — he and his fam- 
ily. They kept tavern in the village many years. Orange Dean, Jr., 
lives now on a large and excellent farm about a mile east from the 
village in a large, substantial and splendid cobble stone house. He 
is the father of a large and highly respectable family. Ewan Camer- 
on, brother to John Cameron, the merchant, came from Scotland in 
company with John H. McColl and his family before 1810. He left a 
large and respectable family. Mrs. Cameron is still living and in good 
circumstances. Col. John Dickinson came at an early period; I think 
he was the first saddle and harness maker in that place. He had a 
large and respectable family. His only son, John, died when yet 
young, leaving a young widow and two sons, John W. and George 
W. Dickinson, intelligent young men ; they reside now in Caledonia. 
Sylvester Brown was an early merchant in Caledonia; he had been a 
clerk of Luther Coel in Canandaigua. Heman Norton was his early 
partner at Caledonia. He was deputy and clerk of Livingston 
county for two terms right away after it was divided from Monroe. 
John Brown, one of his sons, resides in Livonia, an enterprising 
young man. Silence Brown, Sylvester's mother, resides with her son- 
in-law, Capt. Gad Blakely, son to the veteran Col. of Avon; he is 
now and has been the efficient postmaster since Gen. Harrison's 
election to the presidency, with the exception of a short interval dur- 
ing John Tyler's defection, and is the only postmaster in the town, 
which is a rare thing for so large a town. He keeps a drug store also. 
Alexander Simpson, vSr., came in early; he followed brewing and 
farming business; he was supervisor and poor master; he died in 
1852, leaving a respectable family. His son Alexander, Jr., is an 
intelligent, enterprising young man; he is son-in-law to the honest 
man Duncan McColl, deceased. Archibald Renwick, one of the Jus- 
tices of the Peace, came in 1831, an honest lowland Scotchman, from 
near Edinburgh, Scotland; he is a good blacksmith. David Fuller 
came about 1800; he was a good chopper; I have known him to chop 
an acre of heavy timber in four days, leaving only five trees standing. 
Joseph Cummings came about the same time. James j\Iaxwell, Sr., 
bought his farm in 1811, and James Maxwell, Jr., his son, lived on the 
place until his death. Benjamin Fowles, an Englishman, and family 
came in about 1813 or '14; he sold an excellent farm to John 



686 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

McNaughton, an honest man trom Perthshire, in 1826. His son-in- 
law, John M. Campbell, lives on the Maxwell farm, and owns it ; he 
was for several years editor of the Livingston Republican, a newspaper 
published in Geneseo and is coroner in the county. Thomas Brown 
and Robert Brown, brothers, came to Caledonia early. They 
bought John McKinley's establishment and set up in his place and 
carried on the mercantile business together for many years, successfully. 
Robert Brown has been trading at Mumford for several years past. 
Both are intelligent, honorable men. Dr. Harlow W. Wells has been 
a physician of some eminence in Caledonia for about twenty years; he 
is son-in-law to Hon. W. H. Smith, and was honored by the people of 
his district to a seat in the Legislature of the state. He is and has 
been for the last two years supervisor of the town. Alexander Fer- 
guson is son to Archibald Ferguson, a devout, good man; he came to 
the town in 1804 or '5 with his family. His son Alexander Ferguson 
is and has been for several years an efificient Justice of the Peace in the 
town and a popular school teacher and school superintendent. Mr. 
Augustus Hotchkiss and son have kept a public house in the place for 
several years; he and his son own both the vShaw and McLean hotels. 
At present he has the contract for carrying the mails between Roch- 
ester and Mt. ^Morris; runs daily express to and from Rociiester. He 
was postmaster during John Tyler's administration. Duncan Smith 
a native of Inverness, resides here, and is a good blacksmith. The 
venerable John D. Anderson, elder, of whom I made mention elsewhere, 
resides here. John McLean, an uncle to Hon. Archibald McLean, and 
his father, Alexander McLean, and family came to Caledonia about 
1816. John followed a sea-faring life until that time; he is an honest 
man. Two sons of Col. Robert McKay, George and another carry 
on the furnace and plow making business extensively in the place and 
the other two sons carry on the business of the farm at home. James 
B. McKay, son to Mordecai McKay is and has ^jeen constable and col- 
lector in the town for several years, and is a reliable man in that office. 
John McKay, Sr. 's widow and her son John ^IcKay, Jr., are the oc- 
cupants of his farm, grist and saw mills, a valuable estate. The present 
grist mill is a large building; it stands a few rods below where the 
old Williamson mill stood. Donald McKenzie, clothier emigrated to 
America in 1805, from Inverness. During that fall and winter he 
worked as clerk in a carding and cloth dressing factory in Connecticut 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 687 

and in the summer of ISOG in a factory of the same kind in Henrietta 
in Ontario County. Then in the fall of 1806 he erected a small build- 
ing on the spring creek in Mumford, and commenced on a small scale 
the business of carding and cloth dressing. Not long after he extend- 
ed his business and built larger. After a few years more he was doing 
a large and profitable business by it and beneficial to the community 
at large, but in an evil hour while the workmen were eating dinner, 
it took fire from some cause, without saving anything and without be- 
ing insured, the insurance having run out. During this time he bought 
of the English company a large tract of land, several hundred acres, 
on part of which he soon built a large stone factory and commenced 
again not only the former branches but added to them the spinning 
and manufacturingof all kinds of cloth at a great cost. In the interim 
he built a large grist mill on Allen's Creek, a short distance east from 
Mumford where he was for some years doing profitable business. 
Owing to the location, it cost him a great deal of labor and money be- 
fore he got it perfected, and whether it was owing to, as President 
Jackson said on some memorable occasion, that he was doing too much 
business on borrowed capital, or that others took advantage of the oc- 
casion, his second factory having been burnt, which cost thousands of 
dollars in building and machinery, without insurance. Be that as it 
may, he lost the grist mill too; these misfortunes both coming on him 
nearly together reduced him from a state of affluence to a circum- 
scribed condition. He retained a part of his land and built a 
large, substantial saw mill near his house, which is doing business. 
About the year 1810 he married a worthy young lady, a daughter of 
Mr. William Hencher, a prince of pioneers, who was settled at the 
mouth of Genesee river in an early day. She was and is indeed a 
helpmeet to him. She had been inured to the hardships and discom- 
forts incidental to early pioneer life. I have not heard or seen that in 
all these adverse and calamitous providences, she uttered a perverse 
murmur. She is now a healthy matron and the mother of a highly 
respectable family. Two of her sons are in California, William and 
Simon McKenzie; her other two sons, John and Joseph, carry on the 
business of the mill and farm; her oldest daughter. Jennet, is married 
to Mr. Daniel McNaughton, son of the veteran pioneer John McNaugh- 
ton; another daughter, Mary is married to Mr. Hector ^IcLean, of 
Rochester (they conduct the McLean Hotel there). 



688 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY f 

An authentic account of the settlement of Caledonia, which took 
place in the month of March, A. D. 1799: In the year 1798 a number 
of families and young persons emigrated from Broadalbin, Perthshire, 
in Scotland, for the laudable purpose of bettering their condition, and 
if possible, to buy themselves farms and a permanent home. They 
took shipping at Greenock in the beginning of March and proceeded 
from thence to New York, at which place they arrived before the first 
of May; from New York they proceeded without delay to Johnstown 
in this State, where a number of their friends had been settled for 
many years. While staying with or near their friends, they were 
visited by a man by the name of Williamson, who was agent for Sir 
William Pulteney, who owned a large tract of valuable land in South- 
ampton, now Caledonia. He found that many of them, if not all, were 
destitute of money either to buy land in Johnstown or to pay their ex- 
penses in coming to Caledonia. He found them, however, possessed 
of a more valuable ingredient — habits of industry, perseverance and 
economy, courage and patient endurance. Mr. Williamson agreed to 
pay all their expenses on the journey and also to furnish them teams 
and provision at a cheap rate until they could support themselves and 
a reasonable time to pay it in, but before they concluded this bargain 
they sent five of the young men to see the land and report to them be- 
fore they would venture to take so long and so hazardous a journey. 
Those courageous and hardy young men were sent by their friends, 
no doubt, with the same aim and for the same purpose that Moses 
sent the twelve from the camp of the children of Israel in the wilder- 
ness of Paran to see and search and satisfy themselves in regard to the 
promised land of Canaan. The names of the five men were John 
McNaughton, of Wheatland, a worthy and estimable man, and whose 
hospitality was proverbial and beneficial to all who came in in after 
years, and who still resides on the first farm he bought; Donald 
McPherson, another .worthy man, who afterwards became an eminent 
elder in the Associate Reformed Church of Caledonia in October, 1813; 
Malcolm McLaren, who died soon after and who was the first white 
man that was buried at Big Springs; big John McVean, as he was for 
distinction called, who was a hardy intrepid pioneer and who lived 
for a number of years on an excellent farm now owned by Col. Rob- 
ert McKay and family about two miles west from the village of Cale- 
donia; Hugh McDearmid, an excellent penman; James McLaren, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 689 

who removed to Canada soon after the late war — these young men 
traveled all this distance on foot from Johnstown to the Big Springs 
which gushes forth today as freely and apparently as inexhaustibly as 
when I first saw it in March, 1804. After seeing and searching the 
premises they were well pleased with the prospect and offer made by 
Mr. Williamson, and when they returned to their friends they advised 
them to accept the offer, which they did and was as follows: they were 
to buy as much land at three dollars per acre as each should think best 
after seeing it, to be paid in wheat at six shillings per bushel, and 
ten years to pay it in. The number of persons, male and female, old 
and young, who came and formed this new colony did not exceed 
twenty. Few as the number was, they formed an important nucleus 
or centre, around and to which accessions were yearly made from 
Johnstown, from Inverness shire, Argyle shire and other places in 
Scotland, and in this country. Sir William Pulteney had a land office 
at Geneva, under the agency of Robert Throupat this time. He soon 
after appointed Mr. Alexander McDonald agent, to superintend the 
business of the colonists. He was a worthy man and died in 1826. 
He had an only son, whose name was Donald McDonald, a merchant 
and farmer; he died also in 1843, leaving a large and highly respect- 
able family to enjoy aiarge and rich inheritance and a good name. 
In the month of March, 1799, these few persons arrived in safety at 
the Big Springs, the place of the future residence of the most of them. 
Some few, having sold their first inheritance, went to other places. 
Most of the first settlers remained on their original farms until re- 
moved by death, and left large and rich inheritances and good exam- 
ples to their children. They built comfortable log houses, somewhat 
rough and rude, to be sure, but the latch string was always to be 
found in its place and always on the right side of the door. I saw 
every one of them in March, 1804, and was in them. Those early 
pioneers had to struggle with many inconveniences and discomforts 
for several years at first; among the most important was the want of 
good and sufficient teams and farming implements, and good mechanics 
of every kind and sort were not to be found for many years. West of 
the Genesee river and for a long distance east of it, for two or three 
years, there was no grist mill nearer them than twenty-five or thirty 
miles and bad roads at that. Besides these there were other obstacles, 
the want of experience and practice of the way and manner in which 



690 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

their labor would benefit them most retarded their progress and pros- 
perity, but their patient perseverance overcame this also. In com- 
mitting these facts to the pages of history, I have no other design but 
faithfully to record them, and also to take especial notice of God's 
goodness in protecting and prospering so humble a beginning. Let 
not the reader suppose that these few highlanders and others whose 
names may be mentioned in this narrative were the only poor pioneers 
who settled in the Genesee country since the year 1799, no, they were 
not, as many others who are yet living can testify. There is another 
remark I will make in this place and of which I wish the reader to 
take particular notice, especially if you are one of the descendants of 
those early pioneers here and elsewhere, and that is when you read 
of their poverty and privations, their patient endurance of fatigue, 
toil and discomforts, that this would tend to endear their memory to 
you more, especially when you look out on the rich and broad acres of 
land which their prudent forethought and persevering industry secured 
for the benefit of their families, and that you will Avith me honestly 
say and acknowledge before God when you worship him and offer to 
him your rich first fruits "A Syrian ready to perish was my father 
and he went down into Egypt," Deut., Chap. XXVI., Verse V. The 
names of those \vho came to the Springs, besides those already men- 
tioned were Peter Campbell and family, John McLaren and three sons 
John, Duncan and Peter; Finley McKercher and his two sons Peter 
and John McKercher; John McPherson, John and Duncan Anderson — 
these last three were unmarried. In the spring of 1800 several others 
came, among whom was Alexander McPherson, Alexander Thompson, 
Thomas Irvin and family, William Armstrong and family, John Chris- 
tie and family, Duncan McPherson and family, Peter Anderson and 
family. On the arrival of the first named party Mr. Williamson 
promptly gave orders to Alexander McDonald, who was then clerk 
and agent for him at Williamsburg, to supply them with provisions 
and other necessaries. Wheat was procured at Dansville and ground 
at the Messrs. Wadsworth's mill at Conesus, and pork was drawn from 
the store at Williamsburg; they also bought cows of him, for all which 
they gave their notes which they paid when due. During the short 
time that the Scotch settlers at Caledonia were being supplied with 
provisions, oxen, cows by their patron, Mr. McDonald attended to 
their purchase and disposal and was soon settled among them invested 



HISTORY OF LIVIN(;STOX COUNTY 691 

■with a local agency to receive payment for the land and whatever else 
they had bought of Williamson. These persons were soon called on 
to extend and grant to others the same liberality and kindness, which 
they did cheerfully and for many years. In the year 1798 Mr. Will- 
iamson opened a road from the Genesee river to Ganson's tavern, now 
in LeRoy ; he called it the Niagara road; he expended $2,000 in 
doing it. L. Peterson was the only occupant at the Big Springs 
then. John Smith of Sparta surveyed the road; he afterwards re- 
sided in Wheatland. In the spring of 1799 Williamson commenced 
the erection of a small grist and saw mill on the outlet of the Big 
Springs. He brought the mill stones from Albany at a great cost, with 
only one run of stones. In 1803 he sold 200 acres of land, which in- 
cluded all the spring and mill, to a very enterprising young man by 
the name of John McKay who afterward married one of Major Isaac 
Smith's amiable daughters. He kept a tavern about half way between 
the Genesee river and the Springs, where Mr. Sylvester Hosmer now 
resides. He also married a daughter of Mr. Smith's, and is a son of 
Hon. Timothy Hosmer of Avon. Having gained considerable acces- 
sions from others who came in yearly, the people resolved to hold a 
meeting for the purpose of forming themselves into a civil and relig- 
ious society. I will here give an extract from the original minutes of 
that meeting; it is in the hand writing of Alexander McDonald : 
"South Hampton, 10th November, 18U2. This will certify that a 
meeting was hela at the house of Mr. Peter Campbell, by the inhabi- 
tants, on the 10th day of November, in order to incorporate and estab- 
lish themselves into a civil and religious society, conformable to an 
act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed the 27th day 
of March, 1801. That Alexander McDonald and John McNaughton 
were selected officers to receive the votes, etc. Thomas Irvin, Dun- 
can ^IcPherson, Peter Campbell, John Christy and Peter Anderson 
were elected trustees, and that they unanimously voted that the name 
or title of the society shall be the 'Caledonia Presbyterian Religious 
Society.' Attested, Alexander McDonald, John McNaughton." 
About this time Sir William Pulteney, by his agent Robert Throup, 
made over a deed of 150 acres of land for church lands, two acres for 
a place to build a manse on and fifty acres for school purposes, to the 
above society, all of which were recorded in the clerk's office of the 
County of Ontario, in 1802. Thus was formed the first society west 



692 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of the Genesee river in that memorable year. In the fall and winter 
of 1803 and spring of 1804 a large number of Scotch people came in 
from Inverness shire, Argile shire and other places in Scotland, and 
some who had remained at Johnstown since 17^8 came in then also. I 
will here give the names of such as settled in Caledonia of the emi- 
grants of this year: Duncan McColl, an honest man, and his family; 
John !McKenzie and family; Angus Haggart and Xeal, his 
brother, young men; Duncan McLaren and family; Donald McVean 
and family; Laughlan and Donald McLean and families; Archibald 
McLaughlin and family ; William Orr and family; Capt.' John Mc- 
Pherson ; Donald Taylor and their families, Malcolm Mcl'herson; 
Peter VV. and John and Duncan \V. McPherson; John ^IcDearmid and 
family; black Alexander McPherson and family, and the worthy Angus 
Cameron and family; Finley McPherson, although last, not the least 
among these worthies. Mr. John Cameron came in the fall of 1806 
and bought the log tavern stand near which he built a large frame 
house and store in which the inhabitants of a large district around 
traded for some time. Col. Robert McKay opened a store in Cale- 
donia in 1808 and had for clerks Federal and Gad Blakesley, promising 
sons of the veteran Col. Blakesley, of Avon. Gad Blakesley, is the 
postmaster in Caledonia at this date, 1852, and has been for several 
years. Col. McKay is and has been a true patriot and of the right 
stamp; he was Captain of the Scotch company, and Thomas Duer, 
Lieutenant, on the breaking out of the war of 1812. He and his Scotch 
highlanders marched immediately to Lewiston and there remained 
until relieved by the regular troops and again in December, 1874, he 
volunteered with as many of his command as would volunteer and 
went with the brave Major General Hall of Bloomfield, N. Y. 
and Col. Blakesley. Hon. Geo. Hosmer was Gen. Hall's aide-de-camp 
in that battle. Many ol the Britisli troops were killed before and after 
they landed at Black Rock and not a few of our men. 

They fought bravely and disputed and manfully opposed the landing 
of the British, but were at length obliged to yield to double their 
number of disciplined troops and swarms of Indians. There were but 
few of the regular troops on the Niagara frontier at that time. 
Captain McKay, who was at that time Major was taken pris- 
oner and carried to Montreal with a number of other distinguished 
officers, where they were compelled to remain until they were regu- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 693 

larly exchanged next year. The British being now unopposed and 
masters, immediately burnt Black Rock and Buffalo, having previous- 
ly taken that stronghold, Fort Niagara, burnt Youngstown and Lewis- 
ton, and lost no time in recrossing. I saw it stated in the newspapers 
of that period that the cause of this wanton waste of private property 
was in retaliation for the wanton burning of Niagara and Fort George 
by Gen. !McClure, who was in command of a few of our troops, keep- 
ing possession of Fort George for the Americans. He on the night 
of the 19th of this same December, and as cold a night, I think, as has 
been since, set fire to everything that would burn of a public or pri- 
vate property and by the light of it crossed to the American side. 
This wanton act was afterwards excused on account of an ambiguous 
and unlimited order from the Secretary of War, Gen. Armstrong, 
which was worded as published in the public prints of that time and 
read as follows: "If you should consider it to be best for the safety of 
the frontier evacuate the place and burn it." I read probably exag- 
gerated accounts of the sufferings of the women and children, who had 
no other shelter, through that unusually frosty night, but the light 
and heat of their burning houses, Queenstown, the nearest place to 
them, being seven miles distant. Whatever was the motive that im- 
pelled them to burn this lovely village, I saw ample proof of the fact 
in the blackened walls of stones and brick and in the spacious and 
heavy chimney stacks, many of them costly, but fearfully and prompt- 
ly was it retaliated in the British burning everything that would burn 
on the American side, from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie at Buffalo. 
All this devastation was accomplished in the short period of time that 
intervened between the 19th and 30th days of December. The day on 
which Buffalo was burnt, a woman named Lovejoy was burnt in her 
house; she refused to come out, preferring to perish in the flames of 
her property than to survive without it. I shall have occasion to 
write more on this subject \yhen I bring the history up to that date. 
After the first settlers had been in two or three years, they began to 
be encouraged and stimulated to perseverance and industry by their 
realizing twenty-five and thirty bushels of wheat per acre, although 
they could not with the means they had cultivate the ground properly. 
I have reason to believe that that fact was the bow of promise to them 
that a good time was coming and also that it was the origin of that 
consoling adage among us yet that a good time was in store for them, 



<i94 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

although none could fix a date when this much desired time would 
come. In a few years, however, they were able by their industry to 
evict poverty from their dwellings where it remains a stranger to 
this day. Without averring that all these people were truly religious, 
let it suffice the reader that they were brought up under the form and 
religious instructions of the church of Scotland, and that they mani- 
fested a regard for the institutions of the Gospel and a strict regard to 
sanctifying the Sabbath day, and for this purpose they used to assem- 
ble in private houses until they built a school house which must have 
been in 1802 or 1803, as I saw it in March, 1804, in which they after- 
wards met to worship God by prayer and reading of portions of the 
scriptures. This people having been brought up carefully in the 
church under the regular preaching of the Gospel, they now began to 
consider whether they had not done wrong in leaving these blessed 
privileges and coming to a wilderness where they were deprived of these 
inestimable privileges. While they were thus blaming themselves and 
deploring their condition, God was developing and began to accom- 
plish his own wise purpose concerning them, as will be seen in the fol- 
lowing extract from the journal of the Rev. Jedediah Chapman of the 
Geneva Presbytery, who was a settled minister in that village 
then and as long as he was able to preach. He was of the Presbyter- 
ian denomination like themselves. He writes, "Lord's day, March 
3rd, 1805, I preached in Caledonia, in a large school house which was 
full, and large numbers out of the door. The people are chiefly high- 
landers from Scotland ; they appeared not only decent and attentive, 
but very solemn; they expressed a desire, if I thought proper, to be 
organized as a Presbyterian church. I then appointed a conference 
on Sunday for that purpose. Monday, 4th, the people met. Confer- 
ence opened with prayer. After giving an exhortation on the occa- 
sion proceeded to receive and examine certificates; numbers of them 
were produced from various parts of Scotland and approved — several 
persons were examined who had never joined the church and ap- 
proved, and some who were not approved, but desired to wait in the 
use of means until another opportunity. Matters being thus prepared, 
I then proceeded to oraganize them. They solemnly adopted the con- 
fession of faith of the Presbyterian church and the directory for 
church government and discipline. They solemnly covenanted to 
walk together in all the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as a 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 695 

church of Christ, in the Presbyterian order." He says they chose 
three elders, two of whom were to officiate as deacons without giving 
their names. Donald McKenzie, I know, was ruling elder from this 
day until his death in 1826, and the other three as far as I can find 
out, whether elders or deacons, were Duncan McPherson and Donald 
Anderson. "After sermon proceeded to ordain the elders and deacons. 
These people appeared to he very sensibly affected, and very thankful 
to me for coming among them, to the general assembly for their care, 
and to the great head of the church for these privileges and blessings 
in the wilderness. They also engaged to keep up the public worship 
of God on the Lord's day among themselves until it should please the 
Lord to send them a gospel minister." The following narrative will 
prove how faithfully the great head of the church fulfilled his part of 
this solemn covenant entered into on this memorable day, in not only 
sending to them one gospel minister, but in sending several. In the 
first place he sent this same Mr. Chapman at intervals, and Rev. John 
Linsley of Big Tree, and in February, 1806, he sent that eminent gos- 
pel minister Alexander Denoon from Inverness in Scotland, and of 
whom I shall have occasion to make frequent mention. Mr. Denoon 
was in Scotland at this date and not yet licensed to preach. Many of 
the people from Inverness shire, however, were well acquainted with 
his great talents and eminent piety, having often heard him lecture, 
while in Scotland, on portions of the Scriptures. Although he pre- 
pared himself for the gospel ministry, yet there were two or three 
oaths which he was required to take before or after ordination which 
he could not conscientiously take. About this time, 1805, this society 
sent him a friendly invitation to come to this place, which he complied 
with in February, 1806. He put himself under the care of the Presby- 
tery of Geneva and was licensed June 26 of this year, and on the 17th 
of August, 1808, he was ordained and installed the regular pastor of- 
the church in Caledonia, by the said Presbytery. That was a blessed 
day for the people of Caledonia, York, Wheatland and others. It may 
be asked what would they be now, were it not for this precious influ- 
ence of the gospel of Christ, which Mr. Denoon preached in its purity 
for forty-four years among them, teaching them, by the institutions 
of the gospel and by his own Godly example until his death in 1850. 
Others, too, were instrumental of much good to the people of these 
towns and co-workers with him, and he with them, which I shall re- 



6% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

late more fully hereafter. Mr. Denoon commenced to lecture in 
March, ISOd, at the earnest request of the people, although he was not 
licensed to preach then. It was not long, however, before serious and 
open opposition was manifested by a large minority of the society 
openly and boldly. Many of them, however, after this became his 
sincere friends. His pungent, searching and scriptural doctrine was 
as offensive to the carnal mind at this time, as it was in the days of 
Paul, who thought he was doing good service when he was dragging 
to prison and consenting to the death of many of the sincere disciples 
of Jesus Christ. Now, without affirming that all who adhered to Mr. 
Denoon were true Christians, and that all the others were not, is not 
my object, in relating what I may have occasion to do of it, and I 
would rather the remembrance of this contention was buried in obliv- 
ion than to revive it, for I have reason to believe there is a Christian 
fraternal feeling existing now and for many years past between both 
ministers and congregations. There was another bone of contention 
and which created great animosity and bad feeling between them. 
In the 202 acres of land that had been deeded to them for church and 
school purposes, although the people that were in the place organized 
themselves into a civil and religious society in 1802, yet it was lost by 
their neglecting to elect trustees yearly so that the title to the land 
was vested in the part of the society that adhered to ^Ir. Denoon. In 
a few years after the seceding party solicited from the others and ob- 
tained an equal share of the land, and there are now and have been for 
many years two beautiful bands each vieing with the other in every 
good word and work. We can see in this that the great head of his 
church can bring good out of evil and make the wrath of man redound 
to his glory and to the furtherance of his all-wise and eternal purposes. 
These people are now, I think, in a more comfortable and convenient 
condition to worship God than they would be had they remained to- 
gether. There was, however, strong oppcisition made prior and at the 
time of Mr. Denoon's ordination and installation by a large and re- 
spectable minority, so that he had but a small majority of the mem- 
bers on account of this state of matters. The Presbytery that 
ordained him spent much time in carefully examining him respecting 
his acquaintance with experimental religion and knowledge in divinity 
as can be seen in the proceedings of the Presbytery on that occasion, 
which were as follows: "Wednesday, the 17th day of August, 1808, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 697 

Presbytery met according to adjournment, opened with prayer, Pres- 
bytery resumed the subject of !Mr. Denoon's ordination and installa- 
tion, and having carefully examined Mr. Denoon respecting his ac- 
quaintance with experimental religion and his knowledge of divinity, 
we are unanimously of opinion that it is highly expedient that he be 
ordained and installed pastor of this church and congregation which 
result was made known. At half past two o'clock Presbytery pro- 
ceeded to the place of public worship and ordained !Mr. Alexander 
Denoon to the work of the Gospel ministry and installed him pastor 
of the church and congregation in this place. The several parts of the 
proceedings were performed as follows: Rev. Mr. Mosher made the 
introductory prayer ; Rev. 'Sir. Ayers preached the sermon from second 
Cor. IV. verse; Rev. Jedediah Chapman, moderator, made the conse- 
crating prayer and gave the right hand of fellowship. Mr. Ayers 
gave the charge to the candidate. Rev. Mr. Bell gave the charge to 
the church and congregation, and Rev. John Lin.sley made the con- 
cluding prayer, ilr. Denoon, of course, became a member of Presby- 
tery and took his seat accordingly. Attest, David Higgins, stated 
clerk." The above and foregoing are true and faithful extracts from 
the records of the Presbytery of Geneva transcribed this fifth day of 
January, 1810. Both congregations reorganized again. Mr. De- 
noon's on the 6th day of September, 1808, and the Associate Reform 
Church in the latter part of October, 1810. Although this people had 
been organized as a civil and religious society as early as 1802 and 
again organized a Presbyterian church on March 4th, 1805, yet owing 
to their dissensions and other causes not accounted for, they neglected 
to record their existence as a church in the County Clerk's office until 
the 17th of September, 1808, as may be seen in this account of the 
proceedings had in reference to it. 

"At a meeting of the Congregation held at Caledonia on the 6th day 
of September, 1808, for the purpose of electing trustees. Donald Mc- 
Kenzie and John McPherson, elders, were unanimously chosen to pre- 
side, and the following named persons were duly elected trustees: 
Alexander McDonald, John McKenzie, Duncan !McColl, John Camer- 
on, John Christy and Duncan McLaren. 

Witness our hands and seal. 

Donald McKenzie, L. S. 
John McPherson, L. S. 



698 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Done at Caledonia this sixth day of Sept., 1808." 

The following is taken from the record of the above proceedings in 
the Clerk's office in Batavia: 

"Genesee County : ss. 

On the 19th day of September, ISOS, came before me, Ezra Piatt, 
First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for said County, Donald 
McKenzie and John McPherson, both known to me to be the persons 
who presided at the meeting above stated, and that they executed this 
as ruling elders and acknowledge that they signed and sealed the same 
as their own free and voluntary act and deed for the uses and purposes 
therein mentioned. No erasements or interlineation. 

Ezra Piatt. 

County Clerk's office, Genesee County, received for recording on the 
4th day of October, 1808 at one o'clock P. M., and recorded in Liber 1 
of miscellaneous records for said County, page seventy-eight. 

James W. Stevens, Clerk." 

After having made further diligent search of all the old scraps of 
records which came to my knowledge, I have come to the conclusion 
that Rev. I. Chapman ordained only three elders at the first organiza- 
tion in 1805, as I cannot find but the names of Donald ilcKenzie, 
Duncan McPherson and Donald Anderson on the church records of 
1805. Duncan McPherson having died between this date and the 
14th of March, 1807, and Donald Anderson having joined the portion 
of the congregation that seceded, the portion o{ the congregation that 
was friendly to INIr. Denoon elected three elders which were ordained 
by the Rev. Oliver Ayres, then of Massachusetts. The record is as 
follows: Caledonia, 14 March, 1807, the members of the Presbyterian 
church nominated and elected three elders more, viz. : Archibald 
Gillis, Peter Campbell and John McPherson, the venerable Archibald 
Gillis now in his eighty-third year is the only survivor of these devout 
men. It would be perhaps considered unnecessary for me to under- 
take to add to the deserved renown of these worthy men among their 
brethren in the churches, both churches were highly favored by the 
great head of this church in the selection of elders. I include in this 
paragraph all the elders that have been and those that are in that office 
at the present time in both the churches, and of whom I shall have 
occasion to write more distinctly in the proper place; therefore, let it 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 699 

suffice the reader that I think they would compare favorabh* with the 
two hundred men that were heads of the tribe of Isachar, which were 
men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought 
to do and who had all their brethren at their command, 1st Chron. 
XII. Chap., XXXII verse. Often have I looked with secret delight on 
their manly forms and on their venerable countenances, but all those 
worthy elders of the two first classes in both congregations have been 
removed from the fields of their labor by death, except the venerable 
Archibald Gillis, now in his eighty-third year, of the Presbyterian 
church, and the venerable and worthy elders John !McVean and John 
D. Anderson, about the same age, of the Associate Reform Church. 
Again in 1821 the members of the Presbyterian church nominated and 
elected two intelligent and God fearing men, elders, viz. : Donald 
Fraser, Sr. , and Donald Fraser, Jr., who are still living, and on the 
12th of May, 1841, the church and congregation met according to ap- 
pointment and chose two additional elders, John D. McColl and Alex- 
ander Fraser, who are members in full communion in our church, were 
unanimously chosen. The reader can readily perceive that in giving 
this brief narrative of the organization of the Presbyterian church 
in Caledonia, that I passed through and over nearly forty long 
and eventful years, with almost telegraphic speed, and like it 
leaving but very little track behind me, but I must now retrace my 
steps and take notice of other important events that have transpired 
during this long period, and in doing so, I consider that an authentic 
account of the formation and organization of the Associate Reform 
Church in Caledonia, of the first importance in this narrative, and I 
think I cannot do this better than by faithfully transcribing an ac- 
count of it by an eye witness, which I find was published in the Janu- 
ary and February numbers of the Christian Magazine in 1836, edited 
by Rev. John McLaren, then living and preaching to a congregation 
of the Associate Reform Church in the village of Geneva, and as far 
as I am able to remember or judge, it is both true and graphical, and 
if I can find out who the writer was I will insert his name with pleas- 
ure. I have learned since writing the above with great pleasure that 
it was written by that worthy man John A. McVean, who was one of 
the first three Elders that were ordained in the Associate Reform 
Church, and also that he was the individual spoken of who met John 
Scoon of Geneva and who went to Rev. Mr. Wilson and spared no 



700 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

pains, time or money in procuring the necessary information and in 
endeavoring to call the attention of Presbytery to the deplorable con- 
dition of this people, and in which, after several disappointments, he 
was finally successful as his narrative of the same discloses, and I here 
again state with great pleasure that the narrative which Mr. McVean 
has written is both truthful and graphical. He requested me, how- 
ever, to correct the statement that there was no grist mill nearer them 
than twenty-five or thirty miles, by stating that the Messrs. Wads- 
worth had one on the outlet of Conesus Lake fifteen or twenty miles, 
but notwithstanding this, some of themselves told in my hearing that 
they had been obliged from some cause to go to the mill at Canandai- 
gua oftener than once and to Allen's mill at the falls on the Genesee 
river, now in the city of Rochester, and here I will let the writer speak 
for himself. 



CONESUS. 

The town of Conesus lies mostly between Conesus lake on the west 
and Hemlock lake on the east. It is bounded on the north by Li- 
vonia, east by Canadice in Ontario county, south by Sparta and Spring- 
water, and 'west by Groveland. It has an area of 19,996 acres, and 
its population in 1900 was 1,149. 

The town is undulating and hilly and has a higher general elevation 
than any other town of the eastern range. The Marrowback hills in 
the eastern part run nearly parallel with Hemlock lake, and rise in 
places several hundred feet. Turkey Jiill. on the western border, 
takes the direction of Conesus lake. The Calabogue valley extends from 
near the centre of the town into Springwater. McMillan gully ends 
near the shore of Conesus lake, and in places has steep sides from 60 
to 100 feet high. Purchase valley has like precipitous sides, and in 
the rock are specimens of bituminous slate. 

The soil of the town is mostly clayey, and much of it is adapted to 
winter wheat, large crops of which have been grown on many of its 
farms. The timber is principally oak, walnut and chestnut, formerly 
with much pine on the uplands, and ash, elm and swamp oak on the 
lowlands. 

An act was passed by the legislature in April, 1S19, providing that 
all that part of township eight, in the sixth range of townships in- 
cluded in Livonia and Groveland, except that part lying on the east 
side of Hemlock lake and adjoining the town of Richmond, should be 
a separate town with the name of Freeport. The name was changed 
to Bowersville in 1824, and from Bowersville to Conesus in 1825. The 
name Bowersville was derived from Henry Bowers, an early settler 
and large landowner, and Conesus, Ga-ne-a-sios, was the Indian name 
for the lake, meaning " the place of nannie berries." 

The lands of the town were a part of Ontario coimty before they 
became Freeport, and a large section had been purchased of Phelps 
and Gorham by Henry Bowers and Sir William Pulteney. In 1819 or 
1820 they laid their lands out into 139 lots, five of which, comprising 



702 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

814 acres, Mr. Bowers set apart for the benefit of Canandaigua Acad- 
emy. A re-survey showed that the first five lots of the series were 
under the waters of Hemlock lake. 

Conesus Centre, near the center of the town on Mill creek and the 
Erie railroad, is the principal village, with a population of about 200. 
It has about 100 residences, three churches, a grist mill, a saw mill, 
an evaporator, a grain warehouse, several stores and shops and two 
hotels. 

Other hamlets are Union Corners, with about 50 residents, and 
Foot's Corners, with about 30 residents. A famous hostelry was kept 
for many years at Union Corners b\' Lewis Clark, better known as 
"Col. Crockett." 

James Henderson was the first permanent settler on the tract of the 
town, but there were indications that temporary sc]uatter were there 
before. Mr. Henderson emigrated from Pennsylvania, and located in 
1793 near the head of Conesus lake, building a log house on lot 49, 
which in time became the McMillan farm. He was a millwright by 
trade, and about 1794 he and James Dunham built the first saw mill 
of the town on ^lill creek near the site of Conesus Centre. Five men 
came from Lima and six from Dansville to help raise the mill. It was 
soon kept busy by coming settlers, some of whom brought logs many 
miles to be cut into boards for their houses and out buildings. Many 
years later, about 1816, Henderson built a carding and fulling mill in 
the gully at the head of Conesus lake. His family consisted of a wife 
and several children, and their pioneer experiences at first involved 
severe struggles and considerable suffering. It was said that the land 
he appropriated intruded upon land which the Indians years before 
had cleared and planted with apple trees, and after he learned that his 
unintentional trespass caused considerable ill feeling among his red 
neighbors he pacified them by sending them presents annually. Mrs. 
Henderson was the mother of the lirst white babe born in the town, 
which, however, lived only six months. One of the sons was killed in 
the war of 1812, at the battle of Oueenstown. 

The second settler was Hector McKay, who arrived in 1795, im- 
mediately cut logs for a house, and got Indians from Squakie hill to 
help him raise it. He located three-fourths of a mile from the site of 
Scottsburgh. Jacob Dunham also settled in the town in 1795. 

In 179f) Jesse and Jacob Collar from New Jersey, became settlers, the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 703 

latter being the son of the former and 26 years old. They were 28 
days in making the journey, with one horse and an ox team. At 
Great Bend of the Susquehanna river they were obliged to cut their 
way through thick beech woods, and for many days averaged only 
seven miles a day. They cooked their meals in the ^voods and slept 
on the ground rolled up in blankets. Much of the way they were 
guided in their course by blazed trees. They passed through Dans- 
ville. When they arrived at their destination they procured the aid 
of Wigot Andrews, James and Samuel Culbertson of Groveland and 
Isaac and Darling Havens of Sparta to assist them in raising their 
log house. The most of their food the first year was of corn which was 
made into coarse meal by pounding in a hole burnt into a stump. 

Later settlers were John and Samuel McNinch, who came in 1803; 
James ]\IcNinch, 1805; Jabez Lewis, 1805; JohnMcMillan and Elias 
Chamberlin, 1805; Joseph Allen, John Richardson, Moses Adams 
Samuel and Matthew McNinch, 1806; Elijah Richardson 1807; Charles 
Thorp and James Robeson, 1808; William Johnson and Joshua Gile 
1809; Eli Clark, 1810. In a paper for the Livingston County Histor- 
ical society A. D. Coe of Conesus named among the early settlers the 
Mayos. the Arnolds, Davenport Alger, James Steel and Thomas 
Young, the last the father of Governor John Young. 

In 1802 a man named Meloy came and built a log cabin on the shore 
of Hemlock lake, where he lived the life of a hermit several years, 
declining to mingle with the other settlers, and when they became 
more numerous he moved to a wilder region on the Ohio river. 

In 1806 the nearest grist mill was at Hemlock lake and the nearest 
store at Lima, and at that time the Conesus people went to a school- 
house on the road leading to Hemlock lake for religious worship. It 
was a Presbyterian service. Two years later the Methodists began to 
hold meetings at private houses. The first school house of the town 
was of logs, with greased paper for window lights, and a school was 
opened in it in 1810 by Mary Howe. A. D. Coe said that Andrew 
and Gardner Arnold opened the first store in town in 1803, and that 
they built the first saw mill a little later. Mr. Coe said of the evi- 
dence that there were temporary settlers along the Marrowback range 
before 17'J3, that it has remains of log houses and fire places of whose 
use there are no records. 

In 1816 there were but four frame buildings in town, and three of 



704 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

them were barns, of which one belonged to Davenport Alger and one 
to Thomas Young, the father of Oovernor Young. The most of the 
logs for sawing by the two saw mills had been brought irom other 
towns. 

A serious difficulty with the early settlers was to find a market for 
their grain, and some of them drew their wheat as far as Albany. 
Later, distilleries were started which gave them something of a home 
market. At one time there were four in operation at once, and two 
of them were continued for many years. Asheries were started and 
found profitable. Another flourishing industry was the burning of 
charcoal, and some of the coal pits would often hold a hundred cords 
of coal. The pits had to be watched night as well as day, lest a hole 
should appear and give a vent which would cause the coal to be burnt 
to ashes. 

The first preacher was Rev. Mr. Goodale, who preached in the south- 
west part of the town for the Free Will Baptists as early as 1795. The 
first resident minister was the Rev. Mr. Ingraham. who came in 1808. 
The Methodists, built the first church in 1836 at Conesus Centre, and 
the first minister in charge was Rev. E. Thomas. A Universalist 
society was organized in 1835, built a church at L'nion Corners in 1837, 
and its first pastor was Rev. G. W. Montgomery. 

The first marriage was that of Hugh Harrison to Elizabeth Collar 
in 17'J6, and the first death that of this bride in 1801. The oldest per- 
son who has died in the town was Lucy Bates in 1S32, aged 107 years. 

Some of the pioneers were Revolutionary soldiers, of which ten 
have been residents of the town — Francis Horth, Aaron Hale, Lemuel 
Richardson, David Sopher, Jabez Lewis, Charles Chamberlin, Paul 
Sanborn, Theophilus Jackson, Thaddeus Gage, and Isaiah Bacon.* 
Francis Horth was born in 1750, entered the Revolutionary army in 
1776, and served in five campaigns. He commenced service at 19, 
remained in the army nearly five years, and was at Saratoga when 
Burgoyne surrendered to General. Gates. Abram Hale entered the 
army at the age of 21, and was engaged in the battles of Bunker 
Hill and Bennington. 

Conesus soldiers in the war of 1812 included Joseph and Jonathan 
Richardson, Joseph Richardson, Jr., Erastus Lewis, James Hender- 

:. Five of these soldiers sleep in the Conesus Centre cemetery ; two in South Livonia; one in 
the Union ; one in Hart's and one in Springwater. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 70S 

son, Andrew Carter, Andrew Arnold, Tyranus Ripley, Benona Fosdick, 
Asa Stevens, Benjamin Clapp, Elijah Webster, and Daniel and Sam- 
uel Monger. The brothers Richardson participated in the battle of 
Chippewa, July 5, 1814. Joseph was shot through the heart, and 
Jonathan taken prisoner and detained in confinement at Montreal and 
Halifax six months, when he was released. Joseph Richardson, Jr., 
son of the other Joseph, was also captured, but escaped after a few 
days. Henderson was killed in the battle of Queenstown. 

Of the settlers who came not far from the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century, ThomasYoung, the father of Governor John Young, 
has been mentioned. The son who became so distinguished was born 
in Bennington, Vt., and was only four years old when his father came 
to Conesus. He attended school at the Lima Academy, and when he 
was sixteen years old taught school in Conesus for nine dollars a 
month. About 1823 he began the study of law in the office of A. A. 
Bennett, East Avon, was admitted to the bar in 1829, and opened a law 
office in Geneseo. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1832, to 
Congress in 1833, 1835 and 1837, went to the State Assembly again in 
1845, and as a Whig was elected Governor over Silas Wright, Demo- 
crat, in 1846, by a majority of about 11,000. He was appointed U. S. 
Treasurer in 1849, and held the position when he died in New York in 
1852. 

Mrs. Jane McNinch was born in Columbia county, Penn., and there 
married James McNinch in 1805 when she was seventeen. In Febru- 
ary 1806 she left her husband behind, and journeyed to- Conesus with 
Matthew McNinch, and Matthew, Ann and John Scott. Her hus- 
band followed her in a few months. John McNinch, one of his broth- 
ers, came two years before, and soon afterward his father and other 
brothers came and rented a farm of James Henderson at the head of 
the lake, when the father returned to Pennsylvania for the rest of his 
family. 

Alexander Patterson tried to peddle his way from Vermont to Con- 
esus in 1814, when he was quite young, but failing to sell goods, stopped 
trying, came on, built the first log house on lot No. 4, and lived on 
the land fifty years. Abel Root built the first log house on lot No. 43 
in 1807. Union Corners is on this tract. Jabez Lewis, a Revolution- 
ary soldier, moved from Vermont to Lima in 1802, next moved to 
Richmond, Ontario county, and the next year, 1805 established his 



706 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

home in Conesus, where he built a log house on lot No. 5, sent a son 
and daughter to live in it, and moved the rest of his family there in 
1806. 

The first white men to enter the present town of Conesus were the 
officers and soldiers of Sullivan's expedition which passed around the 
outlet of Hemlock lake, September 12, 1770, and on from there to the 
head of Conesus lake, entering the town near the old residence of 
Charles Hitchcock. The advance encamped half a mile easterly from 
the Indian village at the inlet, and the main iiody a mile beyond the 
flats southeast of Foote's Corners. From the advance camp Gen. Sul- 
livan sent out Lieutenant Boyd on the scouting expedition which 
ended so tragically. 

Conesus lake was a favorite resort of the Indians in the period of the 
early settlement of the town. They came there in large numbers to 
fish and liunt, and when they got whiskey to drink were troublesome, 
although friendly enough when sober. They would borrow pots and 
kettles of the settlers, and faithfully return them, and when the whites 
fell sick the squaws would bring medicinal roots and herbs and prepare 
decoctions for them. 

The widow of Mr. James McNinch, who has been mentioned as one 
of the first settlers, was 85 years old when she died in 1869, and left 
behind interesting reminiscences about the Indians, some of which 
are familiar. She said the squaws would come and borrow the small 
white children to play with theirs, and in the course of two or three 
hours bring them back, and manifest much gratitude for the favor 
thus shown them. She never knew an Indian to steal. The Indians 
built their huts of pieces of bark set on end in the shape of a double 
roof, with a fire-place in the centre and a hole in the top. When they 
were courting and about to be married each of the pair would wear 
one blue and one red legging instead of two leggings of the same color 
as was usual. They ate a mixed dish consisting of several ingredients, 
such as corn meal, beans, potatoes and meats boiled together. This 
would be poured into a bark receptacle, and they would sit on the 
ground around it and eat from it with wooden spoons. They called 
wheat, jJowcr tassel; corn meal, inatltassel; wheat bread, cqua: pork, 
ciish: butter, we-saiv. Their general term for what they like was 
cusli, and for what they did not like tas-ciisli. 

The first houses in town were built of peeled logs and a little 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 707 

later of hewn logs. The chinks between the logs were plastered with 
mud or tilled with wedge-shaped strips of wood which were driven in. 
The openings for windows and doors were made after the house was 
erected. The doorways were usually closed with blankets at first, 
but heavy doors were constructed for winter. Few of the windows 
had glass, the substitutes being greased paper ur the skins of animals 
scraped thin. The roof was of bark bound to the rafters with poles. 
The floor was of logs hewn on the upper side. The fire-place at one 
end was large enough to receive back logs two or three feet thick, and 
front logs half as thick. 

The first grist mill which was owned by Purchase and Baker was not 
built until 1824, and before that year the settlers had to go to Hem- 
lock lake or Dansville to get their grain ground. 

There were many deer and much other game in the woods, but the 
settlers were so busy clearing and cultivating their land that they 
depended more upon little trades with the Indians for game and fish 
than upon their own guns and lines. Sometimes they sorely needed 
such supplies when their crops suffered from very wet summers and 
were insufficient. Seldom were there drouths in those early days, as 
nearly the whole state was a forest to retain moisture in the soil and 
keep the streams running. 

Conesus patriotism burst out into enthusiasm accompanied 
by practical action, in the war for the Union. Enlistments were rapid 
at the beginning, and the drum and fife were in evidence on Sundays 
as well as other days of the week. Seventy-eight residents in all en- 
listed and marched away. There were enough enlistments through 
the liberality of the town to enable the drafted men of the two drafts 
to stay at home if they wished to. The amount of money raised for 
war purposes was $3,100, of which $1,900 was by tax and the balance 
by voluntary subscriptions of individuals. The most of the Conesus 
volunteers belonged to Company I of the 136th regiment. Henry L. 
Arnold was its captain and was afterwards promoted to be colonel of 
the regiment. He was wounded at Bentonville, N. C, near the close 
of the war. A considerable number of the company and the other 
volunteers of the town were killed in battle or died in the service, or 
soon afterward. Prominent among the survivors was G. Wiley Wells, 
who enlisted from Conesus in the 27th regiment at the breaking out of 
the Rebellion, served with credit, and at the close of his term recruited 



708 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the 130th regiment, afterward called the First New York Dragoons. 

There were certain years the weather conditions of which the early 
inhabitants of Conesus did not easily forget. April 16 and 17, 1817 snow 
fell to the depth of two feet. April 19, 1820, Jonathan and Thomas 
Clark crossed Conesus lake on ice. The year IBK) was one of two 
destructive frosts — on July 13 and September 10. They destroyed 
most of the corn and potatoes, many families came near starving and 
it is said some men became insane on account of the sufferings of their 
families. 

The first woolen factory was built in 1819 by Hosea Gilbert. It 
lacked sufficient water, and after a time Mr. Gilbert opened a water 
course through Hog-back from Mill creek, and the water was carried 
in a trough to the flume of the mill. The cut was through rock and 
was sixty feet deep for over a hundred feet. Before this mill was put 
in operation the most of the cloth for clothmg was woven in the 
houses, nearly every one of which had a hand loom. 

There were years in which the wolves became troublesome and dan- 
gerous, and killed some of the farmers' sheep. Mrs. Lucy Patter- 
son remembered that they killed a number of her father's sheep in 
1807. In 1816 James McNinch, having killed a deer, the wolves 
scented the blood and at night gathered about his shanty to which he 
had taken the best parts of the venison. He had to set fire to a pile 
of wood near the door and use his gun to keep them from breaking in. 
Bears often appeared, and for protection from them the earliest set- 
tlers usually took their guns with them into the woods. Deer for sev- 
eral years were very numerous, and did considerable damage to the 
wheat crops by nipping off the growing blades. 

In the fall of 1835 a furious storm caused the most disastrous flood 
ever known in Conesus. The storm crossed the southern portion of 
the town, where the rain fell in torrents, and when it reached Conesus 
lake its fury was spent. The ravines were filled with water in a few 
minutes, and the rush of water soon covered the flats of Calabogue 
Hollow. Trees and fences were carried away, and residents ran to 
the hills for safety. The millwright shop of Bell & Hedges on the 
eastern bank of the gully was swept downward while the owners were 
recklessly trying to save their tools, and both lost their lives. 

A town meeting was held at the head of Conesus lake in April, 1820, 
but this was found to be illegal; and the first legal town meeting was 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



709 



in 1821 when the following officers were elected: Supervisor, Daven- 
port Alger; town clerk, Samuel Chapin; assessors, Jesse McMillin, 
Alexander Patterson. Zenas Whiting; overseers of the poor, Alexander 
Patterson, Hector McKay; highway comniissiotiers, Jesse McMillin, 
Thomas Collar, Joel Gilbert; constable and collector, Peter Stiles; 
school commissioners, Jesse McMillin, Joel Gilbert, Erastus Wilcox; 
inspectors of schools, Andrew Arnold, Samuel Chapin, Jr., Ellas 
Clark. The first school districts were organized by the commissioners 
in this year of 1821. 

The town of Conesus has had the following supervisors: 

Solomon Hitchcock 1847-48-68 

Davenport Alger 1850 

Lewis D. Kingsbury 1851-52 

Geo. F. Coe....i853-54.55-56-77-78-79-8ot 

Henry L. Arnold 1857-58 

Ezra \V. Clark 1859-60-61-62-65-67 

R. Fulton McMillan 1863-64-80*81 

Henry C. Coe 1866-69-70-71-72 

Jothaiu Clark, Jr 1873-74 

Amos D. Coe 1875-76-83 

Granger Griswold 1882 

Floyd McNinch 1884-85 

Charles C. Gray 1886-87 

Scott L. McNinch 1888-89 

Romney \V. Cole 1890-91 

Frank P. Shafer 1892-93 

S. Edw. Hitchcock 1894-95-96-97 

Harvey R. Ripley 1898-99-00 

J. A. Clark 1901-02 

James GriiEn 1903 

tDied. *Appointed. 



FREEPORT — NOW CONESUS. 

Davenport Alger 1S21 

Samuel Chapin 1822 

Andrew Arnold 1823 

BOWERSVILLE — NOW CONESUS. 

Andrew Arnold 1824 

CONESUS. 

Andrew Arnold 1825-29 

Alexander Patterson 1826 

David C. Higgins 1827-28 

Saniuel Robinson, Jr 1830 

Jotham Clark 1831-33-37 

Eli Barnes 1832 

Gardner Arnold 1834-35-40 

Harvey Pu rchase 1 836 

Hosea Gilbert 1838 

Robert Bayles 1839-41-45-49 

Hector Hitchcock 1842-44-46 

Luther Chapin 1S43 



Assessed valuations and tax rates of Conesus 


have been as follows: 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Year 


Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Year 


Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valuation 


on $1000 


Valuation 


on $1000 


Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


512,482 


6.46 


1875 


926,314 


6.59 


1890 


789,240 


7.68 


1861 


468,542 


6.74 


1876 


889,807 


4.99 


1891 


812,350 


6.32 


1862 


473.057 


9.16 


1877 


829,962 


519 


1892 


789,779 


8.78 


1863 


458,185 


10.01 


1878 


805,693 


4-47 


1893 


784,782 




1864 


485,873 


26.30 


1879 


742,230 


5.38 


1894 


763,280 


5.70 


1865 


484,719 


40.00 


1880 


756,831 


5.39 


1895 


772,431 


7.71 


1866 


489,584 


19.70 


1881 


765,459 


4-99 


1896 


785,640 


^9I 


1867 


488,020 


23.10 


1882 


758,429 




1897 


840,560 


6.98 


1868 


482,524 


17.75 


1883 


842,391 


5.77 


1898 


838,895 


7.38 


1869 


484,433 


12.12 


1884 


854,517 


5.44 


1899 


831,430 


8.65 


1870 


485,099 


13-72 


1885 


869,235 


6.18 


1900 


809,374 


7.18 


1871 


482,434 


14.67 


1886 


813,494 


6.68 


1901 


813.351 


5.99 


1872 


440,785 


15.26 


1887 


819.571 


6.31 


1902 


809,650 


4.86 


1873 


468,928 


15.61 


1888 


801,422 


6.34 


1903 


809,773 


7.87 


1874 


922,452 


6.43 


1889 


801,285 


6.74 









71U HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The following is a list of Conesus town lots, with the names of the 
original owners and the acreage of each lot, with some further in- 
formation concerning building operations. This was published by 
Mr. Boyd in his "History of the Town of Conesus" and was obtained 
by him from an old map prepared by John Scott in February, 1821: 

SETTLEMENT OF LOTS. 

Lot No. 1. A Pulteney lot, and contains 106.27 Acres. Was set- 
tled by Solomon Root, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 2. A Duane lot, containing 125.33 Acres. Was settled 
by him, and he built the 1st Log House upon the same, in 1808 or 
1809. 

Lot No. 3. A Scott lot, containing 93.S(> Acres. Was settled by 
William Bently, who built the 1st Log House upon the same, in 1808 
or 10. 

Lot No. 4. A Pulteney lot, containing 142.25 Acres. The first set- 
tlement was made upon the same by Alexander Patterson, who built 
the 1st Log House, in 1814. 

Lot No. 5. A Scott lot, containing 145.86 Acres. Was settled by 
Jabez Lewis, who built the 1st Log House, in the Fall of 1805. 

Lot No. 6. A Pulteney lot, and contained 156.36 Acres. Was first 
settled by Elias Chamberlin and John McMillen, who each built a Log 
House within a few months of each other, in 1805. 

Lot No. 7. A Bowers lot, containing 159.80 Acres. Was settled by 
William Reeves, who built the 1st Log House, in 1819. 

Lot No. 8. A Mumford lot, containing 167.68 Acres. Was settled 
by Peter Bevins, who built the 1st Log House, in 1806. 

Lot. No. 9. A Pulteney lot, containing 182.30 Acres. Was settled 
by Isaac Neff, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 10. A Pulteney lot, containing 81.07 Acres. This lot was 
situated on the east side of Hemlock lake, and now belongs to the 
town of Canadice, N. Y. By whom it was settled, we are unable to 
say. 

Lot No. 11. A John Bowers lot, containing 114.02 Acres. Was 
settled by Aaron Orloway who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 12. Belonged to Mary Campbell, and contained 142.39 
Acres. W^as settled by Joseph Gilbert, who built the 1st Log House, 
in 1808. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 711 

Lot No. 13. Was owned by John Bowers, and contained 149.01 
Acres. The first settlement was made and log house built by Joseph 
Richardson, in 1805, and followed by Davenport Alger, 1808, who 
owned the same till his death. 

Lot No. 14. Belonged to Mary Campbell, and contained 144.20 
Acres. Was first settled by John Richardson, who built the 1st Log 
House, in 1806. He was followed by Samuel Bently, in 1810. 

Lot No. 15. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 143.25 Acres. 
This lot was settled by Elijah Richardson, who built the 1st Log- 
House, in 1807. 

Lot No. 16. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy, and contained 
158.90 Acres. Was settled by Gashmem Jones, who built the 1st Log 
House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 17. A Pulteney lot, containing 157.85 Acres. Was settled 
by Timothy Bailey, who built the 1st Log House, in 1819. 

Lot No. 18. A Mary Ann Campbell lot, containing 163.72 Acres. 
Was settled by William Jones, who built the 1st. Log House, in 1809. 

Lot No. 19. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 213.96 Acres. Was 
settled by Maloy, the Hermit, in 1802. The 1st Log House was 
built by • Holden, in 1825. 

Lot No. 20. A William Pulteney lot, containing 59.37 Acres. This 
lot now belongs to Canadice, N. Y. 

Lot No. 21. To whom this lot belonged, it was not given on the 
map. It contained 116.87 Acres. It was settled by Jacob Hubbard, 
who built the 1st Log House, in 1819. 

Lot No. 22. Belonged to Mary Ann Duane, and contained 157.08 
Acres. Was settled by Joshua Gillis, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1809, and was followed by David Dufifer, in 1810. 

Lot No. 23. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 157.49 Acres. 
Was settled by Ely Clark, who built the 1st Log House, in . 

Lot No. 24. A William Pulteney lot, containing 149.75 Acres. Set- 
tled by Harvey May, who built the 1st Log House, in the Spring of 
1806. 

Lot No. 25. A William Pulteney lot, and had 142.62 Acres. Was 
settled by John Robinson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808. 

Lot No. 26. A Rebecca Scott lot, and contained 150 Acres. Was 
settled by James B. Robinson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 



712 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Lot No. 27. A William Pulteney lot, containing 152.93 Acres. Was 
settled by Patrick McCartney who built the 1st Log House, in 1809. 

Lot No. 28. A Harriet Mumford lot containing 167.26 Acres. 
Was settled by Reuben Jones and Richard Mitchel, who erected the 
1st Log House, in 1825. 

Lot No. 29. A William Pulteney lot, containing 116.88 Acres. 
Was settled by Abner Lewis, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812 or 
'13. 

Lot No. 30. A William Pulteney lot, containing 159.24 Acres. 
The lot is now divided into two parts by Hemlock lake. The part 
in the town of Conesus consisted of 120.60 Acres, and that in the town 
of Canadice, 38.64 Acres. We have no account of who the first set- 
tlers were. 

Lot No. 31. A Mary Ann Campbell lot, containing 119.60 Acres. 
Was settled by Jeremiah Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1819 or '20. 

Lot No. 32. A Mary Ann Duane lot. containing 1(11.78 Acres. 
Settled in the year of 1811, or "12, by Samuel Root, who built the 1st 
Log House. 

Lot No. 33. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 140.54 Acres. Was 
settled by Simeon Root, who built the 1st Log House, in 1809 or '10, 
and was followed by Joseph George, in 1810. 

Lot No. 34. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 14n.34 Acres. Was 
settled by Moses Adam, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808 or '10. 

Lot No. 35. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 147.46 Acres. Was 
settled by Moses Adams, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808. 

Lot No. 36. A Harriet Mumford lot, consisting of 160.83 Acres. 
Was settled by a son of Joseph Richardson, and Harmon Wheeler, who 
built the 1st Log House, but in what year we have no date. 

Lot No. 37. A William Pulteney lot, containing 190.04 Acres. 
Was settled by Hiram May who did the first clearing in 1811, and was 
followed by Elisha Hollister, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 38. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 116.16 Acres. By 
whom it was settled, we are unable to say. 

Lot No. 39. A William Pulteney lot, and is divided into two parts 
by Hemlock lake. The lot in Conesus, consisted of 200.01 Acres, 
and the part now in Canadice, 30.80 Acres. This lot was settled by 
Peter Bevins, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 713 

Lot No. 40. A William Pulteney lot, containing 182.57 Acres. 
Was settled by Ira Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 

(There is a dispute among the early settlers, and some claim that 
Peter Marvin built the 1st Log House, in 1819 or '20.) 

Lot No. 41. A William Pulteney lot, containing 137.85 Acres. 
Was settled by James McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 42. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 107.91 Acres. Was 
settled by Joseph Whitney, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 43. A William Pulteney lot, containing 145.14 Acres. 
Was settled by Abel Root, who built the 1st Log House, in 1807. 

Lot No. 44. A William Pulteney lot, containing 130.10 Acres. 
Was settled by Titles Crawfoot, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1809. 

Lot No. 45. A William Pulteney lot, consisting of 163.91 Acres. 
Was settled by Israel Wells, who built the 1st. Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 46. A William Pulteney lot, containing 109.80 Acres. 
Was settled by Croswell Green, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 

Lot No. 47. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 171.11 Acres. We 
have no record of its settlements. 

Lot. No. 48. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 188.80 Acres. This 
lot is divided in two parts by Hemlock lake. The part now in 
Conesus, contained 169 Acres. The part in Canadice, contained 19.80 
Acres. No record of the first settlements. 

Lot No. 49. A William Pulteney lot, containing 443.25 Acres. 
Was settled by James Henderson, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1793. 

Lot No. 50. No name on the map, showing to whom it belonged. 

It contained 83.72 Acres. It was settled by ■ Mudge, who built 

the 1st Log House, in 1809. 

Lot No. 51. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 117.41 Acres. By 
whom it was settled, we are unable to say. 

Lot No. 52. A William Pulteney lot, containing 62.42 Acres. Was 
settled by Jacob Durham, who built the 1st Log House, in 1813. 

Lot No. 53. A William Pulteney lot, containing 92.65 Acres. No 
account of its settlement. 

Lot No. 54. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy, and contained 
167.80 Acres. Was settled by Jacob Wells, who built the 1st Log 
House, in 1810. 



714 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Lot No. 55. A William Pulteney lot, containing 154.41 Acres. 
Was settled by Green, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 56. A William Pulteney lot, containing 166.04 Acres. 
Was settled by Joshua Gates, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 57. A William Pulteney lot, containing 258.54 Acres. 
This lot was divided into two parts by the Hemlock lake. The part 
now in Conesus, contains 154.44 Acres. The part in Canadice, KM). 10 
Acres. By whom it was settled, we have no record. 

Lot No. 58. A John ^I. Bowers lot, containing 112.13 Acres. 
Was settled by Hercules Williams (a colored man.) 

Lot No. 59. A William Pulteney lot, and had 1<J8.()1 Acres. Was 
settled by Elezur Alby, who built the 1st Log House, in 1817. 

Lot No. 60. A William Pulteney lot, containing 134.76 Acres. 
Was settled by Heman Janes, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 

Lot No. 61. A William Pulteney lot, containing 17i).95 Acres. 
Was settled by Jacob Durham, who built the 1st Log House, in 1795. 

Lot No. 62. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 180.56 Acres. Was 
settled by Henry ilann, who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 63. A John ]\I. Bowers lot, containing 166.94 Acres. We 
have no record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 64. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 147.72 Acres. Was 
settled by Armstrong, but what year we have no date. 

Lot No. 65. A ^lary Ann Duane lot, containing 149.94 Acres. 
Was settled by Joel Bullock, who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 66. A William Pulteney lot, containing 174.61 Acres. No 
record of settlement. 

Lot No. 67. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 154.21 Acres. 
No record of settlement. 

Lot No. 68. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 222.85 Acres. 
Was settled by Nash, who built the 1st Log House, in 1818. 

Lot No. 69. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 156.42 Acres. Was 
settled by Micah Spencer, who built tlie 1st Log House, in 1817. 

Lot No. 7u. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 112.25 Acres. 
Was settled by John McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in 1803. 

Lot No. 71. A William Pulteney lot, containing 146.89 Acres. Was 
settled by Paul Sanborn, who built the 1st Log House, inl816or '17. 

Lot No. 72. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 147.80 Acres. Was 
settled by Stephen Cole, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 715 

Lot No. 73. A William Pulteney lot, containing 168.56 Acres. 
Was settled by John H.Cole, who built the 1st Log House, in 1814. 

Lot No. 74. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 146.48 Acres. Was 
settled by Thomas Freeman, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 75. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 197 Acres. No record 
of its settlement. 

Lot No. 76. A William Pulteney lot, containing 167.84 Acres. No 
record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 77. A William Pulteney lot, containing 153.56 Acres. No 
record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 78. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 204.64 Acres. Was 
settled by Samuel McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in 1813. 

Lot No. 79. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 258.36 Acres. 
Was settled by Ira Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 80. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy and contained 
167.63 Acres. Was settled by Samuel G. Campbell, who built the 
1st Log House, in 1838. 

Lot No. 81. A Harriet ^Mumford lot, containing 156.23 Acres. 
Was settled by Joseph Allen, who built the 1st Log House, in 1806. 

Lot No. 82. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 160.23 Acres. 
Was settled by Reuben Rogers, who built the 1st Log House, in 1833. 

Lot No. 83. A William Pulteney lot, containing 163.79 Acres. No 
record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 84. A William Pulteney lot, containing 146.32 Acres. 
We have no record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 85. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 151.62 Acres. No 
account of its settlement. 

Lot No. 86. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 156.69 Acres. We 
have no account of its settlement. 

Lot No. 87. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 142.54 Acres. We 
have no record of its settlement. 

Lot. No. 88. A William Pulteney lot, containing 218.34 Acres. 
Was settled by Matthew McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1815. 

Lot No. 89. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy, and con- 
tained 206.96 Acres. Was settled by Zenas Whiting, who built the 
1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 9U. A William Pulteney lot, containing 208.43 Acres. 



716 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Was settled by Simpson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 91. A William Pulteney lot, containing 153.68 Acres. 
Was settled by James McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in 1805. 

Lot No. 92. A William Pulteney lot, containing 151.43 Acres. 
Was settled by Stephen Runker, who built the 1st Log House, in 1820. 

Lot No. 93. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 170.38 Acres. By 
whom it was settled, we are unable to say. 

Lot No. 94. A Harriet Muinford lot, containing 147.15 Acres. 
Was settled by William Rice, who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 95, A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 152.82 Acres. 
Was settled by Darius Moore, who built the 1st Log House, in 1814. 

Lot No. 96. A William Pulteney lot, containing 154.88 Acres. 

Was settled by Hinsdale and Clemons Clark, who built the 1st 

Log House, in 1834. 

Lot No. 97, A William Pulteney lot, containing 124.51 Acres. 

Was settled by Hinsdale and Clemons Clark; we have no date of 

settlement. 

Lot No. 98. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 176.99 Acres. Was 
settled by Jacob Collar, who built the 1st Log House, in 1796. 

Lot No. 99. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 163.85 Acres. Was 
settled by Elias Steel who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 100. A William Pulteney lot, containing 103,42 Acres. 
Was settled by Amos P. Sweet; we have no date of its settlement. 

Lot No. 101. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 155.80 Acres. 
Was settled by Samuel and Matthew McNinch, who built the 1st Log 
House, in 1806. 

Lot No. 102. A William Pulteney lot, containing 153.32 Acres. 
Was settled by Johnson Pellon, who built the 1st Log House, in 1827. 

Lot No. 103. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 169.70 Acres. Was 
settled by James Munn, who built the 1st Log House, in 1814. 

Lot No. 104. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 143.48 Acres. 
The first clearing was made by William Williams, and the 1st Log 
House was built by Nathaniel Cole, in 1815. 

Lot No. 105. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 192.68 Acres. No 
record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 106. A William Pulteney lot, containing 154.30 Acres. 
Was settled by Erastus Wilkinson, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1836. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 717 

Lot No. 107. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 147.08 Acres. Was 
settled by John Bevins, who built the 1st Log House, in 1841. 

Lot No. 108. A William Pulteney lot, and had 200 Acres. Was 
settled by Hector McKay, who built the 1st Log House, in 1795. 

Lot No. 109. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 158.32 Acres. 
Was settled by Jesse Collar, who built the 1st Log House, in 1796. 

Lot No. 110. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy and con- 
tained 134.88 Acres. Was settled by Daniel Wharpool, who built the 
1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 111. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 158.19 Acres. Was 
settled by James McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in the Fall 
of 1806. 

Lot No. 112. A William Pulteney lot, containing 149.93 Acres. 
Was settled by Winter Allen, who built the 1st. Log House, in 1820. 

Lot No. 113. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 147.88 Acres. 

Was settled by John Ewalt and Hale, who built the 1st Log 

House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 114. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 121.43 Acres. 
Was settled by — ■— Curtis, who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. 

Lot No. 115. A W^illiam Pulteney lot, containing 101.60 Acres. 
Was settled by Ezra Whitney, who built the 1st Log House, in 1822. 

Lot No. 116. A William Pulteney lot, containing 164.17 Acres. 
Was settled by ■ Curtis, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 117. A William Pulteney lot, containing 109.62 Acres. 
Was settled by Charles Wood, who built the 1st Log House, in 1840. 

Lot No. 118. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 105.83 Acres. 
Was settled by Ransler Doty, who built the 1st Log House, in 1850. 

Lot No. 119. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 121.97 Acres. 
Was settled by Amasa Lancton, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. 

Lot No. 120. A William Pulteney lot, containing 101.56 Acres. 
Was settled by Samuel Morris, who built the 1st Log House, in 1832. 

Lot No. 121. A William Pulteney lot, containing 163.26 Acres. 

Was settled by Evans, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812 or 

'14. 

Lot No. 122. A William Pulteney lot, containing 113.37 Acres. 
Was settled by Henry Lutes, who built the 1st Log House, in 1840. 

Lot No. 123. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 118.07 Acres. 
Was settled by George Johnson, but the date is not given. 



718 , HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Lot No. 124. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 12().0l Acres. 
Was settled by Ebenezer Lincoln. In what year we have no record. 

Lot No. 125. A William Pulteney lot, containing 115. 2() Acres. 
We have no record of its settlement. 

Lot No. 126. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 110.08 Acres. 
Was settled by ■ Allen, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 

Lot No. 127. A William Pulteney lot, containing 1\(>.(A Acres. 
Was settled by Samuel Millen, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 128. A William Pulteney lot, containing 95.99 Acres. 
Was settled by Thomas Clark, but in what year he built the 1st Log 
House, we can not say. 

Lot No. 129. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 136.68 Acres. 

Was settled by Ashley, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812 

or '15. 

Lot No. 130. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 119.82 Acres. 
Was settled by Charles Shumway, who built the 1st Log House, in 
1815. 

Lot No. 131. A Rebecca vScott lot, containing 9().')1 Acres. We 
have no account of its settlement. 

Lot No. 132. A William Pulteney lot, containing 147.72 Acres. 
Was settled by John Ingles who built the 1st Log House, in 1817, 
or '18. 

Lot No. 133. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 107.30 Acres. Was 
settled by Moses Collar, who built the 1st Log House, in 180(>. 

Lot No. 134. A William Pulteney lot, containing 99. ()0 Acres. 
Was settled by Charles Thorpe, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. 

Lot No. 135. A William Pulteney lot, containing 97.60 Acres. 
Was settled by William Oaks, who built the 1st Log House, in 1807. 

Lot No. 136. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 187.42 Acres. Was 
settled by Francis Richardson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1803. 

Lot No. 137. A William Pulteney lot, and had 90.78 Acres. Was 
settled by Thomas Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 1811. 

Lot No. 138. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 137.73 Acres. 
Was settled by William Cummings, who built the 1st Log House, 
in 1825. 

Lot No. 139. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 123.23 Acres. Was 
settled by Charles Wood, who built the 1st Log House, in 1830. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 719 

WATER LOTS. 

As we have now given a record of the settlement of the lots, we 
will turn our attention to the south part of Hemlock lake, which 
we find upon the map to have been laid off and surveyed into lots, by 
the Bowers family, and numbered from 1 to 5 as follows: — 

Lot No. 1. Belonged to Mary Campbell, and contained 143 Acres. 

Lot No. 2. Belonged to Harriet Mumford, and contained 14.i 
Acres. 

Lot No. 3. Belonged to John M. Bowers, and contained 143 Acres. 

Lot No. 4. Belonged to Rebecca Scott, and contained 143 Acres. 

Lot No. 5. Belonged to Mary Ann Duane, and contained 143.38 
Acres. 

The above lots, comprised nearly two-fifths of the Lake. What was 
the object of the owners, we can not say, except that they claimed 
them for water privileges. 

THE CHURCHES OF CONESUS. 

In the early years of the town of Conesus the people were without 
religious privileges. It was but infrequently that an itinerant 
preacher held services in a school house or barn. The Presbyterians 
occasionally conducted services at what was then known as Buel Hill, 
in the town of Livonia, to which the pioneers of Conesus resorted. 
About 1810 the Methodists began to hold meetings for religious wor- 
ship around in the houses of various neighborhoods, and within a year 
or two they were followed by the Baptists. Occasionally a Baptist 
preacher named Ingham visited the town to hold such services. 

A church of the denomination known as Christians, or Disciples, 
was organized at Foot's Corners in 1818. The Rev. Sylvester Morris 
was in charge for a time; the church existed for only a few years. 

About 1815 the Rev. John Hudson, a Methodist preacher, came to 
this town; and in 1816 the Methodists under his leadership organized 
a society at Conesus Centre. The Rev. John Hudson became its first 
pastor. There are no records of the church until 1837 when their 
church was dedicated. The first minister after the dedication was the 
Rev. E. Thomas, who was succeeded by the Rev. Jacob Scott and he 
by the Rev. William Jones and then the Rev. Charles Gould. The 
church was destroyed by fire December 30th, 1871, and for the sue- 



720 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ceeding two years the conji;regation worshipped in the school house. 
After that the Universalist church threw open its doors to them until 
the completion of a new edifice in 1876. 

THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST GHURCH of Conesus was or- 
ganized December I'Jth, 1835. A church building was begun in 1836 
but it was not completed until the following year. It was erected at 
Union Corners, on the land of Timothy DeGraw. Here the society 
worshiped until the year 1873 when a more commodious church was 
erected at Conesus Centre. In the early years the successive pastors 
were the Revs. O. Roberts, — Tompkins, O. B. Clark, J. A. Dobson 
and W. B. Randolph. 

ST. WILLIAM'S CATHOLIC CHURCH was erected in 1876. 
Before that year there was no regular place of worship in the town for 
those of the Catholic faith. The Rev. Father Seymour, the rector of 
St. Michael's Church in Livonia, had been conducting services in the 
school house before this year. The new church was completed and 
furnished by the successor of Father Seymour, the Rev. Father 
Murphy. The contributions towards the building of the edifice were 
from citizens of this town and surrounding ones irrespective of creed 
or faith. 



LIMA. 

Lima is the northeastern town of Livingston county, and so situ- 
ated that it was crossed by the early central State Road, and the stream 
of traveling emigrants and prospectors that went over it in the begin- 
ning of the nineteenth century. Its area is 19,607 acres, and its 
population in 1900 was 2,279. It is bounded north by Rush and Men- 
don (both in Monroe county), east by West Bloomfield (Ontario coun- 
ty), south by Livonia, and west by Avon. 

The surface is undulating, and its streams are Honepye creek and 
branches. This creek divides the town from West Bloomfield in On- 
tario county. The soil in the southeastern part is clay and clayey 
loam, and in the southwestern part sandy and gravely loam, both of a 
quality to yield a variety of fine crops. The farmers are prosperous 
and progressive, with good buildings, good fences, good implements 
and tools. 

Lima's village of Lima is near the center of the town, and is one of 
the handsomest and thriftiest of the villages of similar size. In 1900 
its population was 949. Here a well conducted seminary, and for 
many years a good college, have flourished, beginning with 1832. 
Their educating and refining influences upon the people of the village 
and town have been and continue to be marked. Long ago the village 
was called "Brick school house corner," and afterward "Lima Cor- 
ners." 

South Lima in the extreme-southwestern part has become a shipping 
point of much importance, and the center of a considerable celery and 
onion raising district, the large body of "muck" land proving especially 
adapted to the growth of the best quality of those vegetables. 

L. L. Doty's history says: "Paul Davison and Jonathan Gould are 
credited with being the first settlers in Lima, their arrival here oc- 
curring in 1788. Turner says that if his information in this respect 
is correct, 'this was the first advent of an household west of the 
Adams' settlement, in Bloomfield.' These men came from the valley 
of the Susquehanna in search of a new home in the Genesee country. 



722 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Passing the last white habitation at Geneva, they pursued the Indian 
trail to the present town of Lima; where, finding a location to suit 
them, they erected a cabin and commenced making an opening in the 
forest. Going to the Indian lands at Canawaugus, they planted and 
raised a patch of corn and potatoes. Their location was about one 
mile south of the Indian trail, near the west line of the town. After 
some improvements upon their cabin, such as the luxury of a bark 
roof and a hewn plank floor, and gathering the small crop they had 
raised upon the Indian lands, they returned to the Susquehanna, and 
in the spring of 1789, Mr. Davison, with his family, consisting of his 
wife and her mother, and two children, came to make his permanent 
home in the wilderness. He was accompanied by Asahel Burchard. 
The family and household implements were conveyed in an ox cart 
Mr. Davison and his companion sleeping under the cart, and the fam- 
ily in the cart, during the whole journey." 

Stephen Tinker and Solomon Hovey of [Massachusetts settled in 
Lima in 17')1. Col. Thomas Lee, Willard and Amasa Humphrey, 
Reuben and Gideon Thayer, Col. David Morgan, Zebulon Moses, 
Asahel William, and Daniel Warner, all from ^Massachusetts, came in 
1794 and 1795. 

Other early settlers were Miles Bristol, Wheelock Wood, James K. 
Guernsey, Abner Miles, John Miner, Asahel Burchard. Stephen Tinker, 
Col. George Smith, Nathan Munger, Samuel Carr, Jedediah Com- 
mins, Joel Roberts, Phineas Burchard, Christopher Lee, Jonah Moses, 
Solomon Hovey, John Morgan, Adolphus Watkins. 

The ancestor of the Warner family was William Warner, of English 
birth, who came to Massachusetts in 1637. His grandson William 
Warner had fourteen children, and one of his sons, also named William, 
was a soldier of the Revolution, lost his health and property in the 
service, the latter consisting of worthless continental money, and was 
imprisoned for debt in the Albany jail. In 1794 his two sons, Ashael 
and William, came from eastern New York to Lima, remained one 
summer, Asahel purchasing land on which was a log house, returned 
east, got married in the winter, and arrived in Lima again March 22, 
1795, after a journey of 22 days. Their father came with them, but 
died the next August. Matthew Warner, another of the brothers 
came in 1797. The Warners found the country an almost unbroken 
forest, in which bears, wolves and deer abounded. Asahel and Mat- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 723 

thew Warner became leading men among the early settlers. In 1797 
they (nvned the greater part of the land which is now the site of Lima 
village. They were enterprising and energetic in developing the 
business interests of the town. In 1812 and 1813 Asahel was elected 
Member of Assembly. Matthew became a Justice of the Peace, one 
of the Judges of the county court of Ontario, and was Member of 
Assembly in 1818 and 1819. 

Adolphus Watkins, who came from Connecticut to Lima in 1799, has 
given some of his recollections. He found a few log houses and there 
was a muddy lane leading from where Lima village is to a grist mill 
in Honeoye. There was no southward road e.xcept one a mile west 
e.xtending southward one and a half miles. Mr. Watkins came with 
his uncle Jonathan Gould, who had been to the town before, and they 
drove two cows. His uncle took up land a half mile square, and 
Watkins lived with him a few years, and then went to work as a car- 
penter and joiner and millwright. The land was heavily timbered 
with black-walnut, oak, elm, cherry, basswood and several other kinds. 
Indians from Canawaugus swarmed around them, but were not trouble- 
some. Whole tribes from the east also filed by the house. Game 
was plenty. Deer, bears and wolves were often killed, and a panther 
occasionally. Mr. Watkins took part in the war of 1812, vojunteering 
three different times. Captain William Batin raised a company which 
he joined for service on the frontier. They went first in September, 
1812, but reached Buffalo too late to participate in the fighting. 

During this second war with Great Britain troops frequently passed 
through Lima over the State Road, and later there was a steady stream 
of emigrants moving westward. This was the period for wayside inns, 
and Mr. Watkins said there were so many in Lima for a distance 
of two miles that they were hardly a stone's throw apart. 

The first marriage in the town was that of Simeon Gray and Patty 
Alger in 1793. The first death was that of Mrs. Abbott in 1791, 
mother of Mrs. Paul Davidson, and the latter was the mother of the 
first child born in town, a girl. 

The first school was taught by John Sabin in 1792-3. Reuben Thay- 
er opened the first tavern in 1793, and built the first saw mill in 1796. 
Tryon & Adams opened the first store and Zebulon Norton built the 
first grist mill in 1794. 

Franklin Carter, who came from New Hampshire to Lima in 1820, 



724 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

has furnished a few reminiscences in which he states that Atwell & 
Grout, merchants at that time, paid from $3.50 to $4 per hundred 
pounds for hauling their goods with teams from Albany to Lima. The 
most of them were purchased in Boston, and sent via New York city, 
from where they were brought on sloops to Albany. Wheat was then 
37^^ cts. a bushel. Much of it was ground into flour, drawn to the 
mouth of the Genesee river, sent thence to Ogdensburg on sloops, and 
the rest of the way to ^fontreal on rafts. Mr. Carter said there were 
then seven taverns between Honeoye creek and the Avon line, and 
they were full of teamsters and travelers about every night. 

The town of Lima was originally called Mighle's Gore, from a man 
who owned a tract of land so cut up by the division of towns as to be 
shaped like a gore. It was formed as a part of Ontario county in 
January, 1789, and named Charleston. This name was changed to 
Lima in 1809. It became a part of Livingston county in 1821 when 
the county was formed from Ontario. 

The first town meeting of Charleston recorded was in 1797, when 
the following officers were elected: supervisor, Solomon Hovey; town 
clerk, James Davis; assessors, Joseph Arthur, Willard Humphrey, 
Justus Miner; commissioners of highways, Elijah Morgan, Nathaniel 
Munger, Jonathan Gould; poormasters, Joseph Arthur, William 
Williams: constable and collector, John Miner; school commissioners, 
Joel Roberts, William Williams, Col. David Morgan; pathmasters, 
Jonathan Gould, Philip Sparling, Joseph Arthur, Willard Hum- 
phrey; fence viewers, William Webber, William Williams, James 
Davis; pound keeper, Reuben Thayer. 

The first town meeting after Charleston became Lima, in 1809, elected 
the following officers: supervisor, Abel Bristol; town clerk, Manasseh 
Leach; assessors, Justin Smith, William Bacon, William Williams; 
constable and collector, John Morgan; commissioners ot highways, 
Jacob Stevens, Gurdon W. Cook; oAxrseers of the poor, Ezra Norton, 
Jedediah Commins; sealer of weights and measures, Gurdon W. Cook; 
fence viewers, Asa Porter, Clement Leech, Enos Frost; pound keeper, 
Asa Porter. At this meeting $25 was voted to build a pound. 

Lima sent many volunteers to the front in the war of the Rebellion, 
and nearly all of them were men who fought bravely and endured the 
hardships of march and camp and bivouac with fortitude. The list 
of the Lima men who died in the service or from injuries received 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



725 



therein is a long one. Nearly all of the Lima volunteers of 1861 and 
some of the later ones belonged to the 27th N. Y. V. 

From the date of this meeting the list of Lima svipervisors is here 
given : 



Abel Bristol 1809 

Asahel Warner 1810-17-23 

William Williams 181 1 

Matthew Warner 1812-16 

Jacob Stevens 1813-14-15 

Manasseh L,eac)i 1818-19-20-21-22-25- 

26-27 

Levi Hovey 1824 

Parmelee Smith 1828-29-30-31 

Hollum Hutchinson 1832 

John Cntler 1833-34-35-37-38-39-40-41 

Alex Martin 1836-43-48 

Jarvis Ra3Mnond 1842 

Israel Nicholson 1844 

Josiah G. Leach 1845-46-47 

Alvin Chamberlain 1849-50-51 

Daniel Day 1852-57-58 

Ezekiel Hyde 1853 

Henry Warner 1854 



Samuel T. Vary 1855 

Ly man Ha wes 1856 

David H. Albertson 1859-60 

Shepard P. Morgan. ..1861-62-63-64-65-66 

Richard Peck 1867-68-69 

Wm. R. McNair 1870-71-72 

Anson L. Angle i873-74-75-76-77 

Albert Heath 1878 

James T. Gordon 1S79-80-81 

Horace C. Gilbert 1882 

J. S. Galentine 18S3-84-85-86-S7 

James E. Lockington 1888-89 

Samuel Bonner 1890-94-95 

Augustus Markham 1891 

D. G. H. Bennett 1892 

E. R. Bronson 1893 

John S. Peck 1896-97 

L. H. Moses 1S98-99-00-01 -02-03 



Assessed valuations and tax rates follow: 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




VaUiatiou 


on $1000 




Valuation 


on Siooo 




Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


1,075,221 


6.27 


187s 


2,030,803 


7.32 


1890 


1,523,426 


5-94 


1861 


1.055.925 


6.35 


1876 


1.893,079 


4-44 


1891 


1,550,245 


5.10 


1862 


1,056,860 


8.45 


1877 


1,881,599 


5-72 


1892 


1,486,474 


5-79 


1863 


1,046,246 


9.90 


1878 


1,785,210 


4-74 


1893 


1,473.471 




1864 


1,068,854 


18.60 


1879 


1,707,533 


7.13 


1894 


1.443.247 


5.04 


1865 


1,005,034 


37.80 


1880 


1,656,399 


5.64 


1895 


1.439.940 


6.52 


1S66 


1,012,108 


28.30 


1881 


1,661,912 


5.43 


1896 


1.424.107 


6.26 


1867 


1,049,286 


22.56 


1882 


1,704,119 




1897 


I.452.313 


5.80 


1868 


1,036,592 


16.37 


1883 


1,808,101 


5.60 


1898 


1.464,339 


5-62 


1869 


1,056,787 


9-57 


1884 


1,804,782 


5.64 


1899 


1,486,670 


6.35 


1870 


1,140,979 


12.43 


1885 


1,823,525 


5.36 


1900 


1,488,308 


5-35 


1871 


1,083,976 


10.76 


1886 


1,658,376 


5.06 


1901 


1.492.576 


4.79 


1872 


1.069,515 


14.41 


1887 


1,615,534 


6-39 


1902 


1,541,510 


c :{ ;«j 


1873 


1,034,052 


12.58 


1888 


1,568,024 


5-55 








1874 


2,094,682 


6.17 


1889 


1,500,615 


7.21 


1903 


1,542,927 


4.01 



The village of Lima was not incorporated until 1867, but it was 
an educational center of wide reputation long before. Its famous 
seminary, now seventy-two years old, and the good college which 
stood by it and provided collegiate instruction and diplomas for young 
men for twenty years, have been the distinguishing glory of the vil- 



726 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

lage and the town. The seminary was established by the Genesee 
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. A committee of five 
of its members was appointed in 1829 to investigate the subject of a 
Conference seminary, examine locations, receive local propositions, 
and report. The report was made to the Conference at its annual 
meeting in Rochester in 183(i. Several villages had offered induce- 
ments in money and lands, all but five of which the committee elimi- 
nated. Lima's offer was subscriptions amounting to $10,808, with 
the privilege of buying the site, including ten acres, for $50 an acre, 
and the whole farm of which these were a part for $30 an acre. Other 
offers from other places were almost or quite as liberal, but the Con- 
ference decided in favor of Lima by a vote of 4 for Henrietta, 4 for 
LeRoy, 15 for Perry and 26 for Lima. The first board of trustees 
elected consisted of Revs. Abner Chase, Glezen Fillmore, Richard 
Wright, Loring Grant, Micah Seager and Francis Smith, with Messrs. 
Augustus A. Bennett, Erastus Clark and Ruel Blake. The name 
selected was the (ienesee Wesleyan Seminary. Thus the seminary 
became an institution in 1830, but the necessary building was not 
ready until May 1832, when one which cost $17,000 was so far con- 
structed that it was opened for pupils. The attendance the first year 
was sufficiently encouraging — 230 young men and 111 young women. 

The building was destroyed by fire in 1842, and although nearly all 
the library and apparatus with some furniture, were saved, the loss 
was estimated at $25,0(10 on which there was an insurance of $12,000. 
Recitations were continued in the town hall, and within two months 
the corner stone of another building was laid, the citizens of Lima 
having contributed $5,000 to aid in its erection. It was a brick build- 
ing four stories high, with a front of 126 feet, and two wings with 
additional frontage of ')(> feet. The cost when completed was 824,000. 

We are told that between 30,000 and 40,000 [)upils have received 
instruction in this seminary, and among them a number that became 
distinguished. 

In 1849 Genesee College was founded, and the large building called 
College Hall was built. This was the flourishing college of Western 
New York for years until the Syracuse University was founded. 
Then began an effort to abandon Genesee College, and remove it to 
Syracuse. The fight was bitter. A bill was introduced in the Legis- 
lature in 1868 to accomplish the transfer, and was referred in the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 727 

Assembly to the committee on education. The chairman of that 
committee, Col. Robert Furman, of Schenectady, denounced it as 
vicious in principle, fraught with danger to the educational interests 
of the state impairing the validity of contracts, and a palpable viola- 
tion of the constitution. The debate in the senate was of unusual 
interest. The bill had been referred to the judiciary committee, 
which reported it without recommendation. When the vote in com- 
mittee was taken Senator Matthew Hale was its only supporter and 
the adverse vote was by Henry C. Murphy, Judge Charles J. Folger 
and Lorenzo Morris. The bill was finally withdrawn. Then Judge 
Johnson of the supreme court granted an injunction in restraint of 
such removal, and the injunction was never dissolved. But the col- 
lege was allowed to lapse, its functions ceased, and the legislature 
enacted a law by which all the material possessions of the college cor- 
poration were conveyed to the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, on con- 
dition that the institution assume the obligations and responsibilities 
of Genesee College. The college property consisting of buildings, a 
farm of nearly seventy acres, a cash endowment of $54,000 together 
with the libraries and philosophical apparatus, were thus transferred to 
the seminary, placing it on a sound financial basis. 

Since then there has been no inauspicious interim, and the seminary 
goes on under good management, with capable instructors and large 
annual accessions of pupils. 

There are other conditions which render Lima a desirable place to 
be educated in and live in. It is a very beautiful village, with at- 
tractive surroundings; the people are intelligent and orderly; there 
are several churches with large memberships; there is a good and well 
equipped fire department, with water works to make it more effective; 
and strong branches of the fraternal societies are not lacking. 

Rev. Daniel Thatcher organized the Presbyterian Church, in Lima 
in October, 1805. It was the fisrt religious organization in the town, 
and among its original members were William Williams and wife. 
Miles Bristol and wife, Joseph Gilbert and wife, Mrs. Judge Warner, 
Mrs. Abel Bristol, Elijah Gifford and wife, Charles Rice, Mrs. Daniel 
Warner, ilrs. Clark Brockway and Gurdon W. Cook and wife. Meet- 
ings were held at irregular intervals in the houses of the members by 
missionaries. In January, 1802, the Charleston Congregational 
society was formed, and was a substitute for the less complete organi- 



728 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

zation of 1705. Within a year or t^vo it built a brick schoul house in 
which its religious services were held. In 1804 Rev. Ezekiel J. Chap- 
man was engaged as minister for six months at a salary of $2C)0, of 
which $100 was to be paid in cash, and the rest in produce. The Rev. 
Mr. Leavenworth was engaged for six months to follow Mr. Chap- 
man, and at the expiration of his time Mr. Chapman was re-engaged 
and remained until 1814. The society's first church building was 
completed in 1816 at a cost of $7,000. 

In 1811 Rev. John Barnard was installed as pastor and his pastorate 
continued nearly 37 years. In 1839 the church name was changed to 
the Lima Congregational Society, and in 1851 again changed to the 
Lima Presbyterian Society. There have been eight pastors since Mr. 
Barnard's long service, including the present one. Rev. Alfred K. 
Bates, who was installed in 1893. 

Jonah Davis started Methodist meetings in the town of Lima in 
18(10, when he came from Deleware and settled on a farm three miles 
south of Lima village. He was a licensed exhorter and conducted 
services himself, and his house became the stopping place of the itin- 
erant Methodist preachers. From 1800 to 1825 or later he and 
they preached at his house and a near school house. In 1827 Rev. 
John Parker held regular services in the town hall, and there was a 
powerful revival which resulted in the organization of the Methodist 
church at "Lima Corners" by Mr. Parker. A small house of worship 
was built for it in 1828, and used until 1843, when it was moved, recon- 
structed and enlarged. In 1855 it was necessary to build still larger 
to provide room for the attendance from the seminary and college. 
This last building was repaired and improved in 1874. The church 
continues prosperous. The present pastor is Rev. P. T. Lynn. 

THE LIMA BAPTIST CHURCH was organized in 1854, and a 
house of worship was completed for it in 1856 at a cost, including lot, of 
$10,000. It has since been repaired and beautified twice. It has had 
nine pastors during the half century of its existence, the first being Rev. 
B. R. Swick. There have been about 500 names in all on its church 
roll, and there are now 130. A new parsonage costing $2,500 has 
recently been built. The estimated value of the entire church property 
is $13,500. The semi-centennial anniversary of the church was 
appropriately celebrated August 26, 1904. 

The first Catholic settler in Lima was Thomas Martin, who arrived 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 729 

in 1834. Within three or four years afterward he had three Catholic 
neighbors — James Egan, Michael Coneen and John Brennan. They 
were devoted to the church, and for many years went as far as Roch- 
ester on foot to mass and other church services, and for the baptism of 
their children. In 1842 the first mass in the town of Lima was cele- 
brated by Father Murphy at John Brennan's house. Other priests 
visited the town at intervals. The first Catholic edifice was erected in 
1848 when there were but nine or ten Catholic families in town. The 
present fine building was dedicated in 1873, when mass was celebrated 
by Bishop McQuaid, and Bishop Ryan preached the sermon. The 
present rector, Rev. S. Fitz Simons, has been in charge of the church 
many years. 

THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF LIMA is located 
at North Bloomfield. It was founded in March, 1825. The first 
settled pastor. Rev. Henry Roberts, came that year. A church build- 
ing was dedicated in 1829, and a more commodious one was erected in 
1872 at a cost of ^5,000. 



LEICESTER. 

The original bounds of Leicester, organized in March, 1803, were 
as follows: Commencing on the eastern transit at the southwest corner 
of Southampton, the line ran east to the Genesee river, thence south 
along the river to the southeast corner of the present Leicester or to a 
point near the junction of Genesee river with Canaseraga creek, thence 
south to Steuben county, and on the line of Steuben county to the 
Pennsylvania line, west on this line to the east transit, and north on 
the east transit to the place of beginning. Its dimensions were about 
twelve miles east and west and sixty miles north and south. In 18(i5 a 
little more than half of Leicester's territory was cut off for the town 
of Angelica. In 1818 Mt. Morris was taken from Leicester. In 181'J a 
portion was taken from Leicester and Caledonia for the town of York. 

The town is now bounded north by York, east by Geneseo and 
Groveland, south by Mt. Morris, and west bv the towns of Castile, 
Perry and Covington in Wyoming county. The area is 20,300 acres, 
and the population in 1900 was 1415. 

The surface of Leicester is undulating on the west, and on the east 
are the rich flats of the Genesee river. Its scenery is attractive, with 
the High Banks on the south, the Rice and Crosby falls in the center, 
and the eastward views from its hills. Its shale fossil beds near Mos- 
cow are renowned, and have furnished many fine specimens for geol- 
ogists. The uplands have the best of soil for wheat, and large crops 
of this cereal are grown there. 

Before civilization started in the Genesee country the capital of the 
Six Nations was in Leicester, on the present site of Cuylerville, and 
called Beardstown, after the Indian chief Little Beard, who was one 
of the leaders in the murder of Boyd and Parker. The village con- 
tained about 150 Indian houses, which were burned by Gen. Sullivan 
in 1779. Early in the 19th century there was a little hamlet in the 
southeast spot of the town called Dutch Corner. 

Moscow is the principal village, and there are also the hamlets of 
Cuylerville and Gibsonville. Cuylerville was made a point of some 
importance by the construction of the Genesee Valley canal, and 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 731 

reached the height of its prosperity in 1848, when it was incorporated 
as a village. Four warehouses were then located there; also two or 
three stores, a mill, and at least one distillery. It is on the line of the 
old canal between Piffard and Mount Morris, and is often visited by 
tourists on account of its site as the former capital of the Six Nations 
and its interesting Indian history. Gibsonville is in the southern 
portion of the town on the outlet of Silver lake. 

Ebenezer Allen in 1784 made the first settlement in Leicester, but 
soon went away, and the first permanent settlers were Horatio and 
John H. Jones and Joseph Smith, who fixed their homes there in 1789. 
John H. and George Jones, Horatio's brothers, had come the year be- 
fore to prepare for the settlement. They cut and stacked grass in the 
summer, and in the fall plowed land and sowed wheat, and this, it is 
believed, was the first wheat sowed west of the Genesee river. And 
Leicester was the first town west of the river in which a permanent 
settlement by whites was made. Horatio Jones's family, consisting 
of his wife, three sons and one daughter, came with him. 

Soon after the Revolution Horatio Jones decided to settle on the 
river flats, and the Indians gave to him and Joseph Smith, both of 
whom had been their captives many years, a tract of land six miles 
square, which on the older maps is laid down as the "vSmith and Jones 
tract." A few years later at a council of the Senecas the limits of 
the tract were reduced and a portion of the grant recalled. The most 
of the tract passed into the possession of Oliver Phelps and Daniel 
Penfield, but Jones still retained a large section. 

The first tavern in Leicester was kept by Leonard Simpson, who 
opened it a few rods north of Jones bridge in 1797. Later Pine Tav- 
ern was kept by Joseph Simonds, and other taverns in the town were 
kept by Francis Richardson, Pell Teed, Joseph White and Dennison. 

The first saw mill was built in 1792 at Gibsonville, by Ebenezer 
Allen, and the first grist mill in 1797 by Phelps and Gorham on the 
west branch of Beard's Creek at Rice's falls. Another was built near 
Moscow by Noah Benton in 1799; the grist mill was burned in 1818, and 
rebuilt the next year. Another grist mill wa.-^ put up by Samuel M. 
Hopkins in 1818. 

The settlers who closely followed the Joneses and Smith to Leicester 
were William Ewing, Nathan Foster, Frederick Gregory, and their 
families. 



732 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The village of Old Leicester was laid out in 180U about three miles 
east of ^loscow by Nicholas Ayrault, who was the first postmaster of 
the town. 

Several distilleries were started very early to dispose of the grain, 
for which there was no near market, or to concentrate it into a liquid 
which was more portable and salable. 

In 1796 the settlers sent batteaux loaded with corn to Rome, by 
way of the Seneca and Oneida rivers and Oneida lake, to be ground 
in a mill on Wood creek. 

The brothers Horatio and John H. Jones, have been mentioned as 
two of the first settlers of Leicester. Horatio became one of the most 
noted men for daring, skill and thrilling experiences in Western New 
York. He was born in Downington, Chester county, Pa., December 
17, 1763, and about six years afterward his father's removal changed 
his home to Baltimore, Md. The spirit of adventure was born in 
him, and military life attracted him. When only thirteen he joined 
a company of minute men, and in his eighteenth year enlisted in the 
Bedford Rangers. At that time he had become an athlete, an expert 
marksman, excelled his companions in athletic sports, and was remark- 
ably fleet of foot. His father was a gunsmith, and in his shop Hor- 
atio became a skillful mechanic. He was not inclined to books, but 
was a keen observer and careful inquirer, and by talking with soldiers 
early learned a'good deal about Indian characteristics and customs. 
Soon after he joined the Rangers, which were commanded by Captain 
John Boyd, he had opportunities to prove the stuff he was made of, as 
they were sent into the wilderness as a scouting party against the In- 
dians. They fell into an ambuscade, and Horatio was captured with 
several others. The Indians soon discovered that he could outrun 
their swiftest runners, and, fearing that he would escape, they bound 
him and fastened him lengthwise on the ground until they resumed 
their march. The march was a long one, and all the prisoners were 
bound at night, and carefully guarded during the day. Horatio en- 
dured the hunger and other sufferings to which he was subjected with 
fortitude, and excited the admiration of the Indians by his youthful 
beauty, suppleness, strength, and the other qualities which he mani- 
fested. Some of them wished to spare his life and have him live 
among them. But it was customary to compel their prisoners to run 
the gauntlet, and it was not easy to do this without getting killed. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 733 

He W4S told that if he escaped death in that ordeal he would be safe. 
The prisoners ran the gauntlet at Caneadea, a distance of about eighty- 
rods between lines of warriors and squaws, and Jones was so swift, 
and so skillful in dodging the hatchets, clubs and other missiles 
thrown at him by the yelling Indians, that he got to the goal with 
only slight injuries. The other prisoners were either killed while they 
were running or immediately afterward. Jones was cheered by the 
excited Indians, and adopted into an Indian family under the name of 
Hoc-sa-go-wah. He assumed their dress and customs, quickly learned 
their language and at once became useful to them by repairing their 
arms and implements. They learned to respect and fear him, as he 
fearlessly resented their insults, was the equal of any of them in 
strength and skill, and their superior in intelligence and fertility of 
resources. We quote from Doty's history: 

"Their implicit confidence in him, acquired during the years of his 
captivity, was retained through life, and proved valuable to the gov- 
ernment in the treaties with the northern and western tribes in which 
he participated, and his residence, down to the period of his death, 
continued a favorite stopping place for the natives who visited him 
almost daily. His judgment was so much respected by the Senecas 
that he was often chosen an arbiter to settle disputes among them; 
and his knowledge of the Seneca tongue was so accurate that he be- 
came their principal interpreter. Red Jacket preferred him as trans- 
lator of his speeches on important occasions, as his style, which was 
chaste, graphic and energetic, suited the qualities so marked in that 
great orator's efforts, accurately preserving not only the substance 
but the most felicitous expressions. He was commissioned by Presi- 
dent Washington as official interpreter, and was employed on several 
occasions to accompany delegations of sachems and warriors to and 
from the seat of Government. In a notable speech of Farmer's Brother 
at a council in November, 1793, the Indians asked the legislature of 
this State to permit them to grant Captain Jones and Jasper Parrish 
a tract of land two miles square, lying on Niagara river, three 
miles below Black Rock, as a substantial mark of their regard. The 
speech referred to was: 'As the whirlwind was so directed as to throw 
into our arms two of your children, we adopted them into our families 
and made them our children. We loved them and nourished them. 
They lived with us many years. They then left us. We wished them 



734 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

to return and promised to give each of them a tract of land, and now 
we wish to fulfill the promise we made them and reward them for 
iheir services.' Subsequently he. acquired a large body of land on the 
Genesee flats. At one period of his captivity he became dissatisfied 
and resolved to return home. Leaving his adopted father's wigwam 
before daylight one morning, he traveled for hours southward. 
Night came on and he began to reflect that his youthful associates, 
and perhaps his relatives, too, would be scattered and gone, and the 
first streak of light the next morning witnessed him retracing his 
steps. He resumed his abode with the Senecas, who never suspected 
him of having attempted escape, and remained with them until peace 
brought about a general exchange, a period of five years. Soon after 
the close of the war he removed to Seneca Lake, where his brother 
John joined him in October, 1788. He was married in the year 1784, 
to Sarah Whitmore, herself a prisoner from the valley of the Wyom- 
ing, by whom he had four children. Pie was twice married, his last 
wife dying in 1844. In the spring of 179U Captain Jones removed to 
the Genesee country. Here he died on the 18th of August, 1836, re- 
taining his well-preserved faculties to the last. He lies buried in the 
Geneseo cemetery." 

Once while the country was still mostly a wilderness Captain Jones 
as government agent found it necessary to carry the money to be paid 
to the Indians through the forest to Buffalo, and go alone. It was a 
large sum and he carried it on horseback. As it might be known or 
suspected by would-be robbers that his small baggage was valuable, 
he left these directions: "If I am murdered at my camp you will find 
the money twenty rods northwest of where I sleep." He was followed 
a part of the way, and waylaid, but his mare was too fleet for his pur- 
suers, and he got through safely with the money. He served as 
United States Indian agent over forty years, and his influence with 
the Senecas was great and controlling. He was the chief interpreter 
when the treaty of Big Tree was negotiated, and it is throuL;h him 
that we have the eloquent speeches of Red Jacket and other chiefs. 

To go back. Captain Jones opened a trading house at Waterloo, in 
1786, and moved from there to Geneva. In Waterloo John Jacob 
Astor called on him, bought furs of him, and stopped with him nearly 
a day and a night. In Geneva Captain Jones's eldest son, William 
D., was born, and was said to be the first white child born west of 



HLSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 735 

Utica, while Mary Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith, who shared with 
Jones the land donated by the Indians was said to be the first white 
female child born west of Utica. Sarah Whitmore, the wife of Captain 
lones, had also been an Indian captive in Pennsylvania and among the 
Mohawks. He met her near Seneca lake, and by marrying her saved 
her from a forced marriage to an Indian. After her death he married 
Elizabeth Starr, and by her had twelve children. He had .si.xteen 
children in all, eight sons and eight daughters. 

Joseph Smith, as well as his land partner. Captain Jones, was an 
important factor in the early settlement of Leicester. He was from 
Massachusetts, was captured by the Senecas early in the Revolution, 
brought to the Genesee, and held until the close of the war. He and 
Jones became warm friends, and like Jones he was much esteemed by 
the Indians, as their land gift to the two men showed. He also 
learned the Seneca language, and w^s more frequently an interpreter 
between them and the whites than Jones, although Jones was gener- 
ally preferred by the Indian orators. He and Jones were in partner- 
ship at the trading house in Waterloo. Doty's history says of him: 
"His open-hearted and obliging nature led him to endorse for friends, 
and the lands he had received from the Indians were parted with 
mainly to meet the obligations of others. His death at Moscow was 
occasioned by injury received by him in a game of ball between In- 
dians and whites at Old Leicester." 

George W. Patterson was the youngest of three brothers born in 
New England who settled in Livingston county in 1812. All of them 
were intelligent, broad-minded and public-spirited men. They came 
when George W. was eighteen years old. He had an inventive mind 
and, observing the primitive methods of winnowing the wheat, soon 
opened a shop for the riianufacture of fanning mills near a small pond 
which is still called Patterson pond. For nearly a generation the 
"Patterson mills" were the only kind used for cleaning wheat. He 
took an active part in politics, was the first commissioner of high- 
ways of Leicester, was elected justice of the peace several times, and 
to the Assembly for Livingston county eight times, of which body he 
was twice chosen speaker. He took a prominent part in the presi- 
dential campaign of 1880, and was one of the speakers at the great 
mass meeting held that fall in Geneseo. In 1848 he was elected Lieu- 
tenant Governor on the Whig ticket. Mr. Doty says that "he pre- 



736 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

sided with remarkable dignity and fairness," and "his sterling in- 
tegrity, mature judgment, and withal his manliness of character have 
long given him a high place among public men, and first and last 
have distinguished him many times as the fit man to act for the state 
on commissions and special service. " On such commissions he was 
several times appointed, one of them being for the selection of a 
proper quarantine station in New York, and regarding which he pre- 
sented a plan which was adopted. Another was witl; reference to the 
commerce of the port of New York, on which he did' valuable service. 
Another was for the proper expenditure of a large sum of money ap- 
propriated to relieve the starving people of Kansas, of which he was 
one of the most active and efficient members. Says historian Doty: 
"In all the varied duties committed to Governor Patterson through a 
long public career, no breath has ever been raised against his integrity, 
no act has lessened the confidence of attached friends, and while en- 
joying many marks of general regard, he has never seemed more grat- 
ified than when, his duties endeil, he might return to his home and to 
the important business charge committed to him by the Holland 
Land Company in superintending their landed interests, in which 
trust he succeeded Governor Seward when the latter was elected 
Governor. " 

John H. Jones, who came to the town with his brother Horatio, was 
appointed one of the judges of Genesee county at its organization, in 
1802, and continued to hold the office until Livingston county was 
formed, in 1821. He was side judge for Livingston county several 
years. 

Samuel Miles Hopkins came to the county in ISll, and located in 
Leicester in 1813. He was a brother of the celebrated Mark Hopkins. 
He graduated from Yale college in 1791, and in 1792 became the 
pioneer lawyer of Oxford, Chenango county. He remained in Liv- 
ingston county until 1822, when he moved to Albany, where he be- 
came eminent in his profession. He moved from Albany to Geneva 
in 1831, and died there in 1837, aged sixty-five. He was elected to the 
Congress of 1813-15 from the 21st district, was Member of Assembly 
from Genesee county in 1820-21, and represented the western district 
in the State Senate in 1822-23. In 1825 he was appointed one of a com- 
mission of three to sell the state prison at Newgate and build a new 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 737 

one at Sing Sing. He was respected for his Christian philanthropy as 
well as his ability as a lawyer and public official. 

Another early citizen was Samuel Royce, who emigrated from Con- 
necticut to Leicester in 1815, and purchased a tract of timbered land. 
The family name became a household word over a wide extent of 
country through his son John Sears Royce, inventor of the celebrated 
Royce reaper. He was born in 1819. and his inventive genius became 
apparent in boyhood. His first invention was a better threshing ma- 
chine than any then in existence, and his next was a perfected plow, 
known as the Genesee Valley plow, for which he took out his first 
patent when twenty-two years old. After various minor inventions, 
he took out a patent for the Rockaway carriage in 1850, which he 
manufactured ten years with financial success. He then invented the 
combined reaper and mower known as the Empire harvester, and 
manufactured it until 1870. It was too heavy, like the other reapers 
in use, and so he studied out the Royce reaper, weighing only 370 
pounds, or about one-fourth as much as the Empire, and which worked 
admirably. His patents on this, taken out in 1874, covered nine 
claims, and the machine soon came into use throughout the United 
States and Canada. Afterward he invented and patented two other 
reapers, and it has been said that he made more valuable improve- 
ments in reapers than any other inventor. 

The first town meeting of Leicester was held in 1803 at the house 
of Joseph Smith, the friend and partner of Horatio Jones, who was 
with him during much of the time of his captivity among the Indians. 
The house was between Moscow and Cuylerville, and the town officers 
there elected were: supervisor, John H. Jones; town clerk, George 
A. Wheeler; assessors, Samuel Ewens, Alpheus Harris, Dennison 
Foster; constable and collector, Perez Brown; overseers of the poor, 
Benjamin Gardner, Adam ^Visner; commissioners of highwa^ys, William 
!Mills, Joel Harvey. The meeting voted a bounty of five dollars for 
every wolf killed in the town. 

The Indians had a council house and frequent powwows at Squakie 
Hill. The names of the more prominent Indians who frequented the 
spot were Straight Back, Tall Chief, Bill Tall Chief, Sharp Shins, 
Kennedy Blinkey, Tom Jeniison, Jim Washington and Captain Cook. 

Samuel ]\I. Hopkins in 1814 selected the site of jMoscow for a vil- 
lage, had it surveyed, and named it. The first hotel was built there 



738 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the same year by Jesse Wadhams, who managed it, and was succeeded 
by Gideon T. Jenkins. Homer Sherwood built a hotel there a little 
later, and kept it for a time, when he was succeeded by Col. J. Hors- 
ford, who kept it twelve years. In 1815 a clothing mill was con- 
structed by Peter Roberts and Samuel Grossman, and another by 
Peter Palmer. 

Hezekiah Ripley started a paper in Moscow in 1817, and named it 
the Moscow Advertiser and Genesee Farmer. It passed into the 
ownership of James Percival in 1821, who moved it to Genesee and 
changed its name to the Livingston Register. In 1847 Franklin 
Cowdery started a paper at Cuylerville, and called it the Cuylcrville 
Telegraph. It passed into the hands of Peter Lawrence, and was not 
published long. 

The most important land transaction in the town of Leicester was 
by means of a treaty with the Indians in Moscow in 1823, when the 
Gardeau reservation, Mary Jemison's land, was sold to Henry B. Gib- 
son, Micah Brooks and Jellis Clute. The commissioners for the 
United States were Major Carroll, Judge Howell and N. Gorham; Jas- 
per Parrish was present as Indian agent and Horatio Jones as inter- 
preter, and there were also present a large number of Seneca chiefs, 
who sanctioned the transfer. 

Doty's history says: "The principal villages of the Senecas lay in 
Leicester, Little Beardstown, Squakie Hill and Big Tree, whose chief- 
tains could call the whole warlike tribe upon the battle-trail; and, if 
we may credit the tales of captives, something of a sylvan state was 
observed by the dignitaries of these castle-towns, as old writers call 
them, whose vaguely defined sites are now devoted to the ordinary 
purposes of agriculture by the thrifty farmers of Leicester. The 
narrative of the captivity of the Gilbert family of Quakers, who were 
brought to the country of the Senecas in 1780, and whose enforced 
stay here for a short period forms a part of that account, makes men- 
tion of their formal reception at Big Tree village by the Indian wife 
of the chief warrior. 'On reaching the Genesee river,' says the narra- 
tive, 'Captain Rowland ]\Iontour's wife came to meet us. She was the 
daughter of Siangorotchti, king of the Senecas. This princess was 
attended by the Captain's brother, John ^lontour, and another Indian, 
and also by a white prisoner who had been taken at Wyoming. She 
was attired altogether in Indian costume, and was shining with gold 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



739 



lace and silver baubles. Her attendants brought us what we much 
needed, a supply of provisions. After the customary salutations Cap- 
tain Montour informed his wife that Rebecca Gilbert washer daughter 
and that she must not be induced by any consideration to part with 
her. The princess took from her own finger a silver ring and placed 
it on Rebecca's. By this ceremony she adopted the white girl into 
her household, and the latter was conducted to her future hut in the 
retinue of the forest princess.' Brant, the Butlers, Red Jacket, who 
was a statesman but never a war chief of the eastern and western 
tribes, the Johnsons and other British officers were familiar with the 
pathways that traversed these forests and the red man's villages that 
dotted this township. Here all the wise men of the league collected 
to plan their predatory campaigns, and to celebrate their successful 
forays, and the very soil, though long ago disturbed by the white 



*^)^*-. 
^'J:*; 




SIOSCOW .4C.\DEMY. 



man's plow, continues to be held in special veneration by the descend- 
ants of the former occupants here." 

Moscow academy was projected as early as 1815, and completed 
soon afterward. It was a frame building forty feet by twenty-four, 
and three stories high. It was built when there were only a few 
school houses in the Genesee region, and these were mostly of logs, 
and was one of the first academic institutions in Western New York. 
It drew scholars from Buffalo, Canandaigua and other remote places. 



740 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and furnished excellent instruction for that time. The first principal 
was Ogden M. Willey, and he was assisted by Miss Abby Willey, his 
sister. Many prominent men were among its graduates. 

Jellis Clute was the first merchant of Leicester, and the first store 
in Moscow was opened in 1S15 by Nicholas Ayrault. and soon after- 
ward another store by William Robb. The first u|5land farm cleared 
in town was that of Josiah Risdon. Leonard Simpson was the (irst 
blacksmith, and Dr. Newcome was the first physician. The first 
white child born was James Jones, son of Horatio, in 1791, and the 
first death was that of Horatio Jones's first wife, also in 1791. 

The first law ofifice in town was opened in Moscow, in 1814. The 
fiist physician of Moscow was Dr. Asa R. Palmer. The first regular 
preacher was Rev. Abraham Forman, who went to Moscow from Gen- 
eseo in 1817 and preached to the Presbyterian society organized that 
year. The services were held in the academy. The first regular pas- 
tor of the society was Rev. vSamuel T. Mills, who was installed in 
1820, and the society's first elders were Asahel JIunger, Abijah War- 
ren and Asa Palmer. The society did not have a hcuse of worship 
until 1832, when one was erected at a cost of $3,000. A few years 
afterward some of the members seceded and put up another church 
building, and the divided societies were re-united in 1S44 through the 
efforts of Rev. John McDonald, who became their pastor. The 
Methodists held their meetings in school houses and private houses 
until 1S29, when they built a house of worship in Moscow. The Bap- 
tists were not strong enough to put up one until 1852. A Presbyte- 
rian church was organized in Cuylerville in 1846, and a church building 
erected in 184(). The first pastor of this church was Rev. James B. 
Rcouller. 

Jones's bridge was the first bridge over the Genesee south of Avon, 
and was constructed in 181 (). A Hood carried it away in the spring of 
1831, and it was re-built in 1832-3. The Mt. ^Morris bridge was built 
in 1830, carried away in 1832, and re-built in 1834. The Cuylerville 
bridge was not built until 1852. 

A notable event in the history of Leicester was the removal of the 
remains of Boyd and Parker— who had been tortured and [nit to death 
liy the Indians during the Sullivan campaign — from Cuylerville to 
Mt. Hoi)e cemetery, Rochester, in 1844. There were addresses and a 
procession, and one of the speakers was' the celebrated Major Van- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



741 



Campen, a surviving comrade of the two men. 
William H. Seward delivered an address. 



In Rochester Gov. 



Assessed valuations 


^nd ta.\ 


rates per $1,000 have been as fol 


ows: 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




.'Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valuation 


ou $1000 


1875 


Valnatiou 
1,579.950 


on $1000 
8.81 




Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


749.856 


8.17 


1890 


1.257,764 


6.57 


1861 


746,611 


8.0S 


1876 


1,479,809 


4.93 


1891 


1,340,000 


5-09 


1862 


756,497 


10.85 


1877 


1.406,939 


11. 72 


1892 


1,378,184 


7.78 


1863 


7,^7,830 


10.61 


1878 


1,364,879 


5-70 


1893 


1,373,789 




1864 


770,65s 


23.00 


1879 


1,178,125 


5.77 


1894 


1,353,788 


7.67 


1865 


744,193 


41.30 


1880 


1,187,494 


5- 50 


1S95 


1,337,413 


8.30 


1866 


848,750 


29.40 


t8Si 


1,187,887 


4.66 


1896 


1.332,291 


6.47 


1867 


757,020 


22,37 


1882 


1,320,176 




1897 


1,349,271 


7.01 


1868 


777 -9.59 


20.29 


1883 


1,303.038 


5.97 


1S98 


1,377,566 


8.04 


1869 


772,813 


10.14 


18S4 


1.318,153 


5.27 


1899 


1.357,115 


11.66 


1870 


770,502 


14.36 


1885 


1.350,465 


5-59 


1900 


1,337,490 


9.68 


1871 


778,279 


14.68 


1886 


1.358,762 


6.64 


1901 


1,356.531 


8.64 


1872 


764,520 


18.06 


1887 


1.337.531 


6.14 


1902 


1,342,265 


&.30 


1873 


750,633 


17.44 


1888 


1,328,264 


6.15 


1903 


1,369,746 


8.65. 


1874 


1,565,296 


8. II 


1889 


1.333,308 


7.50 









The following is a list of the supervisors of the town: 



John H. Jones, 1803-4-5-6-10 

Thomas Lenunou 1807-8-9 

Wm. A. Mills 1811-12-13 

Jellis Clute 1814-15-19-20-21-23-26 

Abraham Camp 1S16-17 

Joseph Buttrick 1818 

Joseph White 1822 

Elihu Scofield 1824-25 

Allen Avrault 1827 

Felix Tracy 1S2S 

George \V. Patterson 1829-38 

Daniel H. Bissell 1830-32-33-34-35-36 

Horatio Jones, Jr 1831 

Daniel P. Bissell 1837-41 

Harry Wheelock 1839-40 

Wni. W. Wooster 1S42-43-44-54 



John H. Jones, Jr. 1845-52-68-69-70-71-74 

John Kennedy 1846-47-48-49-50-51-53 

Hiram D. Crosby 1855 

Thomas Jones 1856-57-58-59 

Wm. B. \Vooster....iS6o-6l-62-63-64-65-66 

Anthony M. Wooster 1867-72-73-75 

Wm. C. Dwight 1876-77 

James C. Wicker 1878 

A. B. Cooley 1879-80 

Dorus Thompson 1881-82-83-91-92 

John Denton 1884 

I. T. Wheelock 1885-86-87-88-89-90 

Wm. H. DeForest 1893-94-95 

A. W. Wheelock 1896-97-98 

John F. White 1899-00-01-02-03-04 



On the 18th of December, 1904, occurred near Cuylerville in hi.s 
home of sixty years the death of John Perkins, who had passed his 
hundredth birthday on August first preceding, and who was the old- 
est inhabitant, and probably at the time of his death the longest resi- 
dent of the county. He came to this county from \^ermont in 181f> 
with his father Elisha Perkins, his mother and seven brothers ami 
sisters; they did luit remain in Leicester !nit settled in Livonia: their 
settlement there did not continue long, however, and they soon re- 



742 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

turned to Leicester, where Mr. Perkins always 'therafter resided. He 
left surviving five living sons and daughters and eight grandchildren 
—the children of a deceased son and daughter. Mr. Perkins retained 
his mental faculties to the end and recalled vividly the notable scenes 
and events that came within his long experience. At the annual 
meeting of the Livingston County Historical Society held in January, 
1904, Mr. Perkins was elected to honorary membership in deference to 
his great age and respected citizenship. 

As with several other towns the civil war record of Leicester is in- 
complete. At a town meeting held in April, 1S()4, the town auditors 
were authorized to pay money to the needy families of soldiers at 
their discretion, the total amount not to exceed $150. In August of 
that year bounties of $300 were offered for one-year volunteers and 
$600 for three-year volunteers, and the sum of $525 to each drafted 
man who furnished a substitute. A month later another special town 
meeting was held when the supervisor was authorized to pay a sum 
not exceeding $1,000 to each recruit credited to the town. 

The following interesting sketch of Leicester was prepared by Rev. 
E. W. Sears some years ago and read before the Livingston County 
Historical Society: 

'•The Fathers built on a large scale, we shall see by referring to 1802, 
the year that Genesee county was organized. It was taken from 
Ontario county, and embraced in its territory what is now Orleans, 
Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming and 
parts of Livingston and Monroe counties. Leicester was organized 
March 1802. The original bounds of Leicester were as follows: Com- 
mencing on the eastenj transit at the southwest corner of South 
Hampton; thence east to the Genesee River; thence south on that 
River to the southeast corner of Leicester (as it now is) or to a point 
near the junction of the Canaseraga Creek and (lenesee River; thence 
south to Steuben county, and on the westlineof Steuben county to the 
Pennsylvania line ; thence west on the Pennsylvania line to the east 
transit; thence north on the east transit to the place of beginning. 
Being about twelve miles east and west and sixty miles north and 
south. At an earlier date the capital of the Six Nations of Indians 
all residing in the State of New York was located in this town. This 
Indian town, called Beardstown, named after Little Beard, a bad 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 743 

Indian, was located on the ground now occupied by the village of 
Cuylerville. Little Beard was one of the leaders of the brutal murder 
of Lieutenant Boyd and Parker. Beardstown contained about 150 
houses. It was burned in 1779 by General Sullivan. The first town 
meeting in the town of Leicester was held on the first day of March, 
1803, at the house of Joseph Smith, near the very spot now occupied 
by James W. Colt's farm house, between Cuylerville and Moscow. 
At this meeting the following officers were elected: John H. Jones, 
Supervisor; Geo. A. Wheeler, Town Clerk; Samuel Ewens, Alpheus 
Harris and Dennison Foster, Assessors; Perez Brown, Constable and 
Collector; Benjamin Gardner and Adam Wisner,- Overseers of the 
Poor; George Gardner, William Mills and Joel Harvey, Commissioners 
of Highways. 

''This Joseph Smith at whose house the town meeting was held is the 
man who was a prisoner with Captain Horatio Jones am.ong the 
Indians, and he and Jones received a large tract of land as a gift from 
the Indians. 

"The Indians at an early day had a council house at Squakie Hill; 
here was to be seen and heard the war dance and song. The names of 
some of these prominent Indians were Straight Back, Tall Chief, Bill 
Tall Chief, Sharp Shins, Kennedy Blinkey, Tom Jemison, Jim Wash- 
ington and Captain Cook. At Big Tree, John Montour was killed by 
Quaway, a Squakie Hill Indian. 

"In 1805 a little more than half ofLeicester's territory was taken off, 
and Angelica was organized into a town. In 1814 Perry was taken 
from Leicester, and it contained what is now Castile and part of Cov- 
ington. In 1818 Mount Morris was taken from Leicester, and 
organized into a town. In 1819 a portion was taken from Caledonia 
and Leicester, and York was organized into a town. 

"The first tavern was kept by Leonard Stimson in 1797, sixty or 
eighty rods north of the Jones bridge. Still later one at Pine Tavern, 
kept by Joseph Simonds; one near Hiram Crosby's, kept by Francis 
Richardson; one at Teed Corners, kept by Pell Teed; one at old 
Leicester, kept by Joseph White; on the farm owned by Rev. Geo. 
Lane, one was kept by Dennison Foster. In 1813 Samuel M. Hopkins 
came to Leicester; in the following year he agreed with his brother- 
in-law, Jesse Wadhams, to erect a large hotel at old Leicester. Wad- 
hams commenced the work, when some difficulty arose between Mr. 



744 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Hopkins and some of the inhabitants of Leicester village. Hopkins, 
believing he was not fairly used, abandoned the idea of doing anything 
for the place. He also induced Wadhams to give up the idea of build- 
ing there. Mr. Hopkins immediately formed the idea of a village at 
another place. Accordingly a village plot was surveyed and named 
Moscow; this was made in 1814. The first hotel built in Moscow was 
built in 1S14 by Jesse Wadham.^; he was succeeded by Gideon T. 
Jenkins. It is now the residence of Harvey Wemple. Homer Sher- 
wood built a hotel and was succeeded by Colonel J Horsford, who kept 
it for twelve years. The place is now owned by Gilbert M. Cooley. 
In 1815 a clothing mill was erected by Peter Roberts and Samuel 
Grossman in the gulf north of the Newman place, During the same 
year one was built by Peter Palmer on the creek north of Moscow. 
The Moscow Academy was one of the first institutions in the country. 
"The following have been members of the State Legislature from 
Leicester; Gideon T. Jenkins, Samuel M. Hopkins, Felix Tracy, Col. 
J. Horsford, John H. Jones, Lyman Odell and Geo. W. Patterson. 
Mr. Patterson was in the Legislature si.x years, and afterwards was 
Lieutenant Governor. In 1814 Samuel M. Hopkins was elected Con- 
gressman and in 1850 Col. J. Horsford was elected to Congress for one 
term. I,eicester was fortunate in securing among its earliest settlers 
earnest, intelligent men. A glance at the industries of that early day 
will show they were men of push. The utilizing of the Genesee River 
for obtaining merchandise and the getting to market the produce of 
the county; the flat boat, the Tracy, Lyman and Perkins warehouses, 
were things of interest and profit, not only for Leicester, but for towns 
west and south. Warsaw, Pike and Rushford brought their products 
and took back with them merchandise, so that Leicester was an 
important item in their calculations. The first saw mill was built by 
Ebenezer Allen, at Gibonsville, in 1792. The first grist mill was built 
by Phelps and Gorham, on the west branch of Beard's Creek at Rice's 
Falls, in 1797; it burned down in 1818, and was rebuilt the next year. 
The grist mill just north of the Moscow square was built in 1S18, by 
Samuel M. Hopkins. Isaac Barber built a grist mill at the falls near 
Hiram Crosby's. Col. Wm. T. Cuylcr built one just east of Cuyler- 
ville, in 1844. He also built a distillery in 1851; it was burned in 
1855. Colonel Cuyler rebuilt it the ne.xt year, much larger and more 
expensive. This was the last distillery that Leicester had; the first 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 745 

one built in town was built by Judge John H. Jones, east and a little 
south of Jellis Clute's old home. Leicester was twenty-seven years 
old before she had a church built. The first one built was the Method- 
ist Episcopal, in 1829. The Presbyterian, in 1832. The Christian 
and the old School Presbyterian, in 1838. The Baptist, in 1844. The 
U. P. at Cuylerville, in 1845. The first permanent white settlers were 
Captain Horatio and John H. Jones. The Joneses were quite num- 
erous; at one time there were thirty voters in Leicester of that name. 
Judge John H. Jones' family furnished the town with Supervisors for 
sitxeen years; the father five years, his son J. H., seven years, and 
Thomas, another son, four years. Because of their close similarity, I 
mention William W. Wooster's family. William W. Wooster, the 
father was supervisor four years, his son William B., seven years, and 
another son, Anthony M., four years. These two families served 
Leicester as supervisors for thirty-one years. In 1837 and '8 the 
Genesee Valley canal was commenced, and opened for travel in 1840. 
Perhaps the greatest gathering that Leicester ever had was at Cuyler- 
ville, Aug. 20th, 1841, when the remains of Lieutenants Boyd and 
Parker were taken up and removed to Mount Hope, Rochester. An 
appropriate address was delivered by Samuel Treat, Esq., in Colonel 
Cuyler's grove. The military companies with their music made a fine 
display. Thus a day passed not soon to be forgotten by those who 
were present. The opening of the Genesee Valley canal made Cuyler- 
ville the head of navigation for the towns southwest of Leicester. Be- 
tween 1830 and 1840 Leicester had a very fine independent rifle com- 
pany. I. Horsford was its first captain, and Charles Derr was its last. 
Wm. A. Mills and Hiram D. Crosby served the company as captains 
also, in the '3(.)s. There was in the southeast corner of Leicester a 
little hamlet known as Dutch Corner, lying on the branch, containing 
all log cottages occupied by Mr. Fish, William and Peter Langs, 
Franklin Sears, Jacob and Peter Labour, Mr. \'angorder, Henry 
Boughton and the schoolhouse and Sears's shoe shop; in the south- 
west corner of the town was the little hamlet of (iibsonville, where 
there was a grist mill, which was changed into a paper mill; this was 
conducted in 185(1 by Smith and Whitney. 

"The industries of Leicester have changed wonderfully in the last 
fifty years. At -Moscow and Cuylerville, fifty years ago. there were 
quite a number of persons engaged in manufacturing wagons and car- 



746 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

riages; now there are none. Quite a number were engaged in the boot 
and shoe business — two shops at ^loscow and one at Cuylerville; also 
there were two or three tailor shops and two harness shops; now there 
are none. Quite a number were engaged in the manufacturing of 
fanning mills, including G. W. Patterson and H. C. Allen, now there 
are none made in town. There have been five grist mills, all run by 
water; now there are none. Also eight sawmills all run by water but 
one; now none. Also eight or ten distilleries; now none." 

SKETCH OF HORATIO JONES. 

The following account of Captain Jones was prepared in 1879 by 
Colonel William Lyman, his son-in-law. Colonel Lyman, who was 
himself a pioneer of this county, died in 1883 at the age of nearly 
ninety years. He removed from Connecticut in 1814 to Geneseo, 
where he was employed in the office of James Wadsworth and later in 
the store of Spencer & Company. In 1816 he opened a store at 
Havens in the town of Sparta, and in 1818 removed his business to 
Moscow, where he continued it until 1837. Colonel Lyman was a 
brother of Mrs. Allen Ayrault, of Geneseo, and of Mrs. Sleeper, of 
Mount Morris. Mr. Lyman was a great reader, "a close observer and 
had a very keen sense of humor: 

''My acquaintance with the family commenced in 1814, and in 18211 
married a daughter, born in 1802, with whom I passed fifty-four years 
of happy wedlock. (I cannot get along without mingling some of my 
own history with that of Captain Jones). It being a noted event in 
what was then called an open wedding and as many of the guests have 
since played important parts in the drama of life, I will give some of 
their names. Mrs. James Wadsworth, wife of the jiioneer of landed 
estate, and he that was afterward General James S. Wadsworth, who 
lost his life in tlie Wilderness, near Richmond, Virginia; Mrs. Samuel 
M. Hopkins and family; Judge Charles H. Carroll and family; Judge 
Hez. D. Mason; Colonel Fitzhugh and family, one of the daughters, 
Miss Elizabeth Fitzhugh, who was afterward wife of James Birney, 
a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, was one of the 
bridesmaids; Miss Ann Fitzhugh, who was afterward Mrs. Ger- 
rit Smith; Dr. D. H. Fitzhugh; Dr. D. H. Bissell and many others, 
with a sprinkling of guests from Canandaigua and Rochester. At my 
golden wedding in 1871 there were alive six of the original company 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 747 

and two of them were present. Intimatel)' connected thus with the 
family and on friendly terms, I was let into the inner history of Cap- 
tain Jones' early life and his present status (most of which was deliv- 
ered from his own mouth). Captain Jones' father was a mechanic, in 
which capacity he was called upon almost constantly to repair rifles 
and locks, which generally terminated in the trial of the weapon, in 
which Horatio Jones participated and he came to be an expert marks- 
man. After the surprise that ended the conflict he turned and ran, 
followed by two Indians with loaded rifles. One of them said he was 
a bov, let us save him. They put after him and found that it required 
their best exertions to keep within hailing distance and when he fell 
they were in such hot pursuit that one ran by him before he could stop 
and the other came up and claimed him as a prisoner. To retard his 
progress some blankets were tied around his body which were allowed 
to drag in the wet grass and impede his locomotion. For two days 
they traveled in a northwest direction, fearing to shoot game lest the 
reiiort of their guns should lead to the knowledge of their whereabouts. 
But on the third day a bear was shot and butchered and the intestines 
fell to him. These he emptied, took them to the creek, turned them 
and washed them thoroughly, placed them on the coals and when 
cooked were not unsavory for a person who had a standing appetite 
for three days. On arriving at Xunda, near where Portage now 
stands, preparation was made for running the gauntlet, and as they 
approached the spot they went down an abrupt descent. At this 
point half a dozen young squaws came up intent on joining the sport 
with their sticks and whips and rushed by the prisoner, and came so 
familiarly near as to brush him. As the last one brushed him he 
accelerated her motions by a vigorous push that helped her to over- 
take the one that preceded her and she in turn overtook the one who 
preceded her and so on until all fell in a promiscuous mass at the foot 
of the declivity. In their hot haste to join in the sport they had neg- 
lected their toilet and the thorns that supplied the place of pins were 
not driven home and their flowing robes floated to the breeze and 
exposed portions of their bodies that would otherwise have been con- 
cealed. It was a mass of animated, struggling humanity, heads and 
points. Those that were under could not get up because of the heap 
above them, while those above were too much exposed without some 
arrangement of their apparel to change position. Although the ex- 



748 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

hibition lasted but a short time, it was very amusing and brought a 
loud guffaw from the Indians who were spectators. When the lines 
were formed between which the prisoners were to pass, Jack Berry 
took Jones to the head of the lines and pointed to him the goal which 
if he arrived at in safety he was free. As he approached he observed 
that the occupants stood with u])lifted weapons on each side and when 
the word was given to start, Jones chose a close connection to one side, 
and as the sailor would say, 'hugged the shore,' i. e., run so close 
that they had no room to swing their arms and got through almost 
without a scratch and plunged into his future home and was met by 
his adopted mother, who furnished him new moccasins, deerskin shirt 
and breeches, and when he was dressed she was very proud of him. 
Of a handsome form with curly hair and a very white skin, she fur- 
nished him a long beautiful feather that he was allowed to wear in his 
cap. It was soon understood by the young Indians that the ])et had 
rights that it was prudent to respect. As he was eating his soup a 
young Indian amused himself throwing little bits of sticks into it. 
He was cautioned to stop, but persisted. Jones rose to his feet and 
the Indian retreated and ran past the fire over which was suspended a 
kettle of boiling vegetables. The hard-she'.l squashes protruded and 
as Jones passed he seized one and dropped it under the hunting-skirt 
of the Indian, which brought him to a halt and a reclining posture. 
As he rolled over he spread the hot squash and as the scald healed it 
produced a scab from his head to his heels. The mother of the boy 
wanted Jones punished, but the chief said as the boy was the aggressor 
he must take the consequences. An Indian had been out and pulled 
up some bushes and was transporting them on his shoulder, and as he 
came up to where Jones was leaning over the fence he stuck the roots 
into Jones face and was cautioned, bi't he repeated, when a sudden, 
horizontal, backward movement of Jones' arm brought the force of his 
hand in contact with the bridge of the Indian's nose, and as the 
bridge was unable to sustain the shock it caved in and left the point 
of the nose cocked up and as it was considered a trademark, the 
Indian carried it as long as I knew him. Sc-niin-gt-u-a/i was an In- 
dian about Jones' age, and being active and fond of wrestling he would 
frequently challenge the pet to a ti'ial of strength. He was allowed . 
for prudential reasons for a while to carry ofT the honors of the con- 
tests, but Jones found that he could easily handle his man and con- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 749 

eluded to convince him of the fact and on the next occasion downed 
him. The Indian was not satisfied and insisted upon another trial, 
which resulted as before. Unwilling to believe in Jones' superiority 
of strength, a third trial was insisted upon. This was to be decisive 
and Jones with a hip-lock brought him down heavily. The Indian 
jumped up and said, 'You hurt me and I'll kill you,' and ran for his 
hatchet. Jones stood firm and as the Indian came up said, 'Cousin, 
this was a trial of strength and you challenged me. I was successful, 
and if my cousin thinks me worthy of death, here I am.' Swift as 
the eagle cleaves the air the hatchet was dispatched, but in an oppo- 
site direction, and the right hand was extended which was grasped and 
a friendship established that lasted as long as life. If the Indian's 
rifle brought down a buck or doe, a nice piece was selected and laid 
aside, 'That's for my friend!' and it would soon find its way to 
Jones's table. If an Indian is sick his panacea is pork {qtiish quisli). 
I was present when the Indian and squaw presented themselves on the 
Captain's porch, and said: 'I am sick; have you any pork?" "Yes: 
there is the barrel, take what you want. ' They went to the barrel 
and took out several pieces that did not suit, but when they came to 
some nice side pieces, they cut off just what they wanted and put all 
the rest back and packed it nicely and covered it with brine; took 
their piece and went off. At a council held in Buffalo several years 
afterward when I was present, Captain Jones prepared several pounds 
of tobacco as presents to his old friends. Before opening the council 
a little time is allowed for the exchange of civilities and Jones dealt 
out by the hand to each of his old acquaintances a handful, but when 
he came to Sr-intn-gc-wah he gave him a package containing a pound. 
The Indian saw the distinction, dropped his head, got up and went 
out of the council house. I followed him. He seated himself on a 
knoll, looked at his package and burst into tears and cried like a child. 
I left him and never saw him again. 

"In December 1786, Captain Jones was at Geneva under the hill, on 
the flats. Here his first son was born, who was afterward named Wil- 
liam and at mature age was called Bill or Colonel Bill. This was an 
epoch. He was the first male white child born west of Utica, or Fort 
Stanwix, and the event was memorable. Something was to be done. 
The Indian cradle was a hollow log dug out, without rockers. But 
here was a white male child that was entitled to civili/ed treatment. 



750 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

He must have a Christian cradle, but how? Xo boards, no sawmill, 
no saw, no chisel, no mallet, no hammer west of Utica. But a boat 
had been poled up the Seneca river; had been stranded and deserted. 
Armed with his hatchet, hunting-knife and hemp-line he started for 
the boat; found it; brushed off the snow, laid out his plan so as to 
get enough lumber and no more. Getting his lines he commenced 
with an unerring stroke of his hatchet he detached sutiticient lumber 
and put it in a pile. How to transport sufficient lumber for a cradle 
would be thought a trifling matter, but then it was no sinecure 
to carry it by manual strength over ravines, creeks, fallen timber, 
treacherous snow paths, and instead of light seasoned lumber it was 
heavy pitch pine, saturated with water. But nothing daunted, secur- 
ing it with his hemp line he swung it upon his back and commenced 
his homeward march. To say that the skin of his back was not 
abraded or that his limbs were not scratched and torn by the under- 
brush and his physical endurance was nearly exhausted when he 
reached his cabin, would be misrepresentation. The ne.xt day it was 
brought into shape with a foot board, a head board and rockers. It 
was useful, but not ornamental, and I venture the assertion that no 
cradle has performed more service for seventy or eighty years than 
'Bill's' cradle. Its motion has been almost constant and it has fre- 
quently been engaged for months ahead. The pioneer, the new set- 
tler, the Indian woman, all, considered that they had a common inter- 
est in Bill's cradle, and it remained as a monument to the rising gen- 
erations until a short time ago, but it has now passed into oblivion, or 
by the carelessness of tenants it has been incinerated for kindling 
wood and has reverted to its native elements. 

"At this location John Jacob Astor, the millionaire, ])urchased his 
first bear-skin of Captain Jones, and boarded with him for a time. 
This he remembered in 1830 or '33, when Jones visited him in New 
York; he remarked to Jones, 'What nice Indian cakes your wife used 
to give us when I boarded with you.' 

"In 1789 Captain Jones removed from Geneva to the west side of the 
Genesee river, near Beardstown. To guide his stock through an un- 
fenced country with nothing to guide them but an Indian foot-path, 
required all the attention of the male portion of the cavalcade, while 
Mrs. Jones and Sally Griffith were mounted each on a horse to which 
was lashed the best bedding. Mrs. Jones had one child strajiped to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 751 

her back and one in her arms, beside the paraphernalia of house-keep- 
ing, while Sally GriiSth was on another horse with Bill in her arms 
and bedding strapped behind. When they arrived at Flint creek Mrs. 
Jones passed through without difficulty, but Sally's horse's feet got 
tangled in the roots and plunged and threw Sally and Bill into the_^ 
creek. Mrs. Jones deposited her two boys and plunged into the creek 
to save her first-born, which she succeeded in doing, and passed the 
rest of the way in safety. 

"It was necessary thai a large amount of money should be taken out 
to Niagara to pay the troops and other expenses, but to find a safe con- 
veyance was somewhat difficult, for the settlements were far apart and 
the inhabitants along the road had not a settled character for honesty 
and morality. The money was expected and it was generally known 
would be carried by some agent who would not prove a protector of 
the treasure. But as the confidence of the governor was centered up- 
on Jones, who would be most likely to carry out their wishes, he was 
applied to and accepted the trust. He secured a powerful animal and 
armed with tomahawk and scalping knife and leaving directions where 
the treasure would be found in case of accident to him, the course and 
distance from his fire, he started. Having got beyond where Ithaca 
now is, night coming on, he dismounted and made arrangements for 
the night. A horse that has been brought up in the woods has a very 
shrill whistle if danger approaches and does not stray far from camp. 
He built a large fire so that he was not afraid of attack from wild ani- 
mals, and laid down and went to sleep, but was awakened by the ap- 
pearance of a real or imaginary Indian boy, who said to him, 'If you 
don't look out your bones will lie in a pile.' He got up and found 
his horse had approached the camp and was alarmed. After an ex- 
amination he discovered nothing wrong and he lay down and fell into 
a slumber when the same boy with the same message came to him 
again. Again he examined and again he reposed when the same boy 
and the same message was delivered, which induced him to saddle his 
horse, although it was still dark. His horse was a powerful one and 
as he gave her the line she plunged ahead and soon overtook a man 
who said, 'You move early.' He avoided conversation and in a little 
while observed another person whq was disposed to pick a talk, but he 
passed ahead and soon came to a large fire with a large kettle boiling, 
which he imagined was intended for his especial use. This conviction 



752 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was strengthened by the fact that in the course of the day a man by 
the name of Street, who had been out with a load of cattle, had sold 
them and was supposed to be returning with tile money in his poclcet, 
and when near that place was accosted by two men who asked him to 
get off and take a drink. When he stooped down to take a drink at 
the spring they brained him and the creek carried the name of Murder 
creek for a long time. Red Jacket's fondness for sweetening in his 
tea was notorious and the subject of jokes. As we gathered around 
the table some lumjjs of salt had been carelessly left where he could 
reach them. He tasted his tea and discovered that it was not sea- 
soned to his taste, when he reached out and took two or three lumps 
of the salt which he put into his tea and stirred all up preparatory to 
a good suck. He drew heavily upon the beverage, but as the taste 
had jjenelrated to the cuticle of the mouth bah I he could not stand it 
and he greeted it with, 'You've got me. ' Some important transac- 
tion was to be consummated between the United States government 
and the Indians. Some commissioners were sent by the government to 
conclude the business. They were prevented because Red Jacket, one 
ot the chief head men, was drunk After waiting for several days for 
him to sober off, they applied to Jones to get him sober enough to do 
business. He found him drunk on the Hoor of the bar-room and when 
the bar-keeper came to shut up for the night he seized Red Jacket to 
throw him out. Jones interfered and told the man he would take care 
of him; when the man built up a good fire and went to bed. Aliout 
one or two o'clock Red Jacket, having slept off the effects of the litpior, 
woke up and inquired for the man who dealt out the liquor. The 
Captain interfered and said, 'Cousin, this won't do. Our father 
wishes to confer with his children and close up our agreements and 
has sent his officers here to complete the transaction. They have 
been waiting day after day, but cannot proceed because the chief man 
was drunk. Our father would be very angry that his officers were 
treated with such disrespect. You must abstain until the business is 
completed.' Red Jacket had a very prominent under lip, which he 
dropped with his head, and after a long interval he raised his head and 
said, 'I guess it will all blow over in a few days.' But Jones stuck 
to him until the business was completed and the commissioners left. 
On one occasion when the captain visited Buffalo, there was a militia 
training, and as was the custom in those days, a good many men in- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 753 

toxicated. As Jones's business was principally with rhe Indians, their 
consultations were held in public in the Indian language on the open 
stoop, the floor of which was two or three feet above the surrounding 
earth. One man, half drunk, was particularly obtrusive, and would 
obtrude himself with, 'What are these old men talking about?' He 
was repeatedly told that it was none of his business and he had better 
keep away. He insisted that it was a free country and he would go 
where he liked. Captain Jones was lame in both legs, but backing up 
against the house he found a firm support, he extended his arm as the 
intruder pressed upon him and altered the direction of the man and 
sent him off the stoop. In his progress he spread out both his arms 
and carried off several others, among them the District Attorney. 
As soon as they could pick themselves up, the District Attorney 
limped up and asked the captain if he knocked that man off. Jones 
said the man was in the way and pushed him aside. The injured man 
had recuperated sufficiently to get within hearing distance, and re- 
marked, 'If you call that pushing, I'd like to know what you call 
knocking.' The question was left to the crowd and it was decided 
that it was a case of forcible ejectment. As soon as it was reduced to 
legal parlance the lawyer was satisfied, and the crowd dispersed. 

"An Indian that had the under cord of his toe separated and the toe 
turned up which was very troublesome in his moccasin and operated 
as a hook and caught the grass, applied to Jones to cut it off. But as 
he was an adept in surgery, he told him he could do it himself. It 
would be but a stroke and he would help him. So he prepared a 
block, procured a sharpened chisel and a mallet and fixed him all 
right. The Indian gave the blow and leaped into the air with 'you 
told me tu. ' But the toe was oif. James and George Jones, the sons 
of the captain, joined a company that was going out on the lines in 
1813 or '14 in the war of 1812, and were taken prisoners by the In- 
dians, but as there was a dispute as to which tribe of the Indians the 
prisoners belonged, and to settle the dispute they were all toma- 
hawked. This was a heavy stroke and it was for a long time a ques- 
tion how they were disposed of. The Indians are the wards of the 
nation. They are migratory and as they pass from place to place, 
there are always necessary expenses that they cannot pay for, but they 
call upon those to whom they look for assistance, and it was frequently 
inconvenient to accommodate twenty or thirty with necessaries, such 



4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

as food, lodging, horse feed, etc. Now for these necessaries you could 
not make out a bill wilh the necessary vouchers. The agent selected 
the Indian goods and when they were opened if a piece of beaver cloth 
was found too fine for Indian's rough wear, it was selected with, 
'that's for the chief on the Genesee river; and that is for the chief at 
Canandaigua.' So if there was a brass kettle that was too bulky for 
an Indian to transport, a white chief would be found to utilize it and 
consider it a compensation for the many perplexities that they were 
called upon to settle between families and neighborhoods. I was 
knowing to a case where there were legitimate charges that should have 
been paid without a word, but were rejected. It amounted to §66 or 
$70. On inquiry of one of the auditors, he said it was too small. It 
was immediately revised and corrected, and charges of forage for 
twenty Indians, carriage and horses, driver, tavern expenses, at $10 a 
day, amounting to $400 or $500, which was audited at once and the 
cash paid." 

LEICESTER CHURCHES. 

The inception of the movement which resulted in the organization 
of the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CUYLER- 
VILLE, New York is set forth in the following sketch: . 

In September, 184(1, the canal between Rochester and Mount Morris 
was completed. During the same year Cuylerville was surveyed and 
named by Colonel William T. Cuyler, who owned the land upon which 
the village stands and much of the country around it. The place be- 
came an important shipping point and a flourishing village. 

The first effort towards the organization of a religous society was 
made by the Baptists in 1843, a society was organized but the house 
of worship was built in Moscow. 

In the village and surrounding country were many families of Scotch 
Presbyterians who desired a church more convenient than York or 
Covington. 

In 1844 application was made to the Presbytery of Caledonia, under 
the care of the Associate Reformed Synod of New York, for an or- 
ganization. Steps were also taken towards the erection of a house of 
worship. 

The request was granted and the Rev. D. C. McLaren, Rev. Alex- 
ander Blaikie and Mr. Hugh McVeigh were appointed a committee to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 755 

organize a congregation in Cinierville. This was effected in due time 
and a building completed. 

The following is a copy of a part of the first minutes of the 
organization : 

"At a meeting of the male members of the Associate Reformed 
Congregation of CuylerviUe held in the church in said village on Mon- 
day, January 20, 1845 pursuant to a published notice for the samC' — ■ 
the Rev. Alexander Blaikie was appointed moderator, Hugh Dale 
assistant moderator agreeable to the statute for such cases provided, 
and lames Niven was chosen clerk. 

On motion it was unanimously resolved that the society be known 
by the name and title of the Assoi-iare Reformed Church of CuylerviUe 
in the town of Leicester, county of Livingston, state of New York, 
adhering to the Associate Reformed Synod of New York, and that 
the trustees hereafter to be elected and their successors shall be known 
by the name and title of "The Trustees of the Associate Reformed 
Church of CuylerviUe." 

Five trustees were then chosen, and their terms of service decided 
by lot. Henry VanVechton for one year, James Niven and Lyman 
Odell for two years, Hugh Dale and Jacob N. Clute for three years. 
A certificate of organization was executed and being duly attested be- 
fore William Finley a judge of Livingston county, was placed on file 
in the clerk's office. 

On the 14th of November, 1846, Rev. D. C. McLaren moderated a 
call to Rev. James B. Schevler of Philadelphia, who was installed as 
pastor April 7, 1847. At the same time Hugh Rippey, Matthew 
Crawford, and John Kennedy were elected to the office of "Ruling 
Elder," and they were installed on the 9th of May. 

Rev. Schevler demitted his charge January 28, 1852, and was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. W. C. Somers, January 1, 1853- November 10, 1856. 
Rev. F. ]M. Proctor, January 1, 1859-April 17, 1866. Rev. John Rip- 
pey December 26, lS66-May 4, 1894. Rev. R. B. Stewart, April Ist^ 
1895. 

The Presbyterian Church of Moscow, New York, was organized by 
Rev. Abraham Forman of Geneseo in the month of June 1817, and 
was connected with the Presbytery of Ontario. There were nine 
original members, three of these were chosen elders and composed the 
first session, namely, Asahel I^Munger, Abijah C. Warren, Asa R. 



756 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Palmer. Elihu Mason was the first minister, serving from luly 1S17 
to 1821). 

At the time of its organization the church worshiped in the chapel 
of the Moscow Female Academy, a then flourishing institution, located 
on the south side of the village park, and a little east of the present 
church building. Here the church continued to worship till the pres- 
ent edifice was finished in the fall of 1832. 

The contract for building was first given to a young man, who lack- 
ing sufficient means to continue and complete the work, it was after- 
ward given to Mr. Howe who finished it at a cost of 83,300. This 
building was again thoroughly repaired and refurnished in 1868, Rev. 
M. N. McLaren of Caledonia preached the dedicatory sermon. 

Following Rev. Mr. Mason in the ministry were Rev. S. T. Mills, 
Rev. Amos P. Brown, Rev. J. Walker, Rev. Mr. Schaffer, and Rev. 
Samuel Porter, each serving from two to five years. The first settled 
pastor was Rev. John H. Redington, a man of more than ordinary 
ability, who began his labors in 1835. It was during his pastorate 
that the division of the Presbyterian church into the new and old 
school occurred. And the pastor being very decided in his opinions, 
adhering to the old school and carrying a number of the membership 
with him, these went out and built a small church on the east side 
of the village park, while those adhering to the new school party 
maintained their right to the original church edifice and continued 
to worship there. Rev. Mr. Redington continued his pastorate up to 
his death, which occurred in September, 1841, and his remains were 
deposited in the village cemetery where they still rest. Following Mr. 
Redington in the Old School church was Rev. J. W. McDonald, and 
officiating in the other church was the Rev. E. H. Stratton, under 
whose influence in 1845 the two churches were again reunited under 
the Presbytery ot Wyoming. 

Following in the pastorates were Rev. L. Leonard, Rev. Walter C. 
Cauch for three months. Rev. J. M. Harlow, Rev. G. R. Howell, Rev. 
W. D. McKinley. The present pastor. Rev. Fisher Gutelius began his 
labors on the first Sabbath of July, 1874, and is now in the thirtieth 
year of his pastorate with this people. The membership of the church 
has never exceeded about one hundred — which number is still main- 
tained. During the pastorate of Mr. Gutelius a fine new pipe organ 
was placed in the church in 1876, cost $2700, and beautiful parlors 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 757 

were added to the church in 1903 by the Ladies Aid Society at a cost 
of over $1000. Originally the church was connected with the Pres- 
bytery of Ontario, and in 1837 with the Presbytery of Newton Synod 
of New Jersey, and later it was transferred to the Presbytery of Sus- 
quehanna and afterward to the Presbytery of Wyoming, and upon the 
union of Wyoming and Steuben, it became connected with the Pres- 
bytery of Genesee River. By the union of the two General Assem- 
blies in 1870 and the subsequent reconstruction of Synod and Presby- 
teries the church became allied with the Presbytery of Rochester, 
of which body it is still a member. 

The following is a list of Elders who have officiated in the session: 
June 1817 Asahel Munger, Abijah C. Warren, Asa R. Palmer. 

1819 Sam'l M. Hopkins, Feli.\- Tracy. 

1822 Jerediah Horsford. 

1829 Ezra Walker. 

1831 Benjamin Ferry, Daniel T. Barnum. 

1837 Stephen D. Alverson, Alanson Holbrook. 

1841 William H. Holbrook, Samuel C. Wilder. 

1859 Wilder Silver, James R. Dales. 

1868 Jacob K. Smith. 
And the present session are Newton H. Crosby, F. Stuart Gray, 
Henry B. Higgins and George F. Hudson. 

The total number of membership from the organization up to the 
present time has been about 500. 

Two persons born in this town and in early life attendants of this 
church became missionaries in foreign lands. Rev. Herman N. 
Barnum. D. D., son of Daniel T. Barnum, a graduate of Amherst 
College and of Andover Theol. Seminary, who has labored at Harpoot, 
Turkey under the American Board for a number of years and is still 
laboring there, also Sarah Dales, a daughter of Rev. John B. Dales, 
D. D., once a member of this church, who went out under the auspices 
of the United Presbyteries to Egypt and subsequently married Rev. 
Dr. Lansing. 

There were Methodists in the town of Leicester at a very early day. 
They soon increased to such a number that a class was formed and in 
a few years the number was sufficient to warrant the formation of a 
church. No early records are in existence. The time when the first 
class was organized; the names of those who composed it; the name 



758 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of the class leader — all are gone. This class existed at least as early 
as 1820, for at the Conference of 1821 it was reported that Rochester, 
Moscow and Geneseo were made new charges. This presupposes the 
existence of those preliminary steps to the organization of a Methodist 
church — the development of the class. 

Lewis B. White eame from Rochester, New York, to Moscow in 
1825. There was a local preacher by the name of Lock residing here, 
a class leader, and there was another leader by the name of Bealey 
Ensign. In this year (1825) Peter Palmer and wife, Charles P. 
Conoley and wife, Gamaliel Jeckett and wife and others were con- 
nected with these classes. The old brick school house was used as a 
preaching place. Here their Sunday school was held. This society 
was organized May 3rd, 1829, with the title "THE FIRST SOCIETY 
OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH in the Village of 
Moscow, New York." The trustees elected were Lewis B. White, 
Gamaliel Jeckett, Peter Palmer, Charles P. Conoley, William Lyman. 

The contract for the present church building was immediately let 
to John Atwood and Peter Palmer and it was to be finished by January 
1st, 1830. The Rev. Loren Grant drew the plan for the church edifice. 
This society was connected with the Dansville circuit at first, and was 
then made a part of the Perry circuit. Afterwards, and as early as 
1839, it was connected with the old Covington circuit. The Confer- 
ence preachers sent during 1839 were the Revs. Richard L. Wait, E. 
J. Selleck and a Mr. Richman. In 1843 occurred the great division 
when the Wesleyan secession divided this society. The two sections 
were about equal numerically and financially. Those who separated 
organized a society and worshiped in the old academy for a little 
more than a year. 

The rebuilding of the old society and establisliing it on a firm basis 
and its subsequent success were largley due to the wise counsel and 
good management of the Rev. Richard Wright, so that in August 
1845 the report made by the Rev. David Fellows, preacher in charge 
of the Covington circuit gave Moscow a membership of eighty-one. 
The church has been thoroughly repaired twice. The first was in 
1848 and the second in 1873. At the latter over $1,300 was ex- 
pended. 

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH of Moscow was organized in 
1843, and its first pastor was Elder O. D. Taylor. A house of worship 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 759 

was erected the succeeding year. The church struggled along because 
of its lack of membership and financial strength for many years and 
the pulpit and pastorate were irregularly supplied. It was easier to 
get an occasional preacher than one to attend to the work outside of 
the church services although for long intervals these pulpit supplies 
were very infrequent. Intermittent services were kept up until about 
1874 or 1875. Since then they have been suspended and the old church 
building was sold to the Catholic church upon the organization of St. 
Thomas Aquinas Church in 1897. 

The history of the formation of St. Thomas Aquinas Church of 
Moscow is given in the following communication: 

On the 12tb of June, 1897, Rt. Rev. B. J. McQuaid informed the 
pastor of St. Patrick's Church of Mount Morris that the Catholics of 
Moscow, who for years had been yearning for a church of their own, 
must now be gratified. Previous to this time they had formed a part 
of the parish of ^Slount ^Morris. Father Day announced to his con- 
gregation on Sunday, the 13th of June, the Bishop's decision and re- 
quested the members from Moscow to appoint a committee to confer 
with him that week. The committee was accordingly appointed and 
met at St. Patri^ck's Rectory. The question of buying land on which 
to build a church was dismissed, when it was learned that the former 
Baptist Church property of Moscow, owned by Sarah C. Wemple, was 
for sale and could be purchased for a reasonable sum. Bishop 
McQuaid's assent to this proposition was obtained, and Father Day, 
John McMahon, and B. E. Brophel were appointed trustees with 
power to purchase. The property was purchased for $1200, and deeded 
on the Ifith of July to the congregation under the corporate title of 
Thomas Aquinas Church. A sanctuary was built and an altar, con- 
fessional, organ, vestments and the necessary furniture were supplied. 
The pews were taken up and replaced so as to leave a center and two 
side aisles. The interior was papered and painted. Fifteen feet were 
added to the tower, a steel roof put on and the exterior painted. 

The church was dedicated on the 19th of September of that year by 
Rt. Rev. B. J. McQuaid who also preached. Rev. E. Gefell sang the 
Mass and the choir of St. Patrick's Church of Mount Morris furnished 
music. Rev. James H. Day, who is still the pastor, was assisted from 
July, 1898 until November, 1899 by Rev. E. A. Rawlinson. B. E. 
Brophel is still one of the trustees, but John McMahon having moved 



760 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

to Mount Morris in I'Mtl, resigned as trustee and has been succeeded 
by Charles Welch. James McMahon has been and is still the faithful 
sexton. 



LIVONIA. 

The town of Livonia, on the eastern side of Livingston county, was 
formed from Pittstown, now Richmond, Ontario county, in 1808, and 
reduced to its present size in 1819, for the formation of Conesus. It 
is bounded north by Lima, east by Richinond, Ontario county, south 
by Conesus, and west by Geneseo. Its area is 22,811 acres, and its 
population in 1900 was 2,788. 

The northern part is undulating and the southern part somewhat 
hilly. The soil along the streams is a clayey loam, on the uplands a 
sandy and gravelly loam, and nearly all of a quality to produce good 
grain crops. A part of the town is underlaid with salt deposits. 

The outlet of Conesus lake runs along its northwestern section, the 
outlets of Hemlock and Canadice lakes its eastern section, and Kin- 
ney's creek is in the southern section. Hemlock lake enters the 
southern part of the town for about a mile, and Conesus lake lies along 
its western border. 

There are five villages and hamlets — Livonia, Livonia Centre, 
South Livonia, Hemlock Lake (formerly called Slab City) and Lake- 
ville. The largest of these is Livonia which had a population of 865 
in 1900. 

Jacksonville, at one time a promising hamlet, located on the outlet 
of Hemlock lake, a mile or so north of Slab City, has gone to decay. 
It contained at one time a grist-mill, distillery, cloth-dressing works, 
one store and several dwelling houses. The place was regularly laid 
out and the village lots duly numbered. 

The most of the early settlers were from New England, industrious 
and energetic. 

Solomon Woodruff, one of the first settlers, was born in South 
Farms, Connecticut, and came to Livonia in 1792, and settled on a 
farm one mile south of the Centre. His nearest neighbor at that time 
was Mr. Pitts, at the foot of Honeoye Lake. He purchased his farm 
of one hundred and fifty acres of General Fellows, a large land owner, 



762 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

at four shillings per acre. The first year he cut the timber on one 
and a half acres, and burnt the brush, and without removing the logs 
planted it to potatoes, and with the avails of this crop paid for his 
farm. With the help of a neighbor named Farnam he put up a log 
cabin on the clearing and returned to Connecticut in the fall. In 
February, 179.^, with his wife and two children, and his household 
effects on a sled drawn by a pair of three-year-old steers, he started 
back to his home in Livonia, and was twenty-six days on the journey 
to the house of George Goodwin, in what is now the town of Bristol, 
Ontario county, where his youngest child died, after wMiich event he 
and his family pursued their journey to Livonia only to find that his 
house had been burned in his absence by the Indians. He found a 
temporary home for his wife and child with Gideon Pitts while he 
proceeded to put up another cabin. The nearest grist mill was six 
miles east of Canandaigua, and to this Mr. Woodruff often went with 
his oxen and the grist on the yoke between them, as he had no wagon, 
and there was hardly a road for one. At this time the Indians were 
quite troublesome, and on one occasion when Mr. Woodruff was 
absent they came, to the number of thirty, and demanded the bark 
which covered the corncrib to make a covering for their huts, and 
upon being refused by Mrs. Woodruff, they came into the house, in- 
toxicated, and remained the entire night, threatening the lives of her- 
self and child, Austin. The next year, in the fall, a party of Indians 
came by Mr. Woodruff's, and one of them snatched up this same child 
and started off at full speed, but fortunately his course lay up a steep 
hill which somewhat arrested his flight. Luckily, a man who worked 
for Air. Woodruff' met him and relieved the child from its perilous 
situation. The next summer there was a great treaty held some 
place west of his house and eleven hundred Indians passed his place in 
Indian file and the train was over one mile in length. About the 
same time an Indian runner was sent out from Buft"alo to go to Can- 
andaigua, and reached Mr. Woodruff's house at three o'clock in the 
afternoon, seventy-five miles distant from Buffalo. He halted a few 
moments, took a drink of water, and started again, and reached Can- 
andaigua before sunset, a total distance of one hundred miles. When 
Sullivan's army passed near the foot of Hemlock Lake, they cut down 
an orchard of apple trees. They afterwards sprouted up, and Mr. 
Woodruff cut some and stuck them into a potato and planted them; 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 763 

one of these trees was standing until recently, a venerable relic of his 
labor, bearing the best of native winter fruit. 

Another son was born to Mr. Woodruff in 1794, and named Philip 
— the first white child born in the town; he became a lawyer of repute, 
and was twice elected assemblyman of the district. The year of his 
birth Mr. Woodruff opened his log house for a tavern, and this was 
the first tavern kept within the limits of Livonia. Among the guests 
whom he entertained there in those pioneer days was the future king 
of France, Louis Philippe. 

Peter Briggs and a Mr. Higby settled in Livonia in 1794; Philip 
Short, David Benton and John Wolcott in 1796 and 1798; Ruel and 
Jesse Blake, George Smith, Smith Henry, Nathan Woodruff and 
Thomas Grant about 1800. Nearly all of these were from Connecticut. 

Oliver Woodruff, brother of Solomon, followed him from Connecticut 
in 1803. locating on the sire of Livonia Centre. A number of families 
had then settled in the town, and finding that no religious services 
had been held in the locality, he invited them to come to the log 
schoolhouse on Sunday, and there read and expounded the Bible to 
them. Oliver Woodruff had served in the war of the Revolution, 
participated in the fighting at Ticonderoga, Long Island and Harlem 
Heights, and was taken prisoner by the British when they captured 
Fort Washington. They almost starved him, and when he was ex- 
changed at the end of three months he was emaciated and sick. 

George vSmith was born in Dorset, Vermont, on the third of March, 
1779, while his parents were moving from vScituate, Rhode Island, 
to the former state, in which they continued to reside until 1798. His 
ancestors were of Rhode Island. His father, Oziel vSmith, removed 
to Livonia, where he died in September, 1818, at the age of 78 years. 
His mother's maiden name was Margaret Walton. In the winter of 
1798, George engaged with Joel Roberts, of Lima, to drive a team of 
two yoke of oxen and a horse from Rutland, Vt., to the Genesee 
country, heavily loaded with plow irons, chains and other agricultural 
implements. The journey was made in twenty-four days. He re- 
mained in Lima until the spring of 1801, when he removed to Livonia 
with John Wolcott, to work at the carpenter and joiner trade, and 
millwright business. Their first job was the erection of the first 
framed house built in the town of Livonia. In 1803 he worked a 
season on the old court house now standing in Batavia, and in the fall 



764 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of the same year he erected a saw mill for the Holland Land Com- 
pany at the Oak Orchard falls, now Medina. At that time the Ridge 
road was not cut out. The nearest inhabited house stood on the old 
Oueenstown road, nine miles distant. In January, 18U7, he married 
vSally Woodruff. In the March following he commenced house-keep- 
ing in a log house on the farm on which he continued to reside until 
1871. On the formation of the town, Colonel Smith was elected as- 
sessor, and was elected supervisor in 1820, and several times there- 
after. He was appointed justice of the peace in 1S19, and held the 
office about eight years. Immediately after the declaration of war in 
1812, he was commissioned as Major in Colonel Peter Allen's Regi- 
ment of Militia, and was ordered to the Niagara frontier. The regi- 
ment was first quartered at Five Mile ^Meadows, and afterwards at 
Lewiston. When the order came on the 12th day of October to attack 
Queenstown, the r^Iajor was detached and ordered to take charge of 
the boats and transportation. After the repulse of the troops under 
"\''an Rensselaer, in the first movement. Major Mullany was ordered 
across with a hundred men. But the firing upon the boats in the 
first attempt had demoralized the boatmen and they ran away. The 
soldiers however supplied their places, though, lacking skill to manage 
the boats in the swift current, they were carried half a mile below the 
point of attack, and when they reached the shore were fired upon by 
the enemy, who left the heights and came down in such force as to 
make prisoners of the battalion with the exception of Major Mullany, 
Doctor Lawton of Philadelphia, and one other, who put off in a boat, 
and though exposed to a general fire from the British lines, they suc- 
ceeded in making good their escape, their boat so badly riddled on 
reaching the American side that it was in a sinking condition. Mean- 
time Captain, afterwards General, Wool was crossing the river with 
his forces, and stormed and took the heights. As soon as the Amer- 
ican forces had reached the other side, General Wadsworth with a 
small force under orders took boats for the purpose of supporting the 
movement, and to take command of the attacking party. He directed 
Smith to raise the Hag of his regiment, and to join his force. He 
promptly stt'pi)ed into one of the boats and unfurled the colors, though 
the enemy paid their respects to the party with a twenty-four pounder 
planted over the river. He had the honor of planting this flag on the 
British battery. Major Smith was sent out under Colonel, afterwards 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 765 

General, Winiield Scott to drive the Indians, who were firing upon the 
heights, from a piece of woods. On the return Major Smith passed 
an old soldier of the Revolution, then serving in Colonel Stranahan's 
regiment, who was trying to scalp an Indian. On being ordered to 
desist, he replied that it had cost him a great deal of trouble to kill 
the Indian, for they had been dodging each other's shots for some 
time, and insisted that he might be permitted to preserve some re- 
membrance of the red-skin. If not allowed the scalp he would content 
himself with the Indian's blanket, two good yards of blue broadcloth, 
and stripping it from the body of his fallen antagonist, he deftly 
thrust the prize into his knapsack. After the heights were retaken 
by the British and our tro-jps made prisoners, they were taken to Fort 
George, and at the end of a week were released on parole. Major 
Smith was a prisoner and was included in the parole. In 1817 he was 
appointed Colonel of the 94th Regiment of militia, and served two or 
three years in that capacity. On the organization of the county in 
1821, he was elected to the Assembly, being the first representative 
from the new county, and the last under the first constitution. In 
1824 he was re-elected to the Assembly having for a colleague 
George Hosmer, of Avon. 

He moved from Livonia to Rochester in 1871 and died there in 1873 
in the 95th year of his age. His son, Lewis E. Smith, became promi- 
nent as a lawyer, and was three times elected Member of Assembly 
from Livingston county, after which he moved to Rochester, where 
he is still residing at a very advanced age. Hon. Lewis E. Smith has 
contributed very valuable material to the early history of Livonia. 

The first frame house in town belonged to David Benton, and was 
built in 1801. The carpenter work was done by Colonel George and 
John Smith. The first saw mill was built by Mr. Higby in 1795, and 
the first grist mill by Seth Simmons the same year. Isaac Bishop 
was the pioneer merchant. The first distillery was built by Levi Ya.n 
Fossen in 1808, and the second in 1817 by Fred Davis. 

"A colony composed mainly of Eastern people, would not be long 
without a district school, and in the winter of 1798 and '9, a little log 
house at the Centre was opened for a winter term to the children and 
young people. Darius Peck was the teacher. The carpenter work 
was done by Colonel George Smith and John Wolcott. In 1803 Isaac 
Bishop opened a store and made an ashery. The heavy growth of 



766 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

forest trees and the dense underwood afforded favorable covers for 
wild game, wolves, and bears, too, were often seen; the depredations 
of the latter were quite annoying, and sheep, and even swine needed 
to be housed near the dwellings of the settlers. An incident of 1805, 
occurring on the farm of Mr. Richardson, near the site of South 
Livonia, is related. While chopping near his hog-pen early one morn- 
ing, Mr. Richardson heard an unusual disturbance in the inclosure. 
Slipping quickly to the pen he saw an enormous bear attempting to 
drag a large hog over the side. Lifting his a.\e he jumped into the 
pen. The bear dodged his blows, and he was obliged to call a fellow- 
workman before the hungry brute could be driven off and made to 
retreat into the rank weeds. With the aid of a neighbor a dead-fall 
was set for the bear. On visiting this trap the ne.xt morning the bait 
was gone, but the weight, in its fall, had caught the bear by one of its 
fore paws, which, in its struggles, had been torn off, and the victim 
got away mmus the paw. The Indians roamed over every portion of 
the town and have left visible traces in several parts of their 
occupancy." 

Another early settler of prominence was Leman Gibbs, who came 
with his parents, Eldad Gibbs and wife, in 1801. He was one of the 
protectors of the people as constable and deputy sheriff, and for 
thirty-five years was justice of the peace. Tc quote from Doty's 
history: 

"He served as Member of Assembly in 1854, and after the close of 
the session was appointed a commissioner to examine the public ac- 
counts. His practical good sense was shown in the report made by 
himself and his fellow commissioners, in which several incipient abuses 
were pointed out and checked by subsequent legislation. Judge 
Gibbs had a fondness for military matters. Entering the militia as a 
musician he passed through the several grades to that of Brigadier 
General, from which he resigned. While holding the rank of sergeant 
he was promoted above a superior. The jealousy of the latter led to 
a misunderstanding and finally to a challenge to fight a duel. Mutual 
friends stepped in and the difficulty was amicably settled." 

"The fondness of Judge Gibbs for music had made him proficient in 
the art, and he opened a singing school. The early settlers were ac- 
customed to introduce the popular songs of the day at the frequent 
social gatherings, and here Judge Gibbs was always foremost. His 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 767 

uncle, Jeremiah Riggs, was quite gifted in making impromptu couplets 
on some familiar theme, a verse of which he would 'line,' and Judge 
Gibbs was as apt in wedding them to music, and these improvised 
efforts were the source of special delight to the little assemblages 
The hospitable house of Eldad Gibbs was always open to new comers, 
and many were the good natured practical jokes played by the circle 
of young men who often gathered there, upon any pretentious night." 
At the first town meeting in 1808 held at the house of Solomon 
Woodruff the principal ofificers elected were: supervisor, Lyman Cook; 
town clerk, Theodore Hinman; assessors, George Smith, John 
AVarner, Matthew Hinman. The other officers are not now known, 
nor are the officers from that time to 1821, as the records were 
burned in 1S78. 

Some of the settlers who came a few years later were Robert Di.xon, 
who was elected supervisor ten times, Darius Jacques, whose son, 
Russell R. Jacques, was proprietor of the widely known Jacques'house 
on Hemlock lake for many years, Matthew Armstrong and Elias 
Chamberlain. 

John Bosley, who came about 1798, built a grist mill on the outlet 
of Conesus lake in 1800. It was twice destroyed by fire and twice re- 
built; the last time by Lucius F. Olmsted & Co., in 1835. Mr. Bosley 
purchased a tract of about 400 acres of the Wadsworths. Near his 
mill was Fort Hill, known as a spot where many Indian skeletons and 
relics were found. 

The first grist mill at Livonia Centre was built in 1816. It con- 
tained two runs of stone, and was built by Flavel Hunt, Orange Wood- 
ruff and Pliny Weller. The mill was purchased of them by Mr. Hin- 
man. The first miller was William Gilbert. The mill was destroyed 
by fire in after years. A saw-mill was built in 1817 on the creek 
about a quarter of a mile northeast of the Centre. The waters of the 
stream began to fail as lands were cleared and milling no longer paid, 
then it was abandoned. Hugh Lemon manufactured potash a few 
rods to the north of the grist mill in 1816 and continued in the busi- 
ness for a number of years. A tannery was carried on at the Centre 
north of the bridge as early as 1807. 

August Porter, surveyor for Phelps and Gorham, received from 
them the town of Livonia for his services, at the rate of a shilling an 



768 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

acre, and sold it for one shilling and six pence an acre, believing tliat 
he had made a good bargain. 

Quoting from Norman Seymour: "In 1810 Livonia had a population 
of 1,187, with seventy-two voters, and the manufacturers in that year 
produced 15,933 yards of cloth from sixty looms. There were 200 
families. In the year 1835 her population was 2,659. Its county tax 
was $754.58 and its town tax $711.41. The town then had three grist 
mills and three fulling mills. The number of yards fulled was 5,485. 
There were also two distilleries." 

The most picturesque part of Livonia is around the northern end of 
Hemlock Lake, with its bold, thickly wooded shores and banks. The 
lake is about seven miles long, averages 200 rods wide, and its pure 
waters are from sixty to eighty feet deep nearly the whole length. 
Since 1872 it has been the source of the city of Rochester's water 
supply. We quote from a paper un the subject by H. J. Wemett: 

"Hemlock lake has an altitude of nearly 900 feet, and the adjacent 
hills — Bald Hill and ]\Iarrowback — must reach nearly that distance 
above the surface of the lake. Of the fifteen miles of beach that sur- 
round the lake, less than two border on cultivated fields. For miles at 
a stretch the high water leaves not even a foot-path along its beach, 
while the high, thickly-wooded and nearly perpendicular hills above 
you, nearly as far as the eye can reach, seem only waiting an invita- 
tion to fall into the water." 

Early in the 19th century the lumber industry developed immensely 
in the country south of the lake, and the lumber or logs were conveyed 
down the lake by water in summer and over the ice in winter. In 
1826 a public road was constructed along the east shore, and now 
forms a romantic driveway. Before this, during the winter as many as 
200 lumber teams could often be seen at once on the ice. For many 
years much produce was taken from Livonia and Lima to the south- 
ern lumber camps in exchange for pine and hemlock boards and pianks 
and cedar posts. In the '70s, '80s and '905 many summer cottages 
were built along the west shore of the lake, and it became an outing 
place to which many resorted, but within the past four or five years, 
Rochester purchased the shore lands and cottages, and its brief history 
as a summer resort was ended. 

After Rochester appropriated the waters of the lake litigation by 
the millers on the streams below resulted in the practical purchase by 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 769 

the city of all of the mill property, in condemnation proceedings. 
Later the necessity of restricting the use of the shores of the lake led 
the city to appropriate an area of about two hundred deep feet of 
the shore line, at a very large expense. This resulted in converting 
the lake into a practical reservoir for the city, and its usefulness for 
other purposes ceased. 

A correspondent states that "the Christian Society of Lakeville is 
one of the oldest in Livonia, having been organized in 1818. The 
first membership was ten persons, and the Rev. Joseph Badger was 
the pastor in charge. The present building was erected in 1850. It 
was repaired and made modern during the pastorate of Rev. M. D. 
Syke, and re-dedicated November 23, 1902." 

The first Universalist Society was organized in 1831. The first 
trustees were Robert Adams, John Farrel and George Smith. The 
Mennonite Society was organized in 1827. 

The First Baptist church was organized in 1816. Its covenant and 
articles of faith were examined and approved by representatives of 
Baptist churches of Groveland, Bristol, Avon and Lima. It did not 
own a church building until 1833, when the present one was erected, 
but it has been remodeled since and much improved. The church was 
rigid in its early discipline. If a member was absent from the services 
a few Sabbaths he or she was waited upon by a committee and re- 
quired to give reasons for the absence, and sometimes to promise more 
faithful attendance. In 1824 Rev. P. L. Slocum, the pastor, was ex- 
cluded for unchristian conduct, his offense consisting of drinking too 
much cider when visiting his parishioners. During the pastorate of 
Rev. Thomas Beebe, revival meetings were held by the celebrated 
Elder Knapp, and these were followed by the addition of eighty-one new 
members to the church, nearly all by baptism, who were immersed in 
Conesus lake in January, a large opening having been cut in ice eigh- 
teen inches thick for that purpose. During the ceremony it was 
necessary to stir the water continually to keep it from freezing; yet 
it was said that none of the candidates took cold. The church has 
had twenty-three pastors. The longest pastorate was that of Mr. 
Marean, who remained twenty-eight years. Deacon William T. 
Lewis was church clerk thirty-five years. L. J. Chamberlin has been 
deacon forty-seven years. The present membership numbers 
ninety- five. 



770 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The first church in Livonia was organized by Rev. Aaron C. Collins 
in December, 1806, and was called the Second Congregational Church 
of Pittstown. In 1813 it took the name of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Livonia. The original meml)ers were Jeremiah Riggs, 
Aaron Childs, Selah- Stedman, Thankful Parsons, Lucy Childs, 
Dumeras Blake, Mary Stedman, Irene Clark, Benjamin Cook, Oliver 
Woodruff, Rachel Gibbs, Nancy Benton, Lydia Gibbs, Anna Wood- 
ruff, Sally Farrand, Sally and Rebecca Blake. George and vSally 
Smith sang in the choir. Religious sevices had been held in town 
before- in 1803-4 by Rev. John Rolph, and in 1804-5 by Rev. Mr. 
Lane, a Methodist preacher from England. For a long time the 
services of the First Society were held in school houses and for eight or 
nine years by Mr. Collins, who divided his ministerial work between 
Livonia and Richmond. It did not build a house of worship until 
1814, the year after it became Presbyterian. At this time the church 
numbered thirty members. It was without a pastor for some years 
after Mr. Collins left, and was supplied by neighboring ministers. 
The second pastor was Rev. Ebenezer Everett, in 1818, and the 
third, Rev. Ezekiel J. Chapman, who officiated from 1819 to 1827. 

St. Michael's (Catholic) church of Livonia had its beginning in 
1848, when several Catholic families settled in the town. Mass was 
celebrated that year in a cooper shop by Father O'Connor, and he 
made Livonia a charge, visiting it regularly. There were three other 
priests after him before Father Quigly, who, in 1855 and 1856, per- 
formed the duties for both that charge and Lima. In 1857 the 
membership was considerably increased, Father McGuire, became 
pastor, and a church building was erected. In the later '70's the 
church building was improved and a cemetery lot purchased under 
the guidance of Father T. C. Murphy. 

In June, 1884, the Conesus Lake Salt and Mining company was 
organized with a capital of $30,000, with Joel Stone as president. He 
died suddenly, his son Frank E. Stone took his place, and the manu- 
facture of salt in Livonia was commenced, but after the company's 
block was burned in 1887 the company was dissolved. In 1884 M. L. 
Townsend of New York sank a well just north of Livonia village, and 
at the depth of 1,221 feet found a bed 32^4 feet thick of pure rock salt. 
Another test well was put down south of the village in 1890, and at 
the depth of 1,335 feet a salt bed fifty-eight feet thick was struck. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 771 

Then a new salt company was formed, but the business was carried on 
at a loss and given up. 

Mr. Van Fossen's distillery, started in 1808, has been mentioned as 
the first in the county. Others were built a few years later, and at 
one time there were six whiskey distilleries in active operation in the 
town. "At that time" (in the "203), says H. D. Kingsbury, "every 
one drank. Ministers and deacons always kept their decanters well 
filled, and a religious visit was opened with a decorous dram. Twenty 
years later not a distillery was left, and the better part of the com- 
munity had discarded the drinking habit. To tell the causes that led 
to this great change would be an essay on the evolution of the moral 
sentiment. It seems astonishing that the best people were so long 
finding out that it was wrong to drink." 

Nearly sixty years ago, the Livonia town fair was organized, and 
for several years, successful exhibitions were held at Livonia Centre. 
A few years after its close, and before the war of the Rebellion, the 
people in the vicinity of Hemlock lake organized and held a fair on 
the Bowen lot on Clay St., near the village. 

At the beginning of the war in 1861 and until the year 1867 no fair 
was held. In that year the enterprise was re-organized and its build- 
ings were moved to the Short lot at Glenville, and continued holding 
annual exhibitions until Ackley and Hoppough fitted up a trotting 
course at the village of Hemlock when the society moved its sheds and 
buildings to these grounds. 

This year 1904 was the thirty-seventh consecutive year since its re- 
organization. The society has enlarged its grounds and built many 
new buildings. Some of the first old time presidents were Allen Syl- 
vester, S. T. Short, H. P. Hoppough, Samuel Bonner and Andrew 
Kuder. The society is in a flourishing condition. 

Livonia people were enthusiastic in their support of the LTnion dur- 
ing the Civil war, and sent a large number of volunteers to the front. 
To this end the town raised much money by taxation, but the records 
of its bounties are not to be found. Edward S. Gilbert became lieu- 
tenant colonel of the 25th New York \'oIunteers; Edward E. Sill, 
brevet lieutenant colonel, 136th New York Volunteers; Henry F. Sill, 
captain in the 27th Iowa Infantry; Justus F. McCoy, captain in First 
New York Dragoons; Charles H. Richmond, surgeon of 104th New 
York Volunteers; Adam Dixon, captain in 104th New York Volun- 



772 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



teers; Willard S. Chapin, captain in an Illinois regiment; Charles L. 
Peck, captain in the 136th New York \'olunteers; and there were also 
eight first lieutenants from Livonia. 

The list of supervisors of the town is as follows: 



Ichabod A. Holden 1821-22-23 

Ruel L. Blake 1824-25-26 

Robert Dixon 1827-28-29-30-31-32- 

33-34-54 

Augustus Gibbs 1835-38-39 

George Smith 1836-37-46 

Cliarles P. Pierce 1840 

Leuian Gibbs 1841-42-43-44-45-52 

Wni. S. Gilbert 1847-48 

Austin Woodruff 1849 

Charles L. Shepard 1850 

Henry Dixon 1851 

Samuel Northrop 1853 

Joel Stone 1855 

Wm. B. Lemen 1856 

Lewis E. Smith 1857-58-59 



Brad. J. Blake 1860-61-62-63-64-65 

\V. \V. Wheeler 1866-67 

David Gray 1868-69 

John Thurston 1870-71 

J. B. Patterson 1872-73-74-75 

S. G. Woodruff 1876-78 

Chas. H. Richmond 1877-79.80 

Buell D. Woodruff 1881-82 

A. N. Stewart i88',.H4 

M. K. Linsley 1885.80 

F. J. Coe 1887-88-89-90-91 

J. H. Adams 1892-93.94.95-96.97 

W. S. Trimmer 1898 

Elfred A. Bronson 1899-00.01-02 

E. B. Woodruff 1903 



Assessed valuations and ta.x rates have been as follows. 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valuation 


on $1000 




Valuation 


on Slooo 




Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


1,013,862 


6.86 


1875 


1,873,548 


6.51 


1890 


2,085,834 


6.23 


I86I 


1,030,297 


7.10 


1876 


1,8.59-757 


4.78 


1891 


2,164,650 


5-41 


1862 


995,630 


9.00 


1877 


1,773,093 


4-84 


1892 


2,020,597 


7.28 


i86s 


995 130 


9-73 


1878 


1,720,928 


4-43 


1893 


1,964,489 




1864 


1,015.307 


24.70 


1879 


1,906,023 


6.01 


1894 


1,977,275 


6.46 


1865 


963,611 


41.20 


1880 


1,895,5.50 


5-25 


1895 


1,911.570 


7.01 


1866 


924,580 


19.10 


1881 


1,888,224 


4-28 


1896 


1,963,763 


6-23 


1867 


964,386 


20.12 


1882 


1,992,343 




1897 


1,985,544 


5-97 


1868 


993.319 


16.14 


1883 


2,136,365 


5-83 


1898 


1,988,134 


6-23 


1869 


1,015,464 


9-25 


1884 


2,155,719 


4.98 


1899 


1,994,115 


7-05 


1870 


1,096,233 


12.74 


1885 


2,229,234 


4.61 


1900 


1,993.551 


6.29 


1871 


1,088,294 


11-54 


1886 


2,152,058 


4.98 


1901 


2,011,915 


5-51 


1872 


969,364 


15-07 


1887 


2,122,260 


5-35 


1902 


2,039,758 


4-13 


1873 


958,688 


11.69 


1888 


2,144,233 


6.40 


1903 


2,041,823 


. 4.51 
t C.2& 


1874 


T,893,798 


6.25 


1889 


2,123,591 


6.15 









The village of Livonia was incorporated June 28th, 1882. It has 
had but two presidents, Dr. Charles H. Richinond, who served from 
the beginning until l'J03 and Alexander N. Stewart, who served in 
1904. One clerk, Emory A. Smith, has served continuously from the 
beginning. 

THE CONESUS LAKE RAILROAD. 



In the month of May, 1870, L. C. Woodruff, of Buffalo Alonzo Bradner 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 773 

of Dansville, and George C. Northrop of Lakeville, went to New York 
on business pertaining to the Burns extension of the Erie and Genesee 
Valley railroad from Mr. Morris to Burns. After the Burns extension 
matter was talked over with Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, Mr. Northrop 
said to Jay Gould: "Why don't you build a branch of the Erie from 
Chapell's Crossing to Conesus lake?" Mr. Gould replied: "I never 
have thought of such a thing. Mr. Bradner, what do you know about 
Conesus lake?" Mr. Bradner said: "I think it would be a good thing 
for the Erie." Mr. Gould then said: "I will look into the matter. 
We need a place on the Rochester division for excursions." Mr. 
Northrop came home with the matter much at heart, and never let an 
opportunity slip to interest his townsmen in the value and importance 
of the undertaking. In the fall of 1874 he made a preliminary survey 
at his own expense, including a map, profile and estimate. Mr. 
Northrop then went to Rochester and circulated a petition, asking the 
Erie company to build the road from Trew's switch to Conesus lake. 
This switch had been put in at Chapell's Crossing the previous year 
and was named after A. R. Trew, at that time road master and 
engineer of the Rochester and Buffalo division of the Erie. This 
petition was signed by nearly 4,000 citizens and business men of Roch- 
ester. Mr. Northrop took the petition to New York and presented it 
to Mr. Jewett, then the Erie's president, who was most favorably 
impressed with the undertaking, but said as the Eric was about to 
pass into the hands of a receiver, he could do nothing then, but would 
do all he could as soon as the company came out of the hands of the 
receiver. Mr. Northrop came home to await events. His expenses, 
after making the survey, were paid by a series of social parties 
held in Lakeville and at Jerry Bolles's well-known summer re- 
sort. Nothing more was done 'till the spring of 1879, when the Erie 
officials in New York proposed, through Mr. Harris, to construct the 
road if the citizens of Lakeville would furnish the right of way. At 
a meeting held in the winter of 1872-3 to build a dock for Jerry Bolles's 
steamer, Jessie, the matter of a railroad was earnestly discussed, and 
the right of way was offered free by all the land owners except one, 
Mr. Chapell, who was not present. Subsequently these offers were 
withdrawn, and appraisers were selected, who assessed the dam- 
ages at about $2,000. Mr. Northrop and Jerry Bolles at once 
circulated a subscription, and the necessary amount was pledged, but 



774 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the Erie failed to respond and there was another halt. In the spring 
of 18.S() Dr. Nesbit of Avon bought in Buffalo the steamer Musette 
and brought it to Conesus lake, which event gave a new impetus to 
Lakeville and all its enterprises. J. E. Butterfield of this village says 
that competent engineers in Buffalo told him in the summer of 1888 
that the Musette was, at the time Dr. Nesbit bought her, the best 
built and the fastest steam yacht on the Niagara river. A new char- 
acter now appears on the scene — Col. J. A. McPherson of Avon — who 
at once became an important actor in all matters pertaining to the 
origin and development of several new enterprises, and the prmcipal 
mover in the railroad project. As an incentive to the Erie company, 
he proposed not only to give the right of way, but also to grade and 
furnish the ties, which proposal was informally accepted by the Erie 
company. Colonel McPherson was ably seconded by L. E. Post of 
Avon, who was at the time a clerk in the repair shops there. Colonel 
McPherson 's first interests were centered on the lake. He had 
bought, a year or two before, a sailboat, the "Lulu," the finest of its 
kind up to that time that had ever been placed on the lake. He at 
once rented Dr. Nesbit's ^Musette and ran it as a pleasure boat. He 
organized the Conesus Lake Transportation Company in 1882. The 
first meeting of the citizens to devise ways and means to comply with 
the new conditions on which the Erie company proposed to co-operate 
was held at the Lakeville Hotel, at which L. P. West, Jerry Bolles 
and F. ^I. Acker were appointed a committee, to which was soon 
added Thomas Armstrong as treasurer. Mr. West and Mr. Bolles 
circulated the first, and largest subscription. Other subscriptions 
were circulated. The interest became general, and all j)ulled 
together. J. C Davenport, at that time master of transportation 
at Avon, and William H. Griffith, in charge of the telegraph de- 
partment of the Rochester division, also of Avon, took an active in- 
terest and rendered substantial aid. The necessary amount, about 
$3,700, to grade and tie the road was raised, and L. E. Post went to 
New York to confer with the Erie officials, who told him the charter 
of the Buffalo, and New York, and Erie road from Corning to Attica, 
which they were operating under a lease, would not allow them to con- 
struct branch lines. They advised Mr. Post to tell the Lakeville peo- 
ple to organize a company and build the road; that they would fur- 
nish the iron and take a mortgage which could be foreclosed, and 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 775 

produce the same result as though they took the road bed as a gift 
and furnished the iron. The Erie's suggestion was at once adopted. 
A meeting was held at Avon, at which L. E. Post was named as pres- 
ident, J. C. Davenport, treasurer, and W. H. Griffith, secretary, and 
J. A. McPherson, L. P. West, F. M. Acker and H. J. Rowland 
directors. Under this organization the Conesus Lake railroad was 
built. The charter was dated May 10, 1882. For the iron they paid 
thirty-three dollars per ton — not steel rails but second hand iron rails. 
The mortage amounted to $7,777.50. The capital stock was placed at 
$20,000 — or 400 shares at fifty dollars per share. Of this, 375 shares 
were pledged to the Erie company as collateral security — and twenty- 
five shares retained for the management. The first excursion train 
passed over it to Lakeville, July 13, 1882. At this point a formal offer 
was made to the Erie company to take and operate it. This they de- 
clined to do, saying: "Nothing on your mortgage is due; we can't 
foreclose and we don't want to lease or run your road." Sure enough, 
the directors of the Conesus Lake road found that they had been dealing 
with older and wiser railroad men than they. As the mortgage was 
drawn, nothing e.Kcept the interest was to be paid in several years. 
The Erie evidentl)' saw that the builders and owners of the short line 
could develop its resources and capabilities quicker and better than 
they could. The Conesus lake folks saw they were in a corner with 
but one way of exit, namely, to run the road till such time as they 
could better themselves. April 29, 1882, eleven days before the rail- 
road charter was issued, the Lake Conesus Ice Company was organized 
with the same officers and directors as the Conesus Lake railroad. 
From the first, and always, the transportation of ice from the pure 
waters of the beautiful lake has been regarded as the greatest source of 
revenue likely to accrue to the freight receipts. So these men, with 
the two organizations on their hands, believing that the railroad bus- 
iness would not pay expenses, and that the ice business would yield a 
profit, and knowing that each one was indispensable to the other, con- 
cluded, in order to simplify the accounts and reduce the labor and ex- 
pense of keeping them, to enter the combined business on the books 
and in the interest of the ice company. The first necessity was a 
locomotive engine. The Erie had none to sell or to rent, and they 
bought one from a road in Pennsylvania, which cost $3,500. The road 
bed had little or no gravel, and the ties were poor in quality and de- 



776 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ficient in quantity. The joints of the rails were secured by the old- 
fashioned chairs, making a poor track, very wearing and straining to 
the one light engine. The balance sheet of the season of 1884, an 
average of the year's seasons, showed the receipts from all sources to 
be $1,070.44; total expenses, $1,915.53; leaving a deficit of $844. 8<). 
When the salt block got in operation in 1885 the balance sheet showed 
some improvement, but still had a ruinous balance on the wrong side. 
The burden of raising the money to keep up appearances and satisfy 
creditors fell entirely on three men — L. P. West, J. C. Davenport and 
Colonel McPherson. The latter gentleman had a still more unproduc- 
tive elephant on his hands. This was the Conesus Lake Transporta- 
tion Company, which ta.xed his resources to the utmost, and after 
building the depot at an expense of $400 and paying $500 on the loco- 
motive and his share of the first year's interest on the mortgage, he 
could do no more, leaving Mr. West and Mr. Davenport the entire 
burden from that time on. In the winter of 1882-3 the ice company 
built and filled a moderate sized ice house, which paid a moderate 
profit and that helped a little. In the winter of 1884-5 the Lake Con- 
esus Ice Company sold their ice interests to the Silver Lake Ice Com- 
pany for contracts and large expectations for freight transportation 
in the future, but little or no money. The season of 1886 was an im- 
provement on the preceding years. The salt block was in full blast, 
the great ice house had been built and partly filled, and the business 
was increasing on the little railroad of one and sixty one-hun- 
dredths miles. The time had come that the Erie company had looked 
forward to, and they were ready to make terms for the final transfer of 
the property to their management and ownership. Accordingly they 
invited the president, Mr. L. P. West, to a conference in New York, 
which resulted in their giving, for the old engine, and improvement 
and betterments to the property, after the date of the mortgage, a 
sum of money that reimbursed Mr. West, Mr. Davenport and Colonel 
McPherson about half of their cash advances. Much of their time and 
arduous labors remain a free gift to the public. Mr. West and Mr. 
Davenport each lost about $2,500. At the request of the Erie officials, 
Mr. West again accepted the presidency of the road which position he 
held after Mr. Post's resignation in 1882. The Conesus Lake rail- 
road was finally transferred to the N. Y., L. E. & W. R. R. in Febru- 
ary, 1886. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 777 



THE DISTILLERIES. 

The present Valley of Hemlock Lake was in early days known far 
and wide as Slab City. All that region was then heavily timbered, 
and one or more saw mills were its first manufacturing industries. It 
stood at the northern edge of the belt of country that produced the 
ever beautiful, evergreen family of trees, among which the pine and 
the hemlock were the leading members. Farmers and all sorts of 
builders from Livonia, Lima, Avon and all adjoining towns wanted 
all the good lumber the logs would make at remunerative prices, leav- 
ing a large surplus of slabs which could be had almost for the asking, 
and of these the first inhabitants of the saw-mill-ville constructed 
their temporary buildings to so large an extent, that the settlement 
took its name from their unique appearance. Of course, one of the 
indispensable wants of such a community was whiskey, and it would 
be a wilful suppression of facts if I did not add that some of their 
descendants have never entirely outgrown the old want. 

About 1808 an institution to supply the settlers of this thriving 
hamlet with the inspiring beverage was built by Levi Van Fossen, and 
by him operated during his life time, afterwards by Elizur Sweat- 
land, then by David Sweatland and by E. and A. Caldwell. The 
business was discontinued about the year 1850. This distillery was 
the oldest in the town, and it became so successful that in the year 
1827 Ichabod A. Holden built another a mile north of Slab City, at a 
thriving little settlement containing a grist mill, a fulling mill, a saw 
mill and a dry goods store; all of which he had created and made so 
prosperous, chiefly owing to the enterprise and push of their owner, 
that the place was called Holdenv'ille at first, and later was known as 
Jacksonville. So much business was done there that it was for many 
years a formidable rival of its neighboring city of Slabs. It had more 
than a score of houses, with blacksmith, cooper and shoe shops, and 
was quite a center of trade, with a good grain market. Many farmers 
are still living in town, who used to draw Mr. Holden's flour from the 
mill to Canandaigua and Pittsford for about three shillings per barrel. 
Today but one house or building of this once busy ville is left. The 
mills and even the dam are all gone, and like old Jerusalem "not one 
stone upon another is to be seen." 

As early as 1817 a whiskey distillery was built at South Livonia on 



778 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

what is now the Slattery farm near where the railroad crosses that 
farm by Fred Davis's. The establishment was run successfully by 
Fred Davis and by his brother Asa Davis, until the year 1822, when 
Alexander McDonald became the proprietor for the next six years. 
He then sold out to Selah Stedman, who operated it for a short time 
and then the business at that point ceased. A mill that did grinding 
was a part of the property. 

A whiskey distillery was established at Livonia Centre about 1818 
by Talcott Howard, afterwards operated for a time by Cyrus Wood- 
ruff and then by William R. Waldron, and still later by Tyrannus B. 
Ripley. There was a small mill attached that ground grain for dis- 
tilling, and grists for the early settlers. The mill and distillery were 
partially destroyed by fire in the year 1828. 

About the year 1820 Timothy Hyde built a carding machine near 
the road on what is now the Jerry Rolles farm. The power was 
derived from the small but never failing stream that rises in the well 
known elder grove near the top of the hill below Milton VanZandt's. 
A man by the name of Hart converted the carding machine building 
into a whiskey distillery, putting in a run of stone for grinding the 
grain, one or both of which may still be seen on Jerry's premises. Mr. 
Hart met a sudden death, dropping dead one day while feeding his 
hogs. Colonel Parks, the father of our old well known citizen H. N. 
Parks, succeeded i\Ir. Hart in the distillery business, his son H. N. 
assisting him, till for some good reason they sold the establishment to 
George Washington Durkee, who used the water power for wagon 
making purposes. The writer remembers the old pond and dam as 
late as 1842, but the building had disappeared. The little stream did 
its work over a twenty-two foot overshot water wheel. 

About the year 1828, William K. Green put appartus fur distilling 
whiskey in a large square log building standing on his farm just east 
of where Bradish's house now stands, between them and the lake 
road. It was in a convenient spot in the slight hollow, to receive 
water from the excellent spring that flows from the very southwest 
corner of James Armstrong's farm. This distillery was run by his son 
Frank Green, and then allowed to run down. Mr. Green's farm at 
that time comprised most of the farm James Armstrong now owns, 
with the addition of all the land directly west of Armstrong between 
the lake road and the east shore of the lake. Green sold the farm to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 779 

Luther Carter and he sold it in 1834 to Jonathan. Kingsbury. The 
writer of this well remembers crawling through a tumbled down door 
in the old distillery and looking at the big copper worm which was 
still there as late as 1855 or '56. 

John Armstrong related to the writer a few days ago his experience 
in Green's distillery, when he was a young man. I give it in his own 
words: "Father lived near, and I often helped Mr. Green in the still. 
Labor was cheap and I did not get much for the many days work I did. 
Whiskey was so plenty and cheap that any one was welcome to all he 
could drink. Before I was aware of it I had formed a habit of going 
every morning and taking a drink before breakfast. After a while 
Green stopped making whiskey, but my appetite did not stop and I 
went regularly to Lakeville for my drinks, a mile distant. One morning 
I was on my way and got to the four corners at the foot of the hill, 
half way there, when the thought came over me in a flash, 'What does 
this mean, that I must walk two miles every morning before breakfast 
to get a drink of whiskey. Am I a slave or am I not? If I keep this 
thing up I am a slave.' I stood a moment and then said to myself, 'I 
won't go another step, this morning or any other morning after 
whiskey.' I turned around and went home. That was the last of my 
drinking whiskey." 

Only sixty years ago there were six whiskey distilleries in active 
operation in the town of Livonia. At that time every one drank. 
Ministers and deacons always kept their decanters well filled, and a 
religious visit was opened with a decorous dram. Twenty years later 
not a distillery was left and the better part of the community had 
discarded the drinking habit. To tell the causes that led to this great 
change, would be an essay on the evolution of the moral sentiment. 
It seems astonishing that the best people were so long finding out 
that it was wrong to get drunk. 



OSSIAN. 

Tlie extreme southern town of the county is Ossian, wliich lies 
between Dansville and Nunda, of the southern tier of towns, and 
extends southward beyond them into Steuben county about three 
miles. Its area is 25,086 acres, and its population in 1900 was 780. 
It is bounded north by West Sparta, east by North Dansville and 
Dansville (the latter in Steuben county), south by Burns (Allegany 
county), west by Grove (Allegany county) and Nunda. 

Ossian was separated from Angelica in 1808, and remained a part 
of Allegany county until 1857, when it was annexed to Livingston 
county. 

It is a town of irregular hills, some of which rise 600 or 800 feet 
above the valleys. It was heavily timbered when the first settlers 
came, has been cleared slowly, and is now more of a lumbering district 
than any other section of the county. Nearly all the cleared land has 
been found tillable and more or less productive. The valley soil is 
a gravelly loam, and the hill soil a sandy loam, with some clay in the 
eastern part. Sugar creek flows through the town near the center, 
and Canaseraga creek across the southeast corner. 

There are two small villages or hamlets, Ossian Centre and Bisbee. 
The former is near the center of the town on Sugar creek, so called 
from the sugar maples that abounded along its banks. The creek's 
valley is very fertile, and has features of striking beauty. This has 
been the later lumber manufacturing center for a large territory. 
Ossian Centre has about forty scattered dwellings, with steam saw- 
mill, four or five stores and shops and two churches. Bisbee, in the 
northwestern part, is a smaller hamlet, also with mills, stores and 
shops, which was started in 1816. It was named from Luther Bisbee, 
a soldier of the Revolution, who built the first saw-mill there in 1819. 

The town of Ossian was one of the first tracts sold by Phelps and 
Gorham, and the west line is also part of the west line of their 
immense purchase. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 781 

The first settlers of Ossian were two brothers from New Jersey — 
Judge Richard W. Porter and James Porter, who arrived in 1804 and 
located on the present site of Ossian Centre. James Haynes and 
James Crogham came in 1806, and from 1807 to 1810 — mostly in the 
former or the following year — Jacob Clendennin, Frederick Covert, 
William Boyle, Samuel McCrea, Joshua Carpenter, Elijah Belknap, 
James Rooker, William Lemen, James Gregory, James Boylan, Orri- 
son Cleveland, William and John Gould and Heman Orton. Luther 
Bisbee was an early settler in the northwest corner of the town. 

The Ossian tract was sold early to Jeremiah Wadsworth, who sold 
it to Robert Troup, and from him the town was called Troupton for 
many years. Mr. Troup included it in the agency of James Wads- 
worth, and sales to first settlers were made under his auspices. In 
1807 Mr. Wadsworth advertised that he would exchange lands in 
Troupton for improved farms in New England, and in his advertise- 
ment stated that there was "an excellent wagon road from Geneseo 
through Sparta to Troupton," and that there was a road from Troup- 
ton to Angelica. 

The first child born was Abraham Porter in 1805; the first marriage 
that of John Gelson and Betsey Shay, in 1816; the first death that of 
John Turner, killed by the falling of a tree in 1807. The first school 
in the town was taught in 1813 and 1814 by a Mr. Weston. In 1817 
Oliver Stacey opened the first inn, and Daniel Canfield the first store 
in 1824. The first saw-mill was built by Nathaniel Porter in 1806 or 
the following year, and the first grist mill by John Smith in 1826. 
The first frame house was built by Phineas Howard in 1830. The 
first regular physician was Dr. Sholl. The first postmaster was James 
Porter. The first marriage was that of John Gilson to Betsy Shay in 
1816. The first merchant was Samuel Chapin. The first death on 
record was that of John Turner who was killed while chopping, by the 
fall of a tree in 1807. 

Hon. Isaac Hampton, who for many years was called by his North 
Dansville neighbors the "King of Ossian," died in 1896, contributed 
two papers to the Livingston County Historical Society which contain 
some interesting statements. He came to Ossian with his father's 
family from Canadice, Ontario county, in 1835 being then fifteen years 
old. He says that at that time no kind of timber was of any value, 
and several years afterward he assisted in logging and burning on the 



782 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ground good oak and pine timber simply for the purpose of clearing. 
Later the timber was sold in the tree for twenty-five cents a thousand 
feet. It was a relief to get rid of it at any price, as it made the clear- 
ing lighter. After the Erie canal was finished for several years the 
pine timber delivered in Dansville was about five dollars per thousand 
feet, but in the financial crash of 1847 good white pine lumber sold in 
Dansville for three dollars per thousand feet, half cash and half barter 
and pine shingles for 75 cents per thousand. Mr. Hampton remem- 
bered when ten saw-mills were run by water on Sugar creek, and two 
on Duncan run, and at that time it was not unusual to see ten to 
twenty teams a day from York, Leicester. Caledonia, Avon and Mt. 
Morris, there after lumber. 

In Mr. Hampton's paper of 1886 he said: "The most notable im- 
provement is the rapid pulling of pine stumps and putting them into 
fences. There are about ten stump-pulling machines in the town of 
Ossian of various kinds, and most of them are kept busy during most 
of the summer season. Many farms in town have been nearly doubled 
in value within the last few years by freeing them from their pine 
stumps. Before pine stumps can be pulled fifteen years must elapse 
from the time the tree was cut, and the fibres from the roots have 
rotted. By this time hemlock and hard wood stumps are so rotted 
that they can be removed without difficulty. Or they will burn as 
they stand. Freed from these the process of pulling the pine stumps 
begins. By a patent lever process, or by a screw machine worked by 
a horse the stump is removed and left for months to dry. Then the 
roots on one side are hewed away and the stumps are drawn together 
to build fences which are impassable to cattle and sheep." 

When i\Ir. Hampton came to Ossian in 1835, the bears and panthers 
had disappeared, but there were still many wolves in the forest. They 
came around his father's log barn in the night, and several times killed 
some of the neighbors' sheep, and they could hear them often in the 
night howling near the house. 

In the earlier years of the first settlers both bears and panthers were 
occasionally encountered. Indians were then numerous, but friendly. 
They came on hunting e.\peditions and gnce had a winter encamp- 
ment near Ossian Centre. Among them were Tall Chief, Yankee 
John and Laughing Molly. 

It is a curious historical incident that the ]\Iormon fanaticism got 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 783 

hold of the people in and around Bisbee in 1S62 to such an extent that 
twent)'-two of them left their homes for the IMormon center in Utah. 
Among these were Augustus Canfield and his daughter Lucy, and this 
daughter became one of the wives in Salt Lake City of John Young, 
the head of the church, and had two children by him. He repudiated 
her afterward, and she came back east in a repentant frame of mind, 
and publicly denounced ^Mormonism and her former polygamous hus- 
band. 

About one hundred Ossian residents enlisted to serve the Union in 
the war of the Rebellion, and a considerable number of them died in 
the service. The records of the town's connection with the war are 
very meagre. 

The first church started in Ossian Centre was f resbyterian. Rev. 
Robert Hubbard of Angelica assisted, by invitation, in organizing it 
in 1816. The first members were James Haynes, Mary Haynes, Wil- 
liam Boyles, Esther Boyles, Samuel McCray, Catherine W. Porter. 
Catherine N. Porter, Nancy Vorhees, John Shay, Jeremiah Flynn, 
Jonathan Haynes, John Haynes, Jane Haynes, Anna Conkright, 
John Ferine, Polly Perine, Jacob Clendennin, Lucy Hurlbut, Rhoda 
Clendennin. The first ruling elders, chosen in 1818. were Jacob 
Clendennin and James Haynes. 

A Methodist church was built about 1852, and Revs. Parker and 
Piersall were the first pastors. There was a Methodist organization 
at an early date, but the records are lost. A Presbyterian church was 
started in 1818, but it long ago ceased to have services. The last pas- 
tor was Rev. L. J. Bo.x. 

Isaac Hampton has been mentioned and quoted. For many years 
he was the leading man of the town. Beginning poor, he became the 
owner of 5000 acres of Ossian lands, and kept thousands of sheep. 
He was supervisor fourteen terms, and chairman of the board several 
terms. Once he was elected member of assembly, and for over twenty 
years he was postmaster at Ossian Centre. 

Corydon Hyde, who came in 1835 to Ossian from Livonia, where he 
was born, was another large landholder, having a farm of 581 acres. 

Other prominent residents of the middle period were Frank J. Bon- 
ner, Elias H. Geiger and William M.. White. Mr. White owned a 
farm of several hundred acres near Canaseraga, cultivated it many 
years, and finally moved to Utica, where he became one of the city's 



784 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



leading bankers. He served Ossian as supervisor a few terms. So 
did Mr. Bonner. Mr. Geiger became a master builder and contractor, 
and erected large buildings in Dansville and elsewhere. He also 
erected several steam saw mills for himself and Alonzo Bradner of 
Dansville, and became one of the largest lumber dealers in Livingston 
county. 

The supervisors of Ossian from 1808 are given below. It should be 
remembered that the town belonged to Allegany county until 1857 
when it was joined to Livingston county: 

William M. White 1860-73-74 

James Vorliees 1861-62 

Lewis C. Leinen 1875 

Nathaniel I'. Covert 1876-77 

Andrew McCurdv 1879-80 

I. F. Hampton..'. 1881-82 

F. J. Bonner 1883-84-89 

A. B. Dunn 1885-86 

James B. Hampton 1887-88 

F. F. Covert ,.1890 

Charles W. Denton 1891 

Zephar Fontaine 1892-93 

Isaac B. Knapp 1894-95-96-97 

W. R. Shay 1898 

Thayer H. Laniont 1899-00-01-02 

John M. Kennedy 1903 



Richard W. Porter 

1808-09-10-11-12-13-24-25-26-27-28-28 

Nathaniel W. Porter 1814-23 

Jacob Clendennin 1815-16-17-18-19-20 

Merritt Brown 1821-22 

Samuel Chapin 1826-32-33 

William R. Bennett 1830-31 

J.imes D. McCurdy 1S34-35 

Isaac H. Con^-aulus 1836-37-38-39-41 

Joshua Rathbone 1844 

James Lemen 1845-46-55 

A. J. Wood 1847-48 

Israel Canfield i849-53 

Isaac Ham pton 

1854-63-65-66-67-68-69-70-71-72-78 
.Samuel Porter 1856-57-58-59 



Assessed valuations and tax rates per $1000 have been as follows: 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Year 
1875 


Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Year 


Assessed 


Tax Rale 




Valuation 


on $1000 


Valuation 


on Siooo 


Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


323.395 


7.47 


658,598 


9-25 


1890 


519,300 


8.55 


1861 


327,470 


9.23 


1876 


625,135 


6.53 


1891 


540,750 


6.72 


1862 


322,816 


11.85 


1877 


619,991 


7.29 


1892 


572,051 


7-93 


1863 


316,169 


"•54 


1878 


584,240 


6.12 


1893 


562,703 




1864 


33«'.844 


21.40 


1879 


565,1.56 


6.23 


1894 


547,549 


6.74 


1865 


327,708 


46.60 


1880 


565,427 


7.90 


1895 


552,959 


7-64 


1866 


322,465 


25.00 


l88l 


570,781 


7.02 


1896 


551,892 


7.01 


1867 


330,714 


20.65 


1882 


573,464 




1897 


559,723 


7.85 


1868 


324,881 


17.44 


1883 


642,114 


6.34 


.1898 


562,315 


7.16 


1869 


333.318 


10.81 


1884 


650,367 


6.61 


1899 


563,285 


8.74 


1870 


334,983 


13-91 


1885 


662,248 


6.53 


1900 


564.442 


8.05 


1871 


340,381 


12.61 


1886 


599,403 


7-33 


1901 


568,734 


8.64 


1872 


342,324 


17-95 


1887 


598,214 


6.95 


1902 


571.036 


8.70 


1873 


344,113 


13-56 


1888 


592.754 


6.62 


1903 


564,111 


9.14 


1874 


636,975 


7-94 


1889 


581,535 


9.00 









MT. MORRIS. 

Mount Morris, on the western border of the county, is one of the larger 
towns, with one of the largest three villages. It is bounded north bv 
Leicester, east by Groveland and West Sparta, south by Nunda and 
Portage, and west by Castile, Wyoming county. It was formed from 
Leicester in April, 1S18. Its area is 28,545 acres, and its population 
in 1900 was 3,715. 

To quote from Doty's history : "Its surface is greatly diversified. 
On the eastward between Canaseraga creek and the foot of the table 
lands spreads a broad alluvial plain of unsurpassed fertility, two miles 
in width. The ground then rises abruptly to the first terrace. 
Stretching riverward with a uniform grade the western border attains 
an altitude of several hundred feet above the flats. The territory of 
the town is singularly free of waste lands, as scarce an acre can be 
found that is not under cutlivation or capable of a high degree of cul- 
ture. The farms are to an exceptionally large extent the property of 
actual occupants, and the farm houses and buildings, which exceed in 
number those of any other town in the county, rate above the average 
in quality, a fair index of the thrift and comfort that generally 
abound. Nature, too, has bestowed her favors liberally. The scenery 
from every point of the extended plateau is rich and varied, a vast 
park-like landscape picturesque in its highlands and bottoms, and 
diversified by the winding river and sinuous creek. The uplands 
bordering the flats in the neighborhood of the river were a favorite 
haunt of the Indians, and also of the tort-builders. Though the prin- 
cipal villages of the Senecas in later times were located on the western 
side of the Genesee, yet there was a considerable town known as Big 
Kettle's village near the present village of Mt. Morris." 

The town is underlaid by the rocks of the Chemung and Portage 
groups, which are deeply covered in many parts by alluvion and drift. 
While the flats are remarkably fertile some of the uplands are hard 
and comparatively unproductive. Kashaqua creek enters the town 
near the center of the south border, flows northeasterly across its 



786 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

southeast section, leaves near the center of the east border, but again 
enters and flows through it a short distance near its confluence with 
Canaseraga creek. 

Mount Morris village takes its name from the town, and is the second 
village in the county in population, which in 1900 was 2,410. It is 
picturesquely situated on the margin of the high terrace which over- 
looks the broad fiats of the river and confluent streams. Four rail- 
roads enter the village — the Erie, the Dansville and Mt. ^lorris, the 
Pennsylvania and the Lackawanna. It is about twelve miles from 
Dansville and six from Geneseo. Squakie Hill in Leicester is one 
mile north. The village site was first called Allen's Hill, then Rich- 
mond Hill, and last Mt. Morris. 

Tuscarora is a hamlet in the southeastern part of the town, with 
two churches, and some mills and shops. Other hamlets are Ridge 
and Brooks Grove. 

The first white settler in Mt. Morris, though identified from child- 
hood till death with the Indian race, was Mary Jemison, known as 
"the white woman," much of her life being spent on the Gardeau flats, 
a part of her reservation by the Big Tree treaty, and located in Mt. 
Morris and Castile. 

Ebenezer Allen, of unsavory fame, came ne.\t, but did not stay very 
long. He settled near Mt. Morris in 1785, having fled there from his 
New Jersey home,- where he was detested by his neighbors as a man of 
bad character and one of the tories of the Revolution. He was cun- 
ning as well as wicked. In 1741 he induced the Senecas to give to 
him in trust for his two daughters a deed of four miles square 
of land, including the site of Mt. Morris, he to have the care of it 
until his daughters were married or became of age. It contained 
10,240 acres, and the deed was signed by sixteen Indian chiefs, and 
witnessed by Ebenezer Bowman, Joseph Smith, Jasper Parrish, Hora- 
tio Jones, Jacob Hart, and three Indians. It was sealed by Timothy 
Pickering, United States Commissioner "for holding a treaty with 
the Six Nations of Indians. " In 1793 Allen sold this tract to Robert 
Morris of Philadelphia, from whom the town and village are now 
named. Dr. M. H. Mills said in his centennial address of 1894 that 
Morris must have known that Allen did not possess the legal right to 
make the sale. "He evidently ran the risk," said Dr. Mills, "to 
extinguish the title of the heirs of the Mt. Morris tract, which he ac- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 787 

complished four years later in the treat)' of Big Tree." Allen 
took his pay in dry goods, built a storehouse and opened a trad- 
ing post at Mt. Morris, remaining there until 1797, and then going 
to Canada. Morris assigned his title to the tract to the Bank of 
North America as collateral security for advances and loans, and 
this led to its survey in 1806 by Stephen Rogers, when it was 
called the Mt. Morris tract, and described as lying in the town of 
Leicester, in the county of Genesee. The bank sold seven-eighths of 
it in 1807 to John R. Murray, William Ogden and John Trumbull of 
New York City, James Wadsworth of Geneseo, and their wives, of 
whom each, including the Bank of North America, then owned an 
undivided one-eighth. In 1810 these proprietors made a partition of 
the land lying south of the Genesee river, except the public square in 
Mt. Morris. 

Quoting from Dr. Mills' centennial address: "From 1794 to 1810 
very few permanent white settlers located in Mt. Morris; Indian 
occupancy and the prevalence of ague and Genesee fever prevented. 
Among them were Jonathan Harris, Clark Cleveland, Isaac Baldwin, 
Adam Holtslander, Simeon Kittle, Louis Mills, (rrice Holland, Bene- 
dict Satterly, Isaac Powell, William McNair and family. Adam 
Holtslander made and furnished the rails for fencing the original 
enclosures in and around Mt. Morris for many years, e.'icelling the 
lamented Lincoln in that business; was on the frontier in the war of 
1812-15. * * * From 1810 to 1820 settlers locating in Mt. Morris 
were Elisba Parmelee, the Hopkinses, the Baldwins, Adino Bailey, 
Phineas Lake, David A. Miller, Allen Ayrault, Riley Scoville, Vincent 
Cothrell, Eli Lake, the Stanleys, the Beaches, Rev. Elihu Mason, James 
Hosmer, John Starkweather, George Green, Asa Woodford, Dr. 
Abram Camp, Col. Demon, Richard Allen, Samuel Seymour and 
others." 

Mark Hopkins was the first land agent for the Mt. Morris tract. 
He came to Mt. Morris with his father, Samuel Hopkins, and the 
Stanleys in 1811. He relinquished the agency in 1817 and moved to 
Ohio, where he was "honored and respected" until he died. 

The first permanent white settler of Mt. Morris was William A. 
Mills, son of Rev. Samuel J. Mills, the pioneer preacher of the Gen- 
esee Valley, who came in 1793, preached at Williamsburg, and con- 
ducted the first religious services held in Mt. Morris. His son 



788 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

William A. took up his abode in Mt. Morris in 1794 on the site of the 
future village, and kept bachelor's hall in a small cabin, renting some 
of the flat lands for cultivation, and putting up a block house. Deacon 
Jesse Stanley and family came with several others about 1811. 

Others who came about this time, a number of them with families, 
were Oliver and Luman Stanley, Dr. Jonathan Beach, father of nine 
sons and two daughters, Russell vSheldon, Isaac Seymour, Sterling 
Case, and a little later William Begole, John Cowding, Adino Bailey, 
Riley Scoville, Allen, Orrin and Horace Miller. Samuel Learned, 
Chester Foote, John C. Jones, David Sanger, Horatio Reed, John 
Brown, Samuel Rankins, Eli and Phineas Lake, James B. Mower, 
John C. Jones, William Lemmon, Asa Woodford. David H. Pearson, 
Richard W. Gates, Dr. Charles Bingham, Joseph Thompson, Vincent 
Cothrell. . 

About the time the most of these settlers came, there were nearly 
a hundred Indians at Squakie Hill. Dr. M. H. Mills has explained the 
origin of this name. In remote times the Senecas carried their con- 
quests to the Mississippi river, and from Illinois brought prisoners of 
the Sac and Fox Indians. At a council they decided, contrary to cus- 
tom, to spare their lives, and located them on the hill in question, and 
called them Squakie-haw Indians; hence the name. Squakie Hill, by 
the treaty of Big Tree in 1707, was included in an Indian reservation 
of two square miles. 

Rev. John B. Hudson, the pioneer Methodist preacher, in an ac- 
count which he wrote of his travels, in the Genesee country about 1804, 
said: "Next day I came to what is now called Mt. Morris. It was 
then called Allen's Hill. Here I found a number of small houses newly 
raised, and timber not much cleared except where they stood. This 
'was then the most advanced settlement up the Genesee river till you 
reached Angelica, between which places none others were then in ex- 
istence. The Mt. Morris settlers had partially cultivated the rich 
flats, which produced corn and hemp in abundance, and but little or 
no attention was paid to religion or moral duties. Their nearest mar- 
ket was Albany, which they could reach only by land traveling with 
teams or on horseback." 

A description of the village in 1813 mentions a school house with 
"mutilated seats and dingy walls," a brick store, an old brick house 
"into which all the inhabitants fled on one occasion the year before 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 789 

for fear of a coming army of British and Indians," a Presbyterian 
church, four frame dwellings, and twenty-two log houses, all on two 
streets. Frank Condery has stated that in 1817 the villagt- had a 
tavern, a few mechanics' shops, and a small store kept by Allen 
Ayrault. 

The first frame dwelling house was put up in 1810 for General Mills 
by George Smith and John Rnnyan, and the next year they con- 
structed for Mark Hopkins a carding machine and a hemp factory on 
the ravine running to Damonsville. Afterwards they built two log 
distilleries for General Mills. The first grist mill in town was built in 
ISIU, and was on the Damonsville ravine. It had but one run of 
stone. In 1818 a grist mill four stories high was erected on the same 
stream. 

A great deal has been written about Mary Jemison who lived on the 
Gardeau flats fifty-two of the seventy-eight years that she was identi- 
fied with Indian life. She was born on the ocean in 1742, and cap- 
tured by Shawnee Indians and Frenchmen, with her parents and their 
two other children and a soldier's wife and two children, at their 
home on the Pennsylvania frontier. All were murdered except Mary 
and a boy. She was then thirteen years old. She was taken to Fort 
DuQuesne (Pittsburg) and here was adopted by two Seneca women. 
Two or three years afterwards she married a Delaware Indian, and by 
him she had two children. In 1859 she went w'lth her foster sisters to 
Beardstown on the Genesee, making the journey of 600 miles on foot 
with the boy, nine months old, on her back. She did not again see 
her husband, who died on the Ohio. In 1763 she was offered her free- 
dom, but chose to remain with the Indians. vShe married a Seneca 
chief for a second husband and had several more children. She went 
with the Senecas to Niagara when they fled from Sullivan's army in 
1779, but soon returned to the Genesee, made her way up the river to 
the Gardeau flats, and lived there until 1831, when she had become 
wealthy. By the treaty of Big Tree in 1797 a tract of nearly 18,000 
acres including the Gardeau flats was secured to her in perpetuity. 
She adhered to Indian costumes and habits until she died, and was 
highly esteemed by both Indians and whites. Her second husband 
had streaks of cruelty, and some of his children by her were like him, 
and caused her much trouble. Her sons Thomas and Jesse were mur- 
dered by another son named John. She sold some of her lands in 



790 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

1822-23, and the remainder in 1831, ^vhen she moved to the Buffalo 
Reservation, and died there in 1833. She was a kind, hospitable and 
sensible woman and her influence over the Senecas was great. 

We give L. L. Doty's account of Indian Allen, heretofore mentioned: 
"Ebenezer Allen settled first near Mt. Morris in 1785. His career, 
the more notable portion of which is associated with the town, forms 
a curious episode in early annals. He was one of those daring char- 
acters, without conscience or patriotism, who thrive best in troublous 
times. A native of New Jersey he took the tory side in the Revolu- 
tion, and was forced to quit his home, finding an asylum toward the 
close of the struggle among the Indians along the Genesee, where he 
worked Mary Jemison's land until the return of peace. He defeated 
soon after, by a characteristic trick, a plan of the frontier Indians 
and British to renew the border troubles. He was treacherous to the 
Indians, and they pursued him for months, but he eluded their 
clutches by hiding in the woods and fastnesses. When pursuit ceased, 
Allen settled down near Mt. Morris. The following spring he pur- 
chased at Philadelphia a boat-load of goods, which were brought to 
Mt. Morris by way of Cohocton, and bartered for ginseng and furs. 
After harvesting a large crop of corn and wheat he took up a farm 
near Scottsville at the mouth of a creek that bears his name. The 
next season Phelps and Gorham gave him a hundred acres of land on 
the west side of the river where Rochester now stands, in considera- 
tion that he would build a grist and sawmill there. In 1791 he asked 
the Senecas to grant a portion of the Genesee flats to his daughters 
Mary and Chloe, born of his Indian wife Kycudanent or Sally. The 
Indians disliked him, and showed no haste to comply, but he made 
a feast at which more whiskey than meat was served, and thus secured 
a deed of four square miles, including the site of Mt. Morris, wliich 
took the name of Allen's Hill, and the adjacent flats to the east. 
Thither he returned in the summer of 1792, built a house and planted 
a crop. Agriculture alone did not suffice him, and he prepared to add 
a storehouse to his log mansion. Tiie Indians warned him that 
timber collected for such a purpose would go into the Genesee. He 
persisted, however, and the vSenecas, when all was got together, headed 
by Jim Washington and Kennedy took the timber, carried it to the 
river and threw it in and saw it float away. But Allen got out more, 
built a sawmill at Gibsonville to supply lumber, and erected a store- 



'HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 791 

house where Judge Hastings' residence now stands. By this time he 
had taken several wives, red, black and white, and scarcely had he 
settled in his new quarters before another, Millie Gregory, was added 
to his rude harem. 

"As settlers increased Allen grew uneasy, and in 1797 Governor 
Simcoe of Canada having granted him lands on the Thames river, he 
removed thither after selling the tract on the Genesee to Robert 
Morris, who changed the name to Mt. Morris. Allen's life closed in 
1814, in Canada, after a checkered career. Many crimes, most of 
which grew out of his sensual nature, have been imputed to Allen, and 
appear to rest upon creditable authority. His moral character cer- 
tainly appears to great disadvantage. 'He murdered those for whom 
he professed most friendship, and out of sheer love of blood, would 
beat out the brains of infants when on the war-path. ' Altogether he 
holds a most unenviable place in pioneer annals." 

The first permanent settler of the town, William A. Mills — who was 
called General Mills because he became a major general in the state 
militia — was the opposite of Allen, the first comer, in character and 
reputation. He has been mentioned before as the son of the pioneer 
preacher, a Presbyterian minister at Williamsburg. They came from 
Connecticut, and young Mills was only seventeen years old when he 
went to Mt. Morris in 1794 and put up a cabin on the high lands at the 
north end of the present village. Here he kept bachelor's hall several 
years, while cultivating the flats and the Indians, and learning the 
Seneca language, which he soon spoke fluently. He gained the 
entire confidence of his red neighbors, and became their counselor and 
arbitrator. Among his particular friends were Tall Chief and Red 
Jacket, and also Mary Jemison, who lived five miles from his cabin. 
The Indians called him Sa-nen-ge-wa, meaning generous. He never 
deceived or cheated them, never lost their confidence, and was known 
as, the Indian's friend. When he arrived Allen had gone to Beards- 
town, and was living there with the Indians. General Mills built the 
first house erected by a white man in the village. It was a block 
house, made by flatting sticks of timber on both sides for the walls, 
and was roofed with staves split from oak logs. After svards he con- 
structed a substantial log house on the hill, and in 1803 took to it a wife 
who had been Miss Susan H. Harris of Tioga Point, Pa. There 
they lived very happily and had several children, not moving from it 



792 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

until 1833, when they occupied a large brick house that had been con- 
structed for them. To his farming he added distilling, prospered and 
bought much land both on the flats and uplands, so that when he died 
he owned about 8iJ0 acres of the most prtjductive land in the valley. 
Doty's history says: "He was the first justice of the peace, and 
supervisor of the town of Mt. Morris for twenty years in succession. 
He was prominently connected with all the measures of public utility 
which affected this section, and especially his locality, from the time 
he settled in Mt. Morris in 1794 to the time of his death in 1844. He 
was one of the commissioners to petition the Legislature to authorize 
the construction of a dam across the Genesee river at Mt. Morris and 
to excavate a canal or race from the river to the village, a distance of 
a mile. This enterprise secured to the village of Mt. Morris a good 
water-power which materially aided the growth and prosperity of the 
place, and is today of great value to the village. Previous to this 
the nearest grist mill was twenty miles distant, at which place the 
grinding for his distillery was done. General Mills organized the first 
militia company in Livingston county, and was elected captain. In 
the war of 1812 he went to the frontier, where he remained until the 
war closed, rendering his country valuable service. He was a helper 
financially of the early settlers, loaning them money to pay for their 
land, and never pressing them when they could not well return it. 
In the militia he rose to the rank of major general and some of the 
leading men of Western New York were at times on his staff. His 
military district comprised Allegany, Livingston, Genesee, Wyoming, 
Monroe, Ontario and Steuben counties. His residence in Mt. Morris 
extended through half a century, and he died there in 1844. "He 
was a man of many virtues," says Doty. 

The youngest son of General !Mills was Dr. Myron H. Mills, to 
whose intelligence and public spirit the later Mt. Morris is much 
indebted. He was born there in 1820, and graduated as pHysician and 
surgeon from the Geneva medical college in 1844. When war was 
declared against Mexico in 184d he joined the army as assistant sur- 
geon and was promoted for his ability and professional skill to be the 
head of the medical and surgical departments. After an absence of 
three years he returned to !Mt. ^Morris and was closely identified with 
its interests until his death a few years ago. It w-as Dr. Mills who 
inaugurated the movement and matured the plans for the Mt. Morris 




Memorial Monument to Dr. M. H. Mills. Presented to the Village of Mount 
Morris by Mrs. Dr. Mills &nd her Daujfhters. 



& 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 793 

waterworks, which were constructed in 1879, and since then have sup- 
plied the village w-ith an abundance of pure water for both domestic 
and fire-quenching purposes. In various other ways he was of much 
service to his town and county. He became learned in Indian tra- 
ditions and pioneer history, and wrote valuable papers about them, as 
well as other subjects, and was often called upon to deliver addresses 
at public gatherings. His death was felt to be a serious loss by the 

community in which he had spent nearly all his life. 

Samuel Hopkins came to Mt. ^lorris in 1809, and settled on a farm 
in the southern part of the present village. He was from Connecticut, 
belonged to a family prominent in Connecticut history, and was near 
of kin to his namesake, Samuel Hopkins, one of the great theologians 
of the early times, and brother of Lemuel Hopkins, an eminent phy- 
sician and poet. He was a kind, generous and estimable man, and a 
great reader of solid literature, including the philosophies of Locke, 
Hume and Edwards. He also had mechanical and inventive skill, and 
was the inventor of the whole tire for wagons. His son Mark, who 
has been mentioned as the first land agent, came to Mt. ^Morris with 
him. His brother, Samuel Miles Hopkins, who began his career as a 
lawyer in New York, purchased the interest of the Bank of North 
America in the j\It. ^Morris tract and three-fourths of the original 
grant to Jones and Smith, embracing the land, on which he located 
the village in 1814, while he was representative in Congress. 

Jesse Stanley came from Connecticut with Samuel Hopkins. He 
was an earnest Presbyterian, with the missionary spirit, and was 
perhaps more active and influential in religious matters for some 
years than any of his neighbors. He took the lead in the organization 
of the Presbyterian society, and was its leading member for many 
years. Nor did he lag behind in more worldly matters. He caused 
the public square to be grubbed and cleared up, and was active in the 
movement which gave the village a dam and mill race. One of the 
^It. Morris streets lakes its name from him. 

Micah Brooks and Jellis Clute in 1822 purchased of Mary Jamison 
a portion of her reservation six miles long north and south and about 
four miles wide on the south boundary. Micah Brooks established 
his residence at Brooks Grove near the center of the tract, and super- 
intended the sale and settlement of a large part of the purchase. He 
was a resolute and public spirited man, and did what he could to aid 



794 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

in the progress of the Genesee country. His father was the Rev. 
David Brooks, a graduate of Yale college, and an influential New 
England clergyman. The son taught school and learned surveying, 
and in 1800 was appointed to assist in laying out the roads from 
Canandaigua to Olean and from Hornellsville to the Genesee river. 
He became a member of the legislature iii 1809, served in the war of 
1812 and reached the rank of major general, and was elected to Con- 
gress in 1814, when he represented all the state west of Cayuga bridge. 
In Congress he was instrumental in pushing through both houses a 
bill providing for the help of the general government in constructing 
the Erie canal, but was vetoed by President Madison. It was through 
his efforts in Congress that the first government mail service through 
Rochester was established. 

Another prominent citizen, was Norman Seymour. He was also a 
historical investigator and able writer, and accumulated a mass of 
valuable material for a history of Livingston county, which he in- 
tended to write, when sickness and death prevented. Mr. Seymour 
was in the hardware business in the village a quarter of a century, 
and his recreation was in gathering and delving among the scat- 
tered records of the Genesee Valley's past. He, like Dr. Mills, was 
an interesting speaker and often heard at public meetings. A more 
extended sketch of both of these gentlemen appears elsewhere in this 
volume. 

The first president of Mt. Morris village after its incorporation in 
1835 was Colonel Reuben Sleeper. He was also one of the first direc- 
tors of its first bank, organized in 1853, and later was its president for 
many years. He came from Onondaga county in 1823, and with 
Abner Dean opened a store which for some years was the only store in 
town. He was one of the first Abolitionists, and kept a way station 
of the "underground railroad" for fugitive slaves. His strong char- 
acter and solid judgment were recognized by all his acquaintances. 

At the first town meeting of Mt. Morris in 1819, the following were 
elected: supervisor, William A. Mills; town clerk, Horatio Reed; 
assessors, Allen Ayrault, Jesse Stanley, Aaron Adams; overseers of 
the poor, Allen Ayrault, Oliver Stanley; commissioners of highways, 
Samuel Learned, Phineas Lake, Samuel Rankins; commissioners of 
common schools, Horatio Reed, Aaron Adams, James B. Mower; con- 
stable and collector, John Brown; fence viewers Phineas Lake, Amos 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 795 

Baldwin, Wm. A. Mills, James H. McNair. Aaron Adams, John C. 
Jones, Wm. Lemmon; road masters, Ebenezer Damon, Asa Wood- 
ford, John Sanford, David H. Pearson, Sterling Case; inspectors of 
common schools, Abraham Camp, James H. McNair, Richard W. 
Gates, Eli Lake; pound keeper, Enos Baldwin. The meeting re- 
stricted the running at large of cattle and other stock, and imposed 
a penalty of five dollars upon any person who knowingly allowed 
Canada thistles to go to seed on his premises. 

The first Presbyterian church of Mt. Morris was organized in 1841 
with fourteen members. The first minister was Stephen M. Wheelock, 
a licentiate, who remained three years after the organization. All 
the pastorates have been brief except the very long ona of Rev. Levi 
Parsons, who was installed in 1856, and was pastor from that time until 
his death in 1901— a period of forty-five years. There was a vSunday 
school connected with the church as early as 1814, and it was perma- 
nently organized in 1817. It was the result of the labors of Mrs. Oliver 
Stanley and Miss Emily Stanley. Among the pupils were a number 
of Indian children. Allen Ayrault was superintendent in 1818. The 
church services were held in a school house on what was then an open 
square until January, 1832, when the first church building, located on 
the north side of the square, was dedicated. In 1841 it was moved 
twenty rods south and enlarged. In 1852 it was destroyed by fire, and 
the present brick building was erected in 1854. 

The first Methodist minister who preached in Mt. Morris was Rev. 
J. B. Hudson, who came from Allegany county in 1804, and wrote 
that he "saw no signs of civilization on the way.'" He found a few 
Methodists at Allen's Hill (Mt Morris) and made it one of the preach- 
ing places of his circuit. In 1822 a Alethodist society was organized 
with thirteen members. The worship was in school houses until 1833, 
when a building was completed, and a stirring revival followed its 
dedication under the pastoral ministrations of Rev. J. Lent. The 
society purchased the Episcopal edifice in 1856, and ten years after, 
ward expended $4,500 in repairing and improving it. In 1878 the 
membership was greatly increased in consequence of a series of suc- 
cessful revival meetings conducted by Rev. E. E. Davidson. The 
church is now in a flourishing condition. 

St. John's Church of Mt. Morris (Episcopal) was incorporated in 
1833. Rev. Thomas Meacham of Hunt's Hollow had been holding 



7% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

occasional services in the place, and accepted the invitation to become 
St. John's first resident rector, coming in March 1S34. A house of 
worship was completed abmit that time. In 1.S54 it became necessary 
to have a larger church to accommodate the growing congregation, 
and after some negotiations and delay, a beautiful new edifice was 
built, and was consecrated by Bishop DeLancey in 1856. The chief 
donors of the fine church property were Mr. and Mrs. John R. Murray. 
The society has a faithful membership and is prosperous. 

The members of a small Baptist church in Groveland united with 
the Baptists of Mt. Morris in 1839 to found the Mt. Morris Baptist 
church. Its present edifice was built about the year 1842, and the 
lecture room and organ loft were built in 1873. Eflfective revivals 
have been a part of the history of the church, and one in 1848 resulted 
in fifty additions to its membership. For fifty years the church has 
had from 15(1 to 175 communicants. A Sunday school has been 
maintained, probably without interruption, during the existence of 
the church. 

The first Baptist church in the town was organized at the Ridge in 
1823, and built a log church in 1827 before which services were held 
in school and private houses. It was the first house built in the town 
expressly for religious worship. In 1832 a revival added seventy-six 
to the membership, and in 1833 the members numbered 160. The 
church prospered until 1849, when removals and changes of members 
to the village t:hurch, depleted it so much that it was decided t" dis- 
organize. Meanwhile a better building had been erected, and tliis was 
sold to the Methodists. 

The vSecond Presbyterian church of Mt. Morris was organized in 
1830, and the first pastor was Rev. Elam Walker. The society pros- 
pered under his and subsequent pastorates, and had a membership of 
about fifty. It united with a school district in building a school 
house, which was used both for schools and religious services. It was 
situated about five miles south of Mt. Morris village. In 1841 a Dutch 
Reformed church was organized in the neigiiborliood, and the other 
was disbanded. 

About twenty descendants of old Holland stock came to the town of 
Mt. Morris in 1841 from the Mohawk Valley and New Jersey, put up 
a church building about a mile north of Tuscarora, and Rev. James G. 
Brinkerhoof became their pastor. He remained until 1860. The 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 797 

population did not contain elements which would contribute to the 
growth of a church of that faith, and there was no subsequent pastor, 
but occasional services were held. The building was finally sold in 
1880 to the Methodists of Union Corners and moved there. 

The Presbyterian church of Tuscarora was incorporated in 1844 as 
a Reformed church through the efforts of Rev. Isaac Hammond, the 
members being mostly of Dutch descent. It was re-organized as a 
Presbyterian church in 1846, when Rev. Peter S. VanNest was pastor. 
The church has been much depleted but continues its organization 
and religious services. 

The Free Methodist church of Tuscarora was organized in 1875, with 
about seventy members, by Rev. R. M. Snyder, who became its first 
pastor. Its only other pastor was Rev. Wm. Southworth, who re- 
mained until 1880, after which the organization slowly decayed. 

Father Maguire came to Mt. Morris in 1838 to look after the spirit- 
ual wants of Catholics, and other priests followed him from surround- 
ing towns and elsewhere, holding services in private dwellings and 
school houses. Father Maguire came back, and under him the first 
small building was put up. This was subsequently enlarged two or 
three times. The first resident priest was Rev. James Ryan, who 
came in 1857. There were several other pastors before Father O'Brien, 
who came in lcS()9 and through his energy the present large and hand- 
some Gothic edifice was erected, at a cost of $30,000. This was 
dedicated by Bishop McQuaid in December, 1873. The congregation 
owns a beautiful cemetery of nearly eighteen acres, purchased in 1885 
at a cost of $4,379. The membership now is about 200 families. The 
pastor is Rev. James H. Day, who was appointed May 1, 1893. 

Many prominent men visited ]\It. Morris in the early days besides 
Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, among them Talley- 
rand, the great French statesman and philosohper, and Colonel John 
Trumbull of General Washington's staff, artist of the celebrated his- 
torical painting, "Signing the Declaration of Independence." The 
latter purchased land and planted an orchard with a view of settling 
there, but changed his plans. It was he who changed the name of the 
place from Allen's Hill to Richmond Hill. 

The first manufactory was the wool carding and cloth dressing mill 
of Colonel Ebenezer Damon. Elisha Parmelee was the first merchant, 
not counting Ebenezer Allen, and was succeeded by Allen Ayrault in 



798 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

1817. Asa Woodford was the first tanner, (ieorge Green the first 
tailor, Peter Peterson the first hatter, William Haskall and Simeon 
Kittle the first pettifoggers. Dr. Abram Camp the first physician. 
Dr. Camp was succeeded by Dr. Charles Bingham, of excellent repute. 
The two pettifoggers tried cases, but were not lawyers. George Has- 
, tings opened a law office in Mt. Morris in 1830, and was a worthy rep- 
fj^'tO (^ resentative of the profession. He became successively district 
/{j^'t vutOTiYV-^^ttorney, representative in Congress, and county judge, being twice 
^ \/. elected to the last office. The first postmaster was James B. Mower. 

^''^* \ Very early Riley Scoviile stopped raising hemp on the flats, antl became 

the village tavern keeper; and it is said that in the related families of 
Scoville and Baldwin there has been a continuous succession of land- 
lords for about ninety years. The first tavern was kept by Isaac Bald- 
win. The first furnace was built in 1833 and was run by horsepower. 
The most prosperous period of Mt. Morris was from 1830 to 1850. 
Until the canal was built transportation was in wagons or on the river. 
A stern-wheel steamer carrying freight and passengers commenced 
running on the river in July, 1824, but did not pay and was abandoned 
after two years. Many settlers came from Cayuga county in 1830, 
and others followed them from year to year. Navigation on the canal 
to Mt. Morris commenced in 1840. 

The raising of broom corn was started in 1830, and afterward over 
800 acres of it were grown and over twelve thousand dozen brooms 
manufactured at Mt. Morris annually for many years. 

The first Mt. Morris dam was built under an act of the legislature 
passed in 1826. A portion of it was carried away and another dam 
was built in 1S33, the public square being divided into lots and sold to 
help pay for it. This dam was carried away in 1852 and having been 
made use of for canal purposes it was rebuilt by the state. This third 
dam was destroyed by the freshet of IS'J'). and has been reconstructed 
with stone laid in cement. These dams have made Mt. Morris a 
manufacturing center, and contributed largely to its prosperity. Its 
manufactories have been varied employing many persons, and bring- 
ing in much money. 

There is a union school building which was built in 1879-80, where 
instruction has been by competent teachers, and caused the suspension 
of former private academic schools. 

Much patriotic zeal was manifested in Mt. Morris during the civil 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



799 



war, and there were numerous early volunteers from the town. The 
first war meeting was held April 22, 1861, when stirring speeches were 
made, a committee was appointed to raise and distribute funds for the 
support of families of volunteers, C. E. Martin was authorized to raise 
a company and half the requisite number signed the roll before the 
meeting adjourned. Three weeks afterward Captain Martin left for 
Elmira with a company of seventy-seven enlisted men and eleven 
commissioned and non-commissioned officers. A second company was 
raised by Captain C. W. Burt, which started for the front in Septem- 
ber of that year. During the war the town furnished 285 men, of 
whom 233 resided in and twenty-seven were natives of the town. The 
war legislation of the town is not all recorded, but it appears that a 
town bounty of $100 was paid to each of si.xty men and a bounty of 
$300 to each of thirty-one men. 

Mt. iMorris supervisors have been as follows: 



\Vm. A. Mills 

1821-22-2425-26-29-30-31-32-33 

David A. Miller 1823 

Othniel .\llen 1827 

Riley Scoville 1828-34-35-36 

Orrin D. Lake 1837-38-39-44-45-77 

Chauncey Huugerford 1S40-41 

Alfred Hubbard 1842-43 

(Jeorge T. Olyphant 1846-47 

Jesse Peterson 1848-49-50-51 

George Hastings 1852 

Jared P. Dodge..iS53-54-55-56-57-58-59-6o 

Abraham Wigg 1861-62-63-64-65 

McNeil Seymour 1866-67-68-69 



Hiram P. Mills 1870 

John Siraerson 1871 

Thomas J. Gamble 

1872-73-74-75-76-81-82-83-84-85 

Geo.W. Phelps, Sr 1878 

Hugh Harding 1879-80 

Hathorn Burt 1886-87 

J. M. Hastings 1888 

R. H. Moses 1889-90 

E. B. Osborn 1891-92 

George \V. Phelps, Jr 1893 

John C. Witt 1894-95-96-97-98 

John F. Donovan 1899-00-01-02-03 



Valuations and tax rate have been as follows: 





Assessed 


Tai Kate 




Assessed 


Tax Eate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




\ahmtion 

1,278,582 


on IIUOO 

6.86 


1875 


Valuation 
2,286,103 


on $1000 
11.84 


1890 


Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


2,131,518 


11.81 


i86i 


1,226,789 


8.11 


1876 


2,195,663 


10.84 


189I 


2,140,002 


10.33 


1862 


1,207,278 


10.67 


1877 


2,114,969 


10.99 


1892 


2,237,038 


12.25 


1863 


1,164,895 


15-02 


1878 


2,033,566 


10.08 


1893 


2,227,795 




1864 


1.233,574 


17.20 


1879 


1,845,587 


10.85 


1894 


2.143,7,58 


10.91 


1865 


1,152,633 


44.80 


1880 


1.851,145 


10.30 


1895 


2,264,492 


11.01 


1866 


1,254,380 


24.20 


I88I 


1,904,467 


9.94 


1896 


2,187,328 


10.93 


1867 


1,163,546 


19.84 


1882 


1,586,376 




1897 


2,189,400 


10.04 


1868 


1,165,284 


17.13 


1883 


2,027,558 


8.79 


1898 


2,170,576 


10.48 


1869 


1,198,240 


11.29 


1884 


2,071,344 


8.93 


1899 


2,158,385 


10.87 


1870 


1,227,003 


14.29 


1885 


2,126,877 


8.34 


1900 


2,156,216 


9.68 


1871 


1,247,850 


13.82 


1886 


2,177,677 


11.29 


1901 


2,159,377 


8.65 


1872 


1,280,245 


23.95 


1887 


2,134,016 


10.83 


1902 


2,172,312 


6.89 


1873 


1,205,259 


20.01 


1888 


2,165,519 


11.20 


1903 


2,163,867 


6.67 


1874 


2,342,789 


12.45 


1889 


2,140,839 


10.49 









8UU HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Mt. Morris has a good fire department, which was commenced in 
1836 by the organization of an engine company of twenty-four mem- 
bers and the purchase of an engine and hooks and ladders. Its most 
disastrous fire was in 1873, when the losses amounted to §80,000, and 
the insurances were small. Immediately afterward the department 
was made much more efficient. 

The manufactories include the Genesee ^Manufacturing Company, 
which turn.s out agricultural and other machinery of various kinds; 
the Galbraith Milling Company, which produces about 200 barrels of 
flour a day in addition to its custom work; the Empire Machine Works, 
which manufactures spoke and wheel machines and handle-making 
machinery: the Winters & Prophet canning factory, one of the largest 
in the country, with a capacity for ten million cans of fruit and 
vegetables a year, and a plant for the manufacture of its tin cans. 

The following is from the sketch of Mount Morris prepared by 
Samuel L. Rockfellow, Est]., of ;\It. Morris for the Livingston County 
Historical Society: 

The village of Mt. Morris is situated nearly in the geographical 
center of the Mt. Morris Tract so called, which was four miles square, 
and an attempted sale of which was made to Robert Morris by the 
notorious "Indian" Allen. 

Robert JNIorris, from whom the village derives its name, must have 
known that Allen did not possess the legal right to sell this tract of 
land, but the purchase was made by him in Philadelphia in 1793, Allen 
receiving a nominal price for it in dry goods, Indian cloth, and 
trinkets. These he brought to Mt. Morris and opened a trading post, 
bartering his goods with the Indians for furs and pelts. Thus he 
acquired the name of being the pioneer merchant on Allen's Hill, (Mt. 
Morris). 

Allen was a white man, born and raised in New Jersey and came into 
the Genesee Valley 1780 to '82. He married a squaw by the name of 
Sally. Bump's Island was in early time called vSally's Bend as she 
resided there and owned the land, it being a portion of the Mt. Morris 
tract. This island was then in the town of Leicester. 

In 1835 the river cut a new channel north of the island. In 1836 
this channel deepened and widened, and the river runs there at this 
date, 1902, leaving the island in the town of Mt. Morris. 

The Bank of North America held an assignment of the title papers 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 801 

of the Mt. ]\Iorris tract as collateral security for advances and loan, 
made to Robert ;\Iorris. The Bank caused this tract to be surveyed, 
in 1806, by vStephen Rogers. When surveyed it was called the Mt. 
Morris tract, and described as lying in the town of Leicester in the 
coimty of Genesee. 

In ISO" the Bank of North America sold this tract to John R. ;\Iur- 
ray. merchant of Nen- York city, and Harriet Murray his wife; 
William Ogden, of New York city, and Susan his wife; John Trum- 
bull, of New York city; and James Wadsworth, Sr., and Naomi his 
wife, of Geneseo, N. Y., of whom each including the Bank of North 
America owned one undivided eighth part of the whole. 

The Squakie Hill reservation of two square miles was reserved by 
the Indians at the treaty of Big Tree in 1797 when the title of Robert 
Morris to this tract was made valid by the extinguishing of the Indian 
title and their grant to the heirs of Ebenezer Allen. In 1810 the pro- 
prietors of the Mt. Morris tract made a partition of the land lying 
south of the Genesee river, except the public square in the village, 
which square was bounded as follows: — on the north by Trumbull 
street, on the east by Main street, on the south by Chapel street, and 
on the west by Clinton street, also a certain lot and mill site, 
which were held in common. The four-mile tract was divided into 
lots, numbering from 1 to 251 inclusive, which were subdivided into 
eight parts for distribution, except as above stated. Peter J. Monroe 
acted in behalf of the Bank of North America. 

From 1794 to 1810 very few permanent white settlers located in Mt. 
Morris because of the Indian occupancy and the prevalence of Genesee 
fever. Among those few were Jonathan Harris, Clark Cleveland, 
Isaac Baldwin, Adam Holstlander, Benedict Satterly, Isaac Powell, 
William ]\IcNair and family. Adam Holstlander made and furnished 
the rails for fencing the original enclosure in and around Mt. Morris. 
He was on the frontier in the war of 1812, and died in Mt. Morris, 
Michigan, aged eighty-one. 

James H. McNair at ten years of age came with his father, William, 
in 1798 to Allen's Hill. The family settled in Sonyea James also 
was on the frontier, 1812 to '15 and died July 8, 1874, aged eighty-six. 

From 1810 to 1820 settlers locating in ]\It. Morris were more numer- 
ous. Elisha Parmlee, Messrs. Hopkins, Baldwins, Adino Bailey, 
Phineas Lake, David A. Miller, Allen Ayrault, Riley Scoville, Vin- 



802 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

cent Cothrill, Eli Lake, Messrs. Stanley, Beach, Rev. Elihu Mason, 
James Hosmer, John Starkweather, George A. Green, Asa Woodford, 
Dr. Abram Camp, Colonel Damon, Richard Allen, Samuel Seymour, 
and others. Colonel Ebenezer Damon was the pioneer manufacturer 
(wool carding and cloth dressing) located in the suburb of our village 
known as Uamonsville. Deacon Asa Woodford was proprietor of 
a tannery in the same locality and had a shoe factory and store on 
Main street. 

Eiisha Parmlee was the first merchant, Allen Ayrault his successor, 
in 1817, followed by Sleeper and Dean, about 1824. Later David A. 
Miller opened a dry goods store. He was postmaster for several 
years. George A. Green was the first tailor; Peter Peterson the first 
hatter, George W. Barney his successor: Riley Sooville raised hemp 
above the village and later moved into the village and was hotel keeper 
and supervisor for several years. His son Henry still conducts the 
hotel which has been owned in this family for over eighty years. 

The late Hiram P. Mills became a resident over si.\ty years ago. He 
died January, l'^02, aged ninety-six. From 1820 to 1830 Dr. Charles 
Bingham, Joseph Thompson, William Gay, George Sloat, Mr. 
Goodrich, Mr. Root, Dr. Hiram Hunt, !Mr. W. Adams, Stephen 
Summers, John Runyan, Isaac Thompson, Deacon Weeks, Elijah 
Thatcher, Deacon James Conkey and others settled here; all prom- 
inent business men, who labored for the prosperity of the village. 
Outside and near town were Russell Sheldon, E. Sharp, Sterling Case, 
Benjamin and William Begole, Jonathan Miller, Chester Foot, John 
C. Jones, Richard W. Gates, and many others. William Haskel 
located here in 1812. He was the first pettifogger in justice court, 
possessed of native talent, if he knew, no law that hit the casein hand 
he would make the law. George Hastings came to Mt. Morris in 1830. 
He was the first lawyer in the place, and an honor to the profession; 
1852 or 1853 he was chosen as Member of Congress from this district 
and later was elected Judge of Livingston county. He died August 
26, 1866. 

In 1830 settlers came from Cayuga, N. Y., in considerable numbers, 
and for some years later, settling between Mt. Morris and Nunda. 
Among these was the late Hon. O. D. Lake who lived among us until 
about 1896 when he died, aged ninety-one. 

The years from 1830 to 1850 were prosperous years in the growtii of 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 803 

Mt. Morris. From 1818 to the completion of the Genesee Valley 
canal to Rochester in 1840, our trade with Rochester was by river 
navigation and land carriage. There arrived at Genesee, July 28, 
1824, the steamboat "Erie Canal," Captain 'Bottle, the pioneer boat 
on the Genesee river. There was great rejoicing among the people. 
The ne.xt steamer was the "Genesee," a stern wheel boat carrying 
passengers and freight with a speed of eight to ten miles an hour. 
This was abandoned after two seasons. River boating with freight 
lakers propelled by manual labor during high water as far as Mt. 
Morris was continued for many years. Intercourse between ^It. 
Morris, Leicester and ^Moscow was by ferry across the river in 
summer, and on ice in winter, until 1830, when a toll bridge was built. 

Mr. Starr of the firm of Hurlbert & Starr, dry goods merchants, 
about this time purchased in Albany and brought to town the first 
buggy with elliptic or steel springs. It was a novelty and much 
admired and a ride in it was eagerly sought, especially by the young; 
quite as much or more so than is now the case with an automobile. 

In 1793 theWilliamsburg fair and races were inaugurated by Col- 
onel Williamson. The fair grounds and race track were on the fiats 
on what is known as the Shaker farm, about one and one-fourth miles 
east from our village. This was the pioneer fair and race track in 
western New York. In 1818 .the post office was located, with 
George B. Manier, Postmaster. Before this date the people of Mt. 
ilorris went to Moscow once a w-eek for their mail. In 1813 Mt. 
Morris contained four frame and twenty-two log houses. In 1817 
there were a few machine shops and a small store kept by Allen 
Ayrault. In 1820 William Shull built a grist mill on the site op- 
posite the residence of the late Dr. M. H. Mills, below the roadway. 
The water wheel was twenty feet in diameter and propelled by water 
from Damonsville creek. 

In 1815 the first school was taught on Squakie Hill by Jerediah 
Horsford — Indian scholars. The Indians said "He taught their chil- 
dren books." 

In 1835 the village was incorporated. In 1814 the first Presbyterian 
church of Mt. Morris was organized; in 1822 the Methodist Society; 
in 1833 the Protestant Episcopal ; in 1839 the Baptist. 

For several years the log school-house, divided by a partition of 
folding doors, each room twenty-five feet square, when thrown into 



804 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

one room was used on the Sabbath for public worship. This school- 
house and church was located on the west side of the public square on 
Clinton street. The first Presbyterian building was dedicated Janu- 
ary 1832. The first newspaper published in the place was the Mt. 
Morris Spectator, by Hugh Harding, January 1, 1834. 

The first machine to cut grain in the field by horse power was in 
1835, invented by McCormick. The trial of this machine was on the 
flats, between the village and the river. It was a great sight to see 
the grain fall as fast as six men could bind and set up, a large crowd 
of people assembled to see the wonder work. 

The late John R. Murray settled* here sixty-eight years ago. He 
was a grand-son of John R. Murray, who was one of the original pur- 
chasers of the Mt. Morris tract. Mr. Murray erected a large and ele- 
gant house on Murray Hill, where he resided many years. He left a 
memorialinthe beautiful Episcopal church of the village, and donated 
it to his church people. His remains and also the remains of his wife 
He in the church grounds marked by a fine granite monument. 

Mark Hopkins was the first land agent of the Mt. Morris tract, 
acting for Murray, Ogden and Rogers. He came to Mt. Morris in 
1811 in company with his father Samuel Hopkins, and Deacon Jesse 
Stanley and sons, Oliver and Luman. Samuel Hopkins died in Mt. 
Morris, March 19, 1818, aged seventy, and was the first person buried 
in the old cemetery. He was a worthy citizen and a gentleman of 
the old school. His son Mark, relinquished his land agency in 1817, 
and removed to Ohio and died 1831 at fifty-eight. His brother, 
Samuel Miles Hopkins, was a lawyer and began practice in New York 
city. He bought the law library of Aaron Burr; he also purchased 
the interest of the Bank of North America in the Mt. Morris tract, 
and the same year three-fourths of the original Jones & Smith Indian 
grants in the town of Leicester. This purchase embraced the land on 
which Samuel Miles Hopkins located the village of Moscow in 1814; he 
also built the Colonel Cuyler mansion for his residence in 1813 and 
'14, he being Member of Congress at that time. In 1822 he reluctantly 
gave up his mansion, being obliged to do so by financial reverses fol- 
lowing the war of 1812, and moved to Albany to practice law. There 
he achieved distinction at the bar, and in 1831 he moved to Geneva, 
N. Y., where he died on the seventh of October, 1837, aged sixty- 
seven. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 805 

Rev. Samuel Mills of Derby, Conn., a graduate of Yale college, 
moved with his family into the Genesee Valley in 1790 and died at 
Williamsburg in 1794. He often preached in the open air and in 
barns, in a most acceptable manner. After his death, his family 
returned to Derby, except his son William A. Mills, who, thrown upon 
his own resources at seventeen years of age, came to Allen's Hill in 
1794 to make a home, though it was then among the Indians. He 
built a cabin on the brow of the hill, where now stands the fine resi- 
dence of his son, the late Dr. M. H. Mills. Here he lived for several 
years with Indians for his neighbors. He commenced his career rent- 
ing lands on the flats on easy terms, and employing Indians for help. 
He also raised considerable stock, whereby he added largely to his 
business and profits. 

When the Mt. Morris tract was opened for sale he purchased from 
time to time until he became the owner of 1,100 acres of land. The 
timbered lands skirting the valley west of the Genesee river were 
offered for sale to the first settlers at $1.50 per acre, and on the east 
side at $2.50 per acre. The same year fifty cents per acre for 4000 
acres more. 

The proprietors of the Mt. Morris tract put a price on these flats 
which kept them out of the market for seventeen years from the time 
General Mills settled on Allen's Hill. His Indian name was 
So-no-jo-wa, interpreted it signifies a big kettle, (generous), which 
indicated their esteem for him. He also rented lands on the Gardeau 
flats of Mary Jemison, "The White Woman," who was the owner of 
17,927 acres of flat and upland, lying on both sides ot the Genesee 
river. He paid fifty cents per acre rent per season for so much as he 
occupied. 

Following Indian Allen, came Lemuel B. Jennings, Captain Noble, 
Horatio and John H. Jones in 1789, James and William Wadsworth 
in 1790. 

In 1816 ilary Jemison sold all her reservation of land, except two 
square miles on the west side of the river to Micah Brooks and Jellis 
Clute. The Indians having by treaty in 1825 disposed of their reser- 
vations and gone from the valley. In 1827 Mary Jemison was lonely 
and wished to join them. For this purpose she sold the remaining 
two miles square, in 1831, to Jellis Clute and Henry B. Gibson of 
Canandaigua, and removed to Buffalo Creek reservation, where she 



8U6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

died September 19, 183.1, aged ninety-one. In March, 1874, her 
remains were disinterred by Hon. William P. Letchworth, under the 
supervision of her descendants, and together with articles found in 
her grave, placed in a walnut coilfin and deposited in a marble sar- 
cophagus at Glen Iris, at Portage Falls, six miles from her former 
home at Gardeau. She lived among the Indians seventy-nine years, 
had two Indian husbands and eight children. On leaving her home 
she came to bid General Mills good-bye. 

Dr. M. H. Mills, then a boy of eleven, writes in his centennial 
address that he was present. His father and the white woman con- 
versed in the Indian tongue. The Doctor's recollection of her looks 
and appearance was that she was short and undersized, very round 
shouldered and bent forward, this last caused by toting luggage on her 
back supported by a strap across her forehead. Her complexion once 
white was then tawny; her feet small and toed-in. Dressed in the 
costume of the Indian female, she resembled a squaw, except for her 
hair and light colored eyes. Her cabin was the stranger's home, none 
were turned away hungry. She was never known to make trouble 
among the Indians or among the white people and Indians; she was 
truly a peacemaker. 

William Tallchief, A-wa-wis-ha-dik-hah, (Burning day), chief of his 
tribe at Allen's Hill when the first white settler came here to live, was 
always a loyal and trusty friend to them. He was a chief of renown 
and swayed the judgment and actions of his tribe for good. His name 
appears in the Big Tree and other treaties, and was otherwise con- 
nected with the business affairs of the Seneca Nation. He removed 
from the Genesee river in 1827 to the Tonawanda reservation and 
died about 1833, aged eighty. His remains were interred in the 
Indian Mission Chapel Cemetery on the Buffalo creek reservation by 
the side of Mary Jemison — the White Woman. A few years ago his 
remains were removed by the late Dr. M. H. Mills to the beautiful 
cemetery in Mt. Morris, where it is hoped a suitable monument will 
be erected to his memory. 

General Mills was, with Jesse Stanley, an incorporator of an act 
passed by the Legislature, April 13, 1826, to construct a dam across 
the Genesee river at Mt. Morris. This secured a good water power 
for the village which aided the growth and prosperity of not only the 
village but this entire section. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 807 

The first dam proved too weak and a large portion went out. In 
the construction of the second dam, in 1833 the citizens aided, by 
surrendering to the proprietors of the Mt. Morris tract the public 
square of the village, which was divided into lots and sold, the pro- 
ceeds assisting in the building of the dam. In 1852 this dam was 
carried out by high water and rebuilt by the state of New York, the 
state having taken possession for canal purposes. In 1899 it was 
again carried away, and at the present time July, 1902, it is being 
rebuilt with stone and cement, and is expected to be completed by 
November of this year. 

General Mills was prominently connected with many of the meas- 
ures for public utility, especially in his locality, from the time he 
settled on Allen's Hill in 1794 to the time of his death in 1844. He 
was born in New Bedford in 1777 and died in Mt. Morris at the 
age of sixty-seven. 

From the survey of Augustus Porter it is shown that the "portion of 
the Gardeau reservation east of the Genesee river commenced at the 
south western part of the town of Mt. Morris, at a large flat rock 
on the north side of the road near St. Helena, thence east substan- 
tially following the line of the road to St. Helena on the east side of 
the river to a point on land now owned by the heirs of Emory 
Kendall on what is known as the creek road two and one-half miles 
north of the village of Nunda; thence north to a point, north of 
the Ridge, on lands now owned by Richard Williams, thence west to 
a point on the river to the line of the town of Castile (on the op- 
posite side of the river); thence southerly on the east side of the river 
to the place of beginning. This tract was more than six miles long 
from north to south and about four miles wide at the south boundary. 

The White Woman was naturalized in 1817, by special act of the 
Legislature, to enable her to convey lands. 

General Brooks took up his residence at Brooksgrove, nearly in the 
center of this plot, and superintended the sale and settlement of a 
large portion of this tract. Being a man of positive yet liberal views 
in all matters of public importance, he labored earnestly to promote 
the advancement of the Genesee country. He was born May 14. 1775, 
in Cheshire, Connecticut. His father. Rev. David Brooks, was a 
graduate of Yale College in 1765. On invitation of General David 
Wooster he delivered a sermon in 1774 at Derby, Conn., which was 



808 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

a powerful and stirring appeal for resistance to the oppression of 
Great Britain. This was published and widely circulated among the 
colonies. In this sermon he gave utterance to sentiments almost identical 
with those of the Declaration of Independence two years later. Micah 
was the eldest of his father's family, schools were few, and he received 
but a limited education, but making the most of his opportunities, 
he came to be an exceptionally well informed and distinguished type 
of the self-made man. 

In 1796 he first visited the Genesee country, walking the whole dis- 
tance to Bloomfield, N. Y., where he introduced himself as a school- 
teacher, and proposed that they should build a school house, and he 
would teach their school. His offer was accepted, and a log school- 
house was soon built, and filled with scholars. Returning to Con- 
necticut in the following summer, he took a course in surveying with 
Professor Meigs of Yale College and received a certificate from the 
court of New Haven county appointing him surveyor within and for 
said county. Returning to his log school-house in the fall of 1798, 
he again taught the school, and had several pupils who studied sur- 
veying. In 1800 he was Associate Commissioner with Hugh McNair 
and Matthew Warner to lay out a road from Canandaigua to Olean, 
and also one from Hornellsville to the mouth of the Genesee river. 
He returned to Connecticut, where he was married December 13, 1802, 
to a daughter of David Hall. In 1806 he was appointed to the oflice 
of justice of the peace, by Governor Morgan Lewis. In 1808 he was 
made associate justice of the county of Ontario, and the same year 
was elected to the Legislature of New York, taking his seat in January, 
1809, Daniel D. Tompkins being Governor. During the war of 1812 
he served on the Niagara frontier, and rose to the rank of Major 
General. In 1814 he was elected to Congress, and represented all of 
the state of New York, west of Cayuga Lake. While in Congress he 
presented an extensively signed petition, which was drawn b\' DeWitt 
Clinton, asking the General Government to assist in the construction 
of the Erie Canal. It was referred to a select committee of Avhich 
General Brooks was chairman. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay were 
members of this committee. A favorable report was made, and a 
bill passed both houses, but it was vetoed by the President, James 
Madison. This was one of the greatest disappointments of his life, 
and he was ever after an opponent of veto power. Through his 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 809 

efforts while in Congress the first government mail service through 
Rochester was established. Much more could be written in regard 
to the efforts made by General Brooks to build up various enter- 
prises in his town, but space will not permit. On July 7, 1857, while 
sitting in his chair he leaned back and died without a struggle. 

The first road in this section was surveyed in 1788 and was designed 
as the eastern boundry of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, running 
from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario. Besides blazing the trees, 
sharpened stakes were set up at intervals, which gave it the name of 
"Picket Line." Owing to the high banks of the river where the line 
crossed near Gibsonville, it was never completed as a roadway, but 
is still the town line beWeen Nunda and Portage and between the 
counties of Livingston and Wyoming. 

After surveying, more land was found than the Phelps & Gorham 
grant called for. Going several miles west a parallel line was run called 
"The Transit Line" which was the eastern line of the "Holland 
Purchase." Major Moses VanCampen is believed to have laid out 
the "State Road" from Mt. Morris to Angelica at an early date. The 
other roads of the town of Mt. Morris were changed several times by 
the commissioners, especially the River Road, before the lands were 
offered for sale. 

Commencing on the state road at the town line between Nunda 
and Mt. Morris, the first settlers and owners were as follows in the 
order named: 

AVm. Mosher, Mr. Wood, John and Hiram Prentice, Dean M. Tyler, 
James McCartney, Wm. Chandler and Micah Brooks. These were 
south of Brooksgrove. NortTi we find John Carr, Elias Rockfellow, 
Geo. Babcock, Henry Hoffman, Samuel Phillips, Benjamin Hoagland, 
Wm. C. Dunning, Hosea Fuller, Joseph Ackers, David O. Howell, 
Mr. Brown, Benjamin Sherman, Orrin Hall, James Rolland, Sylvester 
Darrien, Wm. D. Morgan, Ephraim Sharp, George Burkhart, Edwin 
Stillson, and Eben Stillson which brings us to the Ridge. 

East of the Ridge were Orrin Sackett, Elder W. Lake and Jonathan 
Phillips; and a little to the south Sylvester Richmond. North of the 
Ridge were Humphrey and Henry D. Hunt, Wm. Williams, Thos. 
Wisner, who kept a hotel in the building now owned by the heirs of 
Geo. W. Barney, and Moses Marvin. The first settler on the River 
Road, north of the town line, on the place now owned by Frederick 



810 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Marsh, was George "Wilson. His son Thomas in 1824 built a saw 
mill on the Genesee river, in the big bend south of St. Helena, which 
is believed to have been the first mill erected in the town. On the 
east side of the road, Deacon Wm. L. Lotten was the first settler. 
He was the father of Thompson, Levi, George, Joseph, Hector and 
Philetus Lottei;, all of whom became prominent men of our town. 
He had a tannery and shoe shop, which were erected previous to 1820. 
The first farm west, on the north-west corner of the road leading to 
St. Helena, was settled by Wm. Gay. North of his house the first 
burial place of that section was laid out, and about fifty persons were 
buried there. This, however, was soon abandoned, owing to the estab- 
lishment in 1839 of the present cemetery of Oak Hill, in which Wm. 
Mosher was the first person buried. This cemetery has been en- 
larged several times, and has always been well cared for, and now 
contains several hundred graves and many costly monuments. 

Elisha Mosher was the first settler on the road running from Oak- 
land to the river road, north of the town line. Next were Noah and 
Reuben Roberts, and then William Swan. Thence on the river 
road Benjamin Shepard, on the west; on the east Horatio Reed, who 
was blind, and our first town clerk. His son Charles, settled 
near Princeton, III., and was for several terms a member of the Leg- 
islature of that State. Next north was Wm. Miller. On the 
west, Isaac Bovee, Isaac and James Miller, Wm. Bailey, Luke 
Conway, Wm. Dake and Joseph Thorp. This brings us to the 
River Road Forks. North, Daniel Ellsworth, who erected and 
kept a store for years at the Forks; Pattie Brown; Ansel tJwen, who 
l)uilt and kept a hotel, long known as the Half Way house between 
Mt. Morris and Portage; Jabez Whitman, who also built and kept a 
hotel; James Ward; Chauncey Tyler ; Deacon Israel Herrick ; Samuel 
Cady ; Jonah Craft; Wm. G. Wisner; Barney Criss; Garrett Van 
Arsdale; O. Thorp; Jacob Van Arsdale; Henry Crane, (now known 
as the Jaccjb Tallman homestead), where he located his son-in-law, 
Aaron Rosekrans and next his son James. Later Justine Smith 
purchased the first of these places of the heirs and Ellis Putnam 
the last place above named. Next came Joseph Barnes, James \'an- 
Sickle and sons, John and Henry, Jesse B. Jones, Lucius Brown and 
Eben Sturges. 

The first settler on the Picket Line road north of the town line 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 811 

was Samuel Mosher. Then, in their order, Ruslin Hark, Jacob Kil- 
mer, George Bump, Ovid Hemphill, Christopher Haines, and Solomon 
Wood. Martin Pixley, Jonathan Miller and Peleg Coffin. The latter 
walked, in 1822, from Saratoga county, N. Y., with a knapsack on 
his back, looking for a home in the Genesee country. He passed over 
the ground where now is the city of Rochester, and fearing the malaria 
of the river flats, selected his home on the Picket Line. Returning to 
Saratoga county, in March of the following year, he started with an 
ox team and sleigh, with his wife and all they possessed, for their 
western home. There being no snow in Cayuga county, they ex- 
changed their sleigh for a lumber wagon. On arriving at the Forks, 
they spent a day in clearing the road, so that they could get to their 
place a mile south. Next, Alexander Blood, Ashe! Thayer, and David 
Whiteman. 

The first settler on the Short Tract road, north of the town line, is 
only remembered by his sudden death from poison sumach, which 
resulted in the raising of ten dollars, with which to pay Joseph Carter 
for its complete extermination in the entire neighborhood. Next was 
Benjamin Dake, then Wm. Miller and Otis Denvey. The rest of the 
land, on this road to Brooksgrove, was long retained by General 
Brooks. These early settlers erected nearly all the buildings, still 
standing on their respective places, between 1835 and 1845. 

"The antique oven constructed nearby, 

Where was baked the corn-bread and the thick pumpkin pie." 

This was superseded by the large brick oven, constructed inside 
the house and connected with the large chimney, with its broad, open 
fire place. They also corduroyed the roads over the marshy places, 
where the ends of the logs can still be seen. The school districts of 
this section are about the same as when first established, except that 
the VanSickel district was joined to the Ridge, and district No. 12 
was formed on the Picket Line, from a part of the Forks and Brooks- 
grove districts, and some farms of the town of Nunda. From the 
records of the Forks district since 1828 it appears that the contract 
for furnishing and preparing fuel was let to the lowest bidder, for such 
sums as $2.45, $2.49, and $2.50; and that the total expense of the 
school in 1833 for eleven months was $7().0f), as follows: Alanson 
Slater, teacher winter term, $61.50; Lucy M. Russel teacher, summer 



812 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

term, $12.07; Luke Coney, wood $2.4'^. The number of pupils in 
1837 was one hundred, three families in the district having ten chil- 
dren each. 

Among those who have taught in the districts of this section were 
Joseph Weller, afterwards governor of California; Joseph McCreary, 
later a prominent preacher; Addison Crane, later a lawyer and mem- 
ber of the legislature of Illinois; Gideon Draper, afterwards one of the 
Regents of common schools of this state; Dr. E. P. Miller, now of 
New York City; T. J. Gamble, Esq. and Byron Swett of our village. 

In 1849, the M. E. Society, at the Ridge, purchased their present 
church edifice of the Baptists, in which they have maintained religious 
services. They have had but few settled pastors, having been sup- 
plied from Mt. Morris. From the steeple of this church on a clear 
day can be seen with the naked eye places in seven different counties. 
The Methodists formed a society at Brooksgrove, about 1840. 
and the present church edifice was built in 1844-45. Rev. Seneca 
Short was their pastor at the time. They have always maintained a 
settled pastor, and for many years were counted as the strongest 
church of their denomination, in western New York. 

Through the efforts of the pioneer M. E. preacher, Rev. John B. 
Hudson, a Methodist society was organized early at River Road 
Forks. In 1828, the Baptists organized a society in the south part of 
the town. Rev. Wm. G. Wisner, a cousin of R. P. Wisner, was their 
pastor in 1835. Through his efforts a church was built on the south- 
east corner of the intersection of the Oakland and St. Helena roads, 
about a half mile north of the town line. The society numbered at 
that time about eighty, and was the second Baptist church erected in 
the town. Previous to the building of this church the Baptist and 
Methodist societies held their services on alternate Sabbaths, in the 
Forks and Portage school houses. In 1837 a powerful revival took 
place in this vicinity, ninety persons joining the Methodist class, and 
sixty being baptized into the Baptist church one Sunday in the river 
at St. Helena by the pastor, 'Rev. Mr. Robbins. These societies con- 
tinued harmonious until March 1844, when the Methodists, having 
procured the use of the church for their quarterly meeting, were hold- 
ing their love-feast, with closed doors, Benjamin Dake, then a Baptist 
trustee, unlocked the doors and bade his people on the outside to 
enter. This act broke up the peace of the whole community, and de- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 813 

stroyed much of the influence of these religious societies. Both 
declined from that date, and their members afterwards joined their 
respective churches at Nunda. The church building is now a cider 
mill at Oakland. The Rev. John B. Hudson refers to the meager 
pay of the ministers of this early period — $100 per year. 

The first post office, established about 1824, in this section, was 
about a mile south of the Ridge, on the place owned by the late 
Howdin Covey. Its name was "Leona." The next was kept in the 
log house, still standing on the River Road on the farm now owned by 
Chas. Tallman. This was called the River Road post office. The 
postmaster was David Lake. The next was established about 1830, 
and the name was River Road at Forks. The mail was carried by 
post boys between Mt. Morris and Portage on the river road daily. 

In 18.30, the office "Leona" was removed by Dr. Wm. D. Munson, 
then post master, to Brooksgrove and the name changed accordingly. 
About this time the river ixiad postoffice was removed and the name 
changed to Ridge. 

An early stage route was owned and run for many years by Wm. 
Martin, the large four horse stage making daily trips from Mt. Morris 
to Angelica and carrying the mail. The River Road Forks office was 
discontinued about 1860, the patrons, getting their mail at Nunda or 
Mt. Morris. The mail is now carried to the Ridge from Mt. Morris 
and to Brooksgrove from Nunda by R. F. D. In 1840 the hamlet of 
the Ridge consisted, besides the church and school house, of a store, 
two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, a shoe shop, and about ten 
houses. 

That of Brooksgrove, besides the church and school house, of a 
store, hotel, blacksmith shop, wagon shop, tailor shop and twelve 
houses. Brooksgrove also had for many years a resident physician. 

The Forks supported two stores, two hotels, two wagon shops, two 
blacksmith shops, and three shoe shops. 

There were five hotels between Mt. Morris and Nunda, and six 
between Mt. Morris and Portage. 

What was known as the "Tuscarora tract" whichincludes the pres- 
ent village of Tuscarora, formerly called Brushville, and in the south 
east corner of the town of Mt. Morris, was purchased of LukeTieman, 
of Baltimore, Md., and in 1822 he appointed Charles H. Carroll as his 
agent for the sale of portions of the same. Sales were soon made by 



814 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

means of articles, for said land; but many who purchased these 
articles never made the second payment, but followed the tide of 
eminigration westward. Among the first to become permanent resi- 
dents, in 1823, was Daniel P. Sedam, who purchased seventy-five acres 
just east of Tuscarora, and after making the first payment had only 
sixty dollars left with which to build a home for himself and wife. 
The first deeds given for land in Tuscarora on record was to David 
Babcock and others in 1831. Prior to this, however, there were quite 
a number of residents, and a sawmill had been built by Smith and 
Driscoll. Jared P. Dodge also had erected a fulling mill in 1826 a 
carding mill about 1830, and a saw mill a few years later. He proved 
to be one of the most influential men of the place; was a merchant for 
twenty-five years, for a long time was Justice of the Peace, and Sup- 
ervisor of the town for ten or more years in succession. Late in life 
he moved to Nunda where he died about 1890 at the age of ninety. 

James J. Ammerman was another of the first settlers, coming from 
Cayuga county, N. Y., and locating his farm to the south of Tusca- 
rora. He was a soldier in the war of 1812; he secured pension papers 
in 1856, and died in 1876. In 1823 Amos Hungerford settled on a 
farm a mile north of the village, and the following year his brother 
Chauncey settled on a farm just west of that of Amos where both 
lived to the close of their lives. Asahel Northway came in the year 
1830, and erected the first frame dwelling house in that vicinity. 
He, as well as the Hungerfords, was from Coldbrook, Litchfield Co., 
Conn., and all were known as Yankees. Northway held a number of 
town offices, and died in 1879. Samuel R. and Jacob Bergen came in 
the year 1826, but in a few years Samuel sold his land to Jacob, who 
remained on his farm about a mile east of the village to the time of 
his death in 1890. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church for 
over fifty years. Thomas Bodine purchased one hundred acres north- 
west of Tuscarora, but remained on it only a few years. Jacob Yan- 
Arsdale came in the year 1830, and remained until his death. 
Abram VanArsdale was also one of the first settlers. 

The school in Rushville, called District No. 13, was organized in 
1830. The first recorded number of scholars, which was in the 
year 1835, was one hundred and six, and the number who were over 
five and under sixteen, was seventy-six. The school had been kept 
eleven months and three days, and the amount paid was §127.42. In 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 515 

1840 the district was divided, on account of the large number of 
scholars, and all that part lying east and south of the creek was 
assigned to a joint district, which in part was in the town of Nunda. 

"The first schoolhouse was in the south-west part of the village, on 
the road leading west. In 1842 a new schoolhouse was built, twenty- 
six by thirty-six, at an expense of four hundred dollars, just north of 
the Methodist church, whei'e it still remains. This church was never 
completed. 

Dr. John H. Robinson was the first physician. Others of the first 
settlers were: J. H. Bowers, John Wheelock, Calvin Damon, who had 
a carding mill, Jacob Petrie, a blacksmith, and his two sons, 
William and Peter, William Petrie taught school as early as 1838, 
and for forty years afterwards. He was also postmaster and justice 
of the peace. He built the first warehouse and purchased grain. 
Nicholas Hall kept a hotel fifty years ago. He had three sons, 
Isaac, Aaron, and Lansing. 

The following interesting sketch of two notable early residents of the 
town of Mt. Morris was prepared by the late Dr. Ames and read 
before the Livingston County Historical Society in 1884: 

There are in the village of Mt. Morris two streets, crossing each 
other at right angles, which from the names they bear, have a his- 
torical value and significance, viz: Stanley and Hopkins. One 
was given in honor of Deacon Jesse Stanley, the other of 
Samuel Hopkins, Esq. — two men, intimately associated by the ties of 
citizenship of the same town of New England, whence they came to 
Mt. Morris, and by the religious principles that governed them. They 
were led to act up to that standard of christian patriotism which 
builds for the good of coming generations. They were prompted to 
leave the better organized community of Connecticut, then a land of 
schools and churches, for the purpose of laying the foundations of 
society upon a like basis, in this the then far west. They were also 
bound together by family ties, which renders the association of their 
names in history a necessity as well as a matter of eminent propriety. 
They both came to Mt. Morris from Goshen, Conn., a town of which 
it could be said, over eighty years ago, "In that town of 1,200 people 
there was no such thing as a poor dependent family, no tenant, no rich 
man except a single merchant. Every farmer tilled his 100 or 200 
acres of land, chiefly with the labor of his own, or his son's hand." 



816 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Where it was at that time rare to find a person that could not both 
read and write ; where a library association existed, as was common 
in other towns; where men read not only the Bible but history, and 
the writings of Addison, Pope, Blair, Hume and Johnson ; where a 
town election was held with order and decorum not much less than 
that of divine service. Such were the conditions and customs of 
society where these two men were born and reared. By occupation 
they were farmers, and men of intelligence. 

They located in what is now the village of Mt. Morris, tiien known 
as "Allen's Hill," in the township of Leicester, Deacon Stanley on the 
north of the village and Mr. Hopkins on the south of it. Mr. Hop- 
kins lived only about nine years after locating in Mt. Morris, coming 
here with his son Mark Hopkins in 1809, while Deacon Stanley lived 
there thirty-five years, long enough to impress the savor of his life 
upon the community and to leave a name that can be recalled only 
with veneration and respect and of whom it is said, "He never had 
an enemy." 

Deacon Stanley came to "Allen's Hill" in 1810, and 
purchased seven acres of land within the present limits of the 
village, which included the sites of the present residences of N. A. 
Seymour, L. C. Bingham, and other residences and the Presbyterian 
church. He with his son-in-law, Mark Hopkins, built the first two 
framed houses (the priority of which is a little doubtful) in the town. 
They both were erected on what is now State street. A part of the 
original Stanley house is still standing on Murray street, between the 
residences of J. G. Frost and Mrs. Philo Thomson. He purchased 
ninety-eight acres of land on the flats for twenty dollars per acre. 
The canning factory and the station of the D. L. and W. railroad 
are upon that land. It was known for many years as the Stanley 
flats. It was afterward owned by the late Gen. Wm. A. Mills. 
Deacon Stanley also purchased a farm' south of the village of 160 
acres, now owned and occupied by the heirs of the late James H. 
McNair, and still farther south a wood lot of 150 acres, which was the 
residence of his son, Luman Stanley, for many years, the same farm 
now being occupied by James Bevier. He did much for the material in- 
terest of Mt. Morris. He caused the public square to be grubbed and 
cleared up. He was largely instrumental in the construction of the 
mill race, which has afforded such an excellent and safe water power 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



817 



to Mt. Morris and is today a monument to his foresight and 
enterprise. 

But the chief glory and crown upon the head of Jesse Stanley, which 
dims not with the passing years, was his religious character, which 
enabled him to say not long before he passed away, that in the review 
of his life, he could testify that the prominent and prevailing reason 
that induced him to leave his eastern home, was that he might aid in 
building up society and promote the cause of his Redeemer in Western 
New York, where, at that time, such a man with such principles, 
actuated by such motives, was greatly needed. His name stands at 
the head of the list of those who organized the Presbyterian church 
at Mt. Morris, April 29, 1814. He was chosen an elder and was ever 
active in church work. For many years he led the choir in singing. 
He was born in Goshen, Conn., December 23, 1757, and died at Mt. 




\11.U- ul.- AIT. .MuRKl.S VILLAGE. 



Morris, N. Y., June 24, 1845, aged eighty-seven and one-half years — • 
like a shock of corn fully ripe. He was thrice married — all three of 
the wives preceded him to the better land. 

Samuel Hopkins, Esq., was born in Waterbury, Conn., November 
10, 1748. He married Molly Miles, June 22, 1771, and removed to 
Goshen, Conn., May, 1774. After residing there over thirty years. 



818 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

he came to Mt. Morris about the same time as his son Mark, (who 
was a son-in-law of Deacon Jesse Stanley), then an agent for the 
eastern proprietors of the Mt. Morris Tract, in 1809. He settled 
upon a farm of fifty acres in the southern part of the present village 
through which Hopkins street now runs. His first wife, who was the 
mother of his children, died in Geneseo at the house of their son, the 
late Hon. Samuel Miles Hopkins, Sept. 18, 1811. He afterwards 
married a Miss Pratt, who survived him over twenty years. 

The house in which he lived so long is still standing on Hopkins 
street. His farm was left to his widow during her lifetime, and was 
not divided into village lots until after her death. It was then 
divided among the heirs of Mr. Hopkins and brought into the market, 
and now constitutes a compactly settled part of our village. Mr. 
Hopkins died at Mt. Morris, March 19, ISIS, aged sixty-nine and one- 
third years. He was the first person buried in what is now called the 
old cemetery. He was a man of sterling worth, of great benevolence 
and kindness both to man and brute creation, and of more than ordi- 
nary intelligence. He belonged to a family of no little importance in 
Connecticut history. He was near of kin to Samuel Hopkins the 
great theologian, and brother of Dr. Lemuel Hopkins of Hartford, an 
eminent physician and poet, an associate of Trumbull, Humphries, 
Wolcott and Theodore Dwight in a literary club immediately succeed- 
ing the war of the Revolution, whose writings had an important 
influence upon the questions that agitated the people at that forming 
state of the nation. 

Though Mr. Hopkins was engaged in the laborious occupation of a 
farmer, "he found time to read nearly all of value that had E^en 
written on mental philosophy. He read Locke, Hume and Edwards 
and could repeat Pope's Essay on Man without having purposed to 
commit to memory." He was ingenious and had great mechanical 
skill and inventive mind. It is said of him, that he was the inventor 
of the whole tire of a carriage wheel, as he had never heard of such a 
thing till introduced by himself about 1800. Before that time the 
method was to put the iron on the wheel in pieces and spike them on. 
Several other inventions are credited to him. 

Mr. Hopkins and Deacon Stanley could l)()th claim an excellent 
ancestry and the names of both are honored in their descendants. 
Worthy men and women have been the children and descendants of 



HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 819 

each, to the third and fourth generation, noted for their intelligence, 
as well as for their moral worth and religious characters. Some of 
them have held civil positions of honor and trust. One of these men 
is represented by a grandson who is a clergyman and professor in 
Auburn Theological seminary, both by a great grandson each, as college 
professor at Hamilton. Two clergymen in the city of Rochester hold 
the relation, each of them, of great grandson to both Deacon Stanley 
and Mr. Hopkins. One is the president of a theological seminary, 
the other the pastor of an important and flourishing church. So it 
seems conclusive that the good that these men did, did not die with 
them. 

THE CHURCHES OF MOUNT MORRIS. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Mount Morris was organized 
April 29th, 1814, with fourteen members. The first minister was 
Mr. Stephen M. Wheelock, a licentiate, who continued here for three 
years after the organization. His successor was the Rev. Silas 
Pratt, who came in 1817 to be followed by the Rev. Elihu Mason in 
1818, and the Rev. Bartholomew F. Pratt in 1821, the Rev. Wil- 
liam Lyman, D. D. in 1825, the Rev. Abel B. Clary in 1827, the Rev. 
James McMaster in 1828, the Rev. Calvin Bushnell in 1830, the Rev. 
James Wilco.x in 1831, the Rev. George W. Elliott in 1832, the Rev. 
Clark H. Goodrich in 1834, the Rev. John VanBuren in 1838, the 
Rev. Cyrus Hudson in 1839, the Rev. C. H. A. Bulkley in 1847, the 
Rev. Darwin Chichester in 1851, the Rev. Levi Parsons in 1856, who 
died^Iay 30th, 1901, after a pastorate of forty-five years. His suc- 
cessor was the Rev. Walter ]\L Swann who came in 1902 and remained 
but one year. 

There was a Sabbath school connected with this church as early as 
1814 which was permanently organized in 1817. It was the result of 
the labors of Mrs. Oliver Stanley, and Emily, the daughter of Luman 
Stanley. Allen Ayrault was superintendent in 1818. From 1831 to 
1866 this office was filled, with slight exceptions, by Harry Evarts 
and Hon. George Hastings. Among the first pupils were a number 
of Indian children. The service of Judge Hastings as superintendent 
was for twenty-five years and lasted until his death. 

Prior to the organization of this church, and for eighteen years after, 



820 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the services were held in the school house which was on the west side 
of what was then an open square. The first church was dedicated 
in January, 1832, and stood on the north side of that square. In 1841 
this building was moved about twenty rods to the south and enlarged. 
It was destroyed by fire in 1852. The present brick church was 
erected in 1854. 

The first Methodist minister in Mount Morris was the Rev. J. B. 
Hudson. He came from Allegany county to Allen's Hill in 1804 and 
wrote that he "saw no signs of civilization by the way. " He had 
seen only a few scattered houses. These were tenants of the "White 
Woman," Mary Jemison. When he arrived he found a few Methodists 
and Mount Morris was made a preaching place on the circuit. The 
society was organized in 1822. There were then thirteen members. 
For years it worshiped in various school houses. But the leaders 
and the preachers were strong men. The early pastors were such men 
as the Revs. Wilbur Hoag, Merrit Ferguson, and Jonathan Bensom. 
In 1831 the contract for a church was let and in 1833 it was com- 
pleted. A revival started when it was dedicated and the community 
was stirred to its depths. The pastor was the Rev. J. Lent. In 1856 
the Episcopal church edifice was obtained and the adjacent lot on 
which was a dwelling which was suitable for a parsonage. Ten years 
later $4,500 were expended on the church for repairs and a few 
years later Mr. and Mrs. George Green made a generous gift to the 
church of a new, commodious and beautiful parsonage. In 1878 a 
noted evangelist, the Rev. E. E. Davidson visited this town and 
conducted a series of meetings. From this there was a great in- 
crease in the membership of this and every other church in Mount 
Morris. A fine pipe organ costing $2,200 was placed in the church 
when it was under the pastoral care of the Rev. W. B. Waggoner. The 
church is in flourishing condition and its Sunday school and Epworth 
League are active and doing efficient work. 

One of the handsomest edifices in the diocese of Western New 
York of the Episcopal Church is St. John's Church in Mount Morris. 
Its proportions, its tall and graceful spire and its situation command 
attention from every passer-by. The meeting for the purpose of in- 
corporating as a church was held on Easter Wednesday in the year 
1833. The Rev. Thomas Meacham, at that time in charge of St. 
Mark's Church, Hunt's Hollow, had been holding occasional services 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 821 

in the village school house, where this vestry meeting was called. 
He was then invited to become the first resident clergyman of the 
proposed St. John's Church then constituted, but so far without any 
designated place of meeting under that title. Mr. Meacham ac- 
cepted the call and became the first rector of Mount Morris, March 
3rd, 1834. Their first church was erected on the southeast corner 
of Chapel and Stanley streets, the corner stone being laid by the 
Rev. Dr. Henry J. Whitehouse for the Right Reverend Benjamin 
Onderdonk, Bishop of New York. The Rev. Henry S. Atwater be- 
came their next rector in 1837 and the Rev. Charles Cooper in 
1843. Mr. John R. Murray's name first appears upon the records as 
an officer of the church in April, 1844. In 1847 the Rev. M. Van 
Rensselaer, D. D., LL.D., took charge of the church. 

In 1854 it was necessary to enlarge the church to accommodate the 
growing congregation. Mr. Murray at first offered $1,500 for the 
church and lot and proposed to give another lot on which the vestry 
might build another church. He then made another offer. For the 
church and $1,500 he agreed to build the church upon another lot, the 
plans to be decided by him. This offer was accepted. The beautiful 
new church was consecrated by Bishop DeLancey, of Western New 
York, on the ISth of September, 1856. In 1857 Mrs. Murray offered 
the church a lot for a rectory and $1,500. The offer was accepted. 
Upon the death of jMrs. Murray her husband informed the vestry of 
her wish to be buried in the churchyard. Arrangements were then 
made for conveying to Mr. Murray in perpetuity a burial plot there. 
In this now repose the original donors of the greater part of the 
present church property Mr. and Mrs. John R. ^Murray. The spot is 
marked and kept sacred by a handsome granite stone. Memorial win- 
dows have been placed in the church to the memories of the ^lur- 
rays. Judge Carroll and the son of Mrs. Howell. The church is 
prosperous with a devoted membership. 

The early records of the Baptist Church of Mount Morris are lost. 
Previous to its organization there existed a small Baptist church at 
Groveland, occupying as a place of worship what is known as the 
Norton school house. It did not exist for many years and on March 
1st, 1839, its members united with the Baptists of Mount Morris to 
found the Baptist church of that village. The present church edifice 
was erected about the year 1842 by Edwin Stilson, of the Ridge, 



822 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and the dedicatory sermon was preached by the Rev. Elon Galusha, 
then pastor of the Baptist Church of Perry, and a son of a former 
Governor of Vermont. In a few years it became necessary to 
put an addition on the south end of the church, and in the year 1873 
the present lecture room and organ loft were built, and an organ 
placed therein at an expense of $2,300, all of which was promptly 
paid. Extensive revivals have characterized the history of the 
church, especially in the year 1848. At that time fifty persons were 
added to its membership. This remains at the number maintained 
for over fifty years, from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and 
seventy-five. The records having disappeared the history of the Sun- 
day school cannot be given, but is believed that the school has been 
continued without interruption during all the existence of the 
church. The late Hon. R. P. Wisner became its superintendent in 
1850 in which he remained for twenty years. After his death in 1872 
Doctor Z. W. Joslyn was elected and continued as such until his 
death in 1889. 

The first Baptist church of the town was organized at the Ridge on 
the twenty-first of June, 1823. Their meetings were held in school 
houses and private dwellings until 1827 when they built a log church 
at the Ridge where the present church stands. It was comfortable at 
all seasons and was well furnished with seats and stoves, and was the 
first house built in the town expressly for religious worship. In 
August, 1832, a revival added seventy-six to the membership of the 
church. Others followed imtil the church numbered in 1833 one 
hundred and sixty members. The church continued to prosper, and 
maintained public worship until about 1849, when, by the removal of 
many, and the uniting of others with the village church it was deemed 
best to abandon the organization. This was done and the building 
was sold to the ^lethodist Episcopal Church, who now occupy it as a 
place of worship. 

The Second Presbyterian Church of Mount Morris was organized in 
1830. The Rev. Elam Walker was the first minister and the church 
prospered. He was followed by the Rev. Messrs. Hall, AVard and 
Lindley. The society numbered about fifty members but never had 
a church edifice. It united with a school district in building a school 
house, which was used for both religious services and school purposes. 
It was situated five miles south of Mount Morris village on the west 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 823 

side of the State road. In 1841 a church of the Reformed Church in 
America (Dutch Reformed) was organized in that neighborhood and 
this church was abandoned. 

The (Dutch) Reformed Church of Mount Morris was organized in 
1841 by about twenty descendants of the old Holland stock who settled 
in this state and New Jersey almost three hundred years ago. These 
settlers came from the Mohawk valley and New Jersey, to Mount 
Morris. In 1847 they built a church about a mile north of Tuscarora. 
During that year the Rev. James G. Brinkerhoof, who came from New 
Jersey, became their pastor. He remained until 1860. There being 
no element from which the church might grow proportionately in this 
town the church remained closed from this time for any but occasional 
services until it was sold by the only surviving member, Jacob Van 
Wagn'er, to the Methodists of Union Corners in 1880. The building 
was removed there. 

The Presbyterian Church of Tuscarora was incorporated in 1844 
as a Reformed Church, by the Rev. Isaac Hammond. This had its 
origin in a settlement of the same descendants of the old settlers from 
the Netherlands. The early ministers were of the same stock and 
after its re-organization as a Presbyterian church in 1846 its pastor, 
the Rev. Peter S. Van Nest, remained with the congregation until 
October, 1851. Although its members have been much depleted by 
removals and other causes the church retains a considerable 
measure of prosperity. 

The Free Methodist Church of Tuscarora was organized in August, 
1875, with about seventy members, by the Rev. R. M. Snyder who 
became the first pastor and remained two years. He was succeeded 
by the Rev. William Southworth, who remained until the fall of 
1880. The services were held in the school house. As no reg- 
ular pastor succeeded Mr. Southworth the organization gradually 
dwindled, and has not e.xisted for many years. 

Catholicism in Mount Morris had its beginning when in 1838 a 
Father Maguire came to the village and first administered to the 
spiritual wants of the originators of St. Patrick's Church. Later 
other priests came from time to time from Buffalo, Rochester, Lima, 
Portageville and Dansville. On these occasions services were held in 
private houses, among them John Toole's in DamonsviHe, Thomas 
Sloan's on Conkey street, Keron Ryan's on Hopkins' street, and 



824 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

James Hart's on the flats. As work in the construction of the 
Genesee Valley canal, which brought most of them here, moved in 
the direction of Tuscarora, then known as Brushville, a small church 
was erected there, on ground the use of which was donated by Judge 
Carroll, of Groveland. When operations on the canal ceased, services 
there were discontinued, as the members came back to Mount Morris 
in 1842, and the little church was subsequently torn down. Being 
poor and few in numbers, they did not rebuild until 1851. During 
those nine years services were again held in private houses, in the old 
school house and in Green's Hall. Among the priests who came 
occasionally to say mass and preach for them were the Rev. Bernard 
O'Reilly, of Rochester, who afterwards became Bishop of Hartford, 
and perished at sea on his return from Europe, in 1856, Fathers 
O'Connor of Buffalo, JMaguire of Lima, Edward O'Flaherty and 
Charles Tierney of Dansville, McEvoy, Barker, D. D., and Carroll of 
Rochester, Dolan and Moore of Portage, and Fathers McKenna, 
!Murphy and Shehan of either Buffalo or Rochester. 

Lender the Rev. Father Maguire, the first church was built on the 
site now occupied by the parsonage, and facing Chapel street. It was 
a very small structure, but was subsequently enlarged two or three 
times to meet the demands of increasing membership. Rev. James 
Ryan, who came here in 1857, was the first resident priest in Mount 
Morris. Owing to poor health and an extensive mission, which 
included several of the neighboring towns, the Rev. J. Z. Kunz 
assisted him for a short time. Fatlier Ryan remained only a year and 
was succeeded by the Rev. Bernard McCool, who also had an assist- 
ant at one time in the person of the Rev. John Vahey, at another, in 
the person of the Rev. R. Stack. 

The Rev. Richard J. Story, now pastor of the Catholic church at 
Brockport, N. Y. , succeeded Father McCool, the length of whose 
pastorate was less than a year. Father Story remained in charge 
four years. Accordingly, in 1862, a new pastor came in the person of 
the Rev. Daniel Moore, who was no stranger to the people of Blount 
Morris, as he had attended them formerly while resident at Portage. 
Father Moore remained until March, 1866, when the Rev. Edward 
McGowan was appointed his successor. Father McGowan held the 
charge until 1869, when Rev. David O'Brien succeeded him. Under 
Father O'Brien the house and lot on the corner of Chapel and Stanley 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 825 

streets, owned by James Conkey, and joining the lot on which the 
church stood, were purchased. The old church was moved back and 
made into a barn and is used for that purpose now. The house, which 
stood on the corner, was moved and placed on the site of the old 
church and enlarged. The new church was then built on this corner 
lot, is a brick structure, of Gothic architecture, forty by one hundred 
feet long and cost $30,000. Its tower is 138 feet high, surmounted by 
a gilded cross si.\ feet high. The roof and tower are slated. In the 
sanctuary against the wall is a Gothic arch, thirty-six by eighteen feet 
and two side arches corresponding. Sixteen immense braces and 
brackets support the roof. Its walls are of hard finish with richly 
ornamented cornices. The church is lighted by sixteen memorial 
stained glass windows. The corner stone was laid on Thursday, Oc- 
tober, 1869, and the Church dedicated on Thursday, December 
18, 1873, by Rt. Rev. B. J. ]McOuaid. Father O'Brien left about the 
first of ^larch, 1874, and was succeeded by the Rev. M. M. 
]\Ieagher, who remained in charge a little over a year. His successor 
was the Rev. J. J. Donnelly, now pastor of the Catholic church at 
Victor, N. Y. Father Donnelly was appointed pastor of the 
churches at ]\Iount ^Morris, Geneseo and Nunda on August 1st, 1875, 
and continued in charge until the summer of 1882. Rev. James 
H. Day was appointed pastor May 1, 1893 and is still in charge. 
From July 1898 to November 1899, Rev. E. A. Rawlinson resided 
with Father Day in the capacity of assistant pastor. The congre- 
gation own a beautiful cemetery of nearly eighteen acres, pur- 
chased in 1885, at a cost of §4,379.61. The membership of the 
church is about two hundred families. 



NORTH DANSVILLE. 

North Dansville was formed from Sparta in 1846. In 1849 an 
additional part of Sparta was transferred to its territory, making it 
about three miles square. It is one of the extreme southern towns of 
Livingston county, and is its smallest in area and largest in popula- 
tion. Area 5,343 acres, and population in 1900 was 3961, of which the 
village population was 3633. It is bounded north b)' Sparta, east by 
Wayland (Steuben County), south by Dansville (Steuben county), 
and west by West Sparta and Ossian. It is mostly on the fiats of 
Canaseraga creek, between tlie high east and west hills of the upper 
valley, which rise on the east about 800 feet and in places are al- 
most precipitous. The flats here, as elsewhere in the Genesee Valley 
— of which the Canaseraga valley is a continuation — are very rich, 
and upon them fruit trees are productive and extensive nurseries 
and fine annual crops of corn, wheat, beans and vegetables are 
grown. The soil of the hillside is a gravely and clayey loam 
which feeds; vineyards of choice grapes. Canaseraga creek, which 
rises a few miles southward, runs through the town, and three or four 
other streams center here, uniting to increase the flow of Canaseraga. 
This and Mill creek furnish a great deal of good water power from the 
flow of their descent of sixty feet within the limits of the town. 

The one village of North Dansville is Dansville, which in 1900 had 
a population of 3,633 — about a third more than that of any other 
village of the county. It has been a prominent milling center for the 
manufacture of flour, paper, lumber and other articles from almost its 
first settlement. A branch of the Genesee Valley canal ended here in 
a convenient basin, and before the Erie railroad was built it was the 
selling and shipping point of the lumber interest of a very large 
region. 

There are now two railroads — the Dansville and ]Mt. Morris, which 
connects with a branch of the Erie at Mt. ilorris, and the Lack- 
awanna, which runs along the eastern hillside, and is the through line 
from New York to Buffalo. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 827 

There is no more beautiful spot of 5000 acres in Western New York 
than Dansville. The steep eastern hills, with their woods and vine- 
yards, the busy railroad and the inviting Sanatorium, afford delightful 
pictures to the dwellers in the valley, and from their high points may- 
be seen lovely landscapes on the north, west and south, including a 
long extent of the valley and the billowy eastern hills. The centering 
streams form pleasing promontories on the south, and near by are 
some charming glens, one of which, that of Stony Brook, has been 
made easily accessible for about half a mile by means of paths, bridges 
and stairways. 

Some geologists have regarded Dansville as the end of a prehistoric 
lake extending 50 miles northward to Irondequoit bay, but a Dansville 
geologist has discredited this theory and given reasons for believing 
that in the ice period, when the country was covered with masses of ice 
3000 to 5000 feet thick, moving southerly, two glaciers met at Dans- 
ville and the contact caused a counter movement which plowed out 
the valley. 

Long before the town was settled an Indian village occupied the 
site of Dansville village, and included an Indian burying ground cov- 
ering three acres. It was abandoned before Sullivan's expedition 
of 1779. 

The first family to settle in Dansville was that of Cornelius McCoy, 
which consisted of himself, his wife, two step-sons and one step- 
daughter, who came from Pennsylvania. This was in June 1795. 
William McCartney and Andrew Smith were then settled in Sparta, 
about three miles distant, having come there in 1792. The McCoys 
at first occupied a surveyor's hut, but in the fall cut logs for a house 
18 by 14 feet, and Indians helped put them in place. The house was 
roofed with basswood bark. 

The next year, according to James McCurdy, one of these step- 
sons, Amariah Hammond, Dr. James Faulkner, Samuel Faulkner, 
Captain Daniel P. Faulkner and William Porter settled there. These 
settlers, all of whom came from Pennsylvania, soon had houses con- 
structed, and became very busy men. Captain Faulkner immediately 
purchased C.OOO acres of land, and induced fifteen more families to 
move and settle in the town. He laid out the village the year of his 
arrival, and it takes its name from him. He erected the first 
saw mill in the town, and his brother Samuel put up the first 



828 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON 'COUNTY 



frame dwelling, which was of two stories. In 1796 or 1797, Captain 
Williamson had a saw mill and a grist mill built at the upper end of 
the village. The grist mill was burnt before it was entirely finished, 
and was rebuilt in 1806. Before the Williamson mill went into oper- 
ation the settlers had to go twenty miles to the Conesus outlet to get 
their grain ground. 

John Vandeventer was Dans- 
ville's first tavern keeper, in a 
plank house, which he opened in 
1797, and the same year Samuel 
Faulkner opened his two story 
house as a tavern. Amariah 
Hammond built the second log 
house in the town in 1796. 

Christopher Vandeventer and 
his three sons came from New 
Jersey in 1796. They were all 
tanners. Thomas Macklen, a 
Scotchman who came in 1797, 
taught the first school in 1798 
in a small house about a mile 
north of the center of the vil- 
lage, and had ten or twelve 
scholars. 

William Ferine came from 
Washington county to Will- 
iamsburg in 1797, and moved 
up to Dansville two years later, 
purchasing several hundred 
acres of land along the eastern 
part of the village, including both bottom and hill lands. 

Colonel Nathaniel Rochester visited Dansville in 1800, and came 
there to reside in 1810, having purchased a large tract of land which 
included the most of the water power of the village. He bought the 
mills which had been erected for the Pulteney estate, and built in 
Dansville the first paper mill of Western New York. About this time 
several mills went up. Jacob Opp built a grist mill, clover mill and 
tannery, and William and David Porter a saw mill, grist mill and 




HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 829 

paper mill. A grist mill built by David Sholl in 1800 was burned in 
1807. When Peter Sholl came, in 1808, there were about twenty 
houses. 

Some of the other settlers who came before 1800 were Frederick 
Barnhart, Jacob Martz, George Shirey, Jacob Welch, James Logan, 
William Phenix, John Phenix and Jared Irwin. 

James McCurdy of the first family of settlers wrote out some remi- 
niscenses in which he said that in their second year (1796) they took 
some of their grain to Bath — which was then considered one of the 
best markets in the western section of the state — and had to take their 
pay in goods. Grain was brought there from Geneva, and shipped 
down the Cohocton, Chemung and Susquehanna rivers. Mr. McCurdy 
said they could hardly have lived the first year (1795) had it not been 
for the Indians, who were very friendly. There were very few sheep, 
and it was diiificult to procure wool for stockings, and Mr. McCurdy 
for one sheep two years old, reaped, bound and shocked two acres of 
barley. 

William Scott of Scottsburg recollected of the business men of 
Dansville in 1807 the following : John jMetcalf and Jared Irwin, mer- 
chants, the latter also a tavern keeper: Jonathan Barnhart, tavern 
keeper; Jonathan Stout, tailor and tavern keeper; Isaac Vandeventer, 
tanner; Peter Laflesh, cabinet maker; Daniel Sholl, miller; Gowen 
Wilkinson, Amariah Hammond, Jacob Welch, James McCurdy, farm- 
ers. In the log school house north of the village services were held on 
Sunday and a singing school once a week. 

Thick rushes along Canaseraga creek were the principal food of 
the cattle during the first w-inters of the early settlers, the animals 
preferring them to hay, and it was said the rushes grew green in 
winter as well as in summer. 

Indians frequented early Dansville in the fall and winter, camping 
at the southern end of the town, and having occasional feasts and 
pow-wows there. They were invariably friendly to the whites, and 
supplied them with much game in exchange for grain and meal. 

The most of the first settlers were from Pennsylvania and New Eng- 
land, and a large proportion of them were of Scotch-Irish descent. 
Many Germans came later. 

Jonathan Rowley, who moved from Stephentown, N. Y., to Dans- 



830 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ville in 1805, bought a large tract of land and immediately put up the 
first brick building, a tavern. 

The following extract is from the New York Gazettcr ot 1813: "The 
village of Dansville is pleasantly situated on a branch of the Cana- 
seraga creek near the northwest corner of the town, thirty-five miles 
northwest of Bath. Here is a post office, a number of mills, and a 
handsome street of one and one-half miles in length occupied by farm 
houses, etc. The valley embracing this settlement contains 3000 acres 
of choice lands, and the soil is warm and productive. There is a road 
from Bath to Dansville village that leads diagonally across the center 
of this town from southeast to northwest, and another between Dans- 
ville village and Ontario county leads across the northern part. The 
population is 666, and there are about 100 taxable inhabitants." This 
quotation refers to the year 1812, or the seventeenth year after the ar- 
rival of the first settler. 

A. O. Bunnell's excellent History of Dansville contains the follow- 
ing "firsts" among others: 

First marriage, William McCartney to Mary McCurdy; first school 
teacher, Thomas Macklen; first resident minister. Rev. Mr. Pratt; 
first merchant, Daniel P. Faulkner; first millwright, Peter Sholl ; first 
physician. Dr. James Faulkner; first shoemaker, Gower Wilkinson; 
first blacksmith, James Porter; first resident surveyor, Andrew Rea; 
first tavern keeper, John Vandeventer; first justice of the peace. Dr. 
James Faulkner; first postmaster, Jared Irwin; first town clerk, Laz- 
arus Hammond; first constable Henry Cruger; first tailor, Joseph 
C. Sedgwick; first lawyers, James Smith and John Proudfit; first 
death, Nathaniel Porter; first supervisor, Amariah Hammond ; first 
carder and cloth dresser, Samuel Culbertson; first cabinet maker, 
James McCurdy; first tanner, Isaac Vandeventer; first newspaper, the 
Village Chronicle, started in .1830 by D. Mitchell; first debating 
society, the Dansville Polemic Society, organized in 1811. 

It is related of Amariah Hammond, a settler of 1796, that he belled 
his horse in order to find him after being let loose in the forest, and 
that he sharpened his dulled plough-share on a large stone; that to 
get his horse shod he had to go thirty-five miles to Bath, and to get 
scythes to cut his grass, he went to Tioga Point, where two of them 
cost him $11. 

Captain Daniel P. Faulkner spent his money freely after his arrival 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 831 

in 1796, and was enterprising and popular. For one thing, he organ- 
ized a military company of thirty men. He spent his money so freely 
and carelessly that he failed in 1798 and went back to Pennsylvania, 
but returned in 1S02, and died in Dansville. 

Dr. James Faulkner, who came in 1796 or 1797 with his father Sam- 
uel Faulkner, in some reminiscences mentioned his father's two-story 
tavern, which he opened in the fall of the latter year, and stated that 
his uncle, James Faulkner, was then living in a shanty. Dr. James 
was then only seven years old. When he grew up he studied medicine 
and surgery, practiced awhile, and then engaged in other business. 
He bought a large tract of land in Dansville about 1815, and accumu- 
lated a large fortune. He was member of assembly in 1824 and state 
senator in 1842. In the war of 1812 he went to the northern frontier 
on the staff of Gen. McClure. He was president of the First National 
bank of Dansville from the time it was started in 1864 until his death 
in 1884, his age being then ninety-four. His son vSamuel D. Faulkner 
was twice elected Vounty judge and surrogate^in 1871 and 1877. 

Reference has been made to Nathaniel Rochester, from whom the 
city of Rochester takes it name, and who came to Dansville in 1810 
to reside, and remained si.x or seven years. His former home was in 
Maryland, where he was an active business man and held several re- 
sponsible offices. His Dansville interests comprised 700 acres of land, 
a grist mill," saw mill and paper mill. He moved to East Bloomfield 
in 1815, after selling his Dansville property for $24,000, and in 1818 
from there to Rochester, where he had bought much land while in 
Dansville. He was chosen a presidential elector while in East Bloom- 
field, was the first county clerk of Monroe county, was assemblyman in 
1822, and became president of the Bank of Rochester in 1824. He 
died in 1831. Wherever he lived he was greatly respected and es- 
teemed. In Doty's history are some reminiscences of the late William 
Scott of Scottsburg, who went into the carding and cloth-dressing 
business in Dansville early in 1811 in partnership with Col. Rochester, 
the latter furnishing the necessary funds. About that time Col. Roch- 
ester was making frequent visits to the Falls, and was full of the 
flattering prospects there. Mr. Scott reports an interview with him: 
" 'The place must become an important business point, ' said Col. Roch- 
ester, and he expressed regret that he had spent so much time and 
means in Dansville, instead of going to the Falls at once, adding: 'If I 



832 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



had just made over to you by gift a deed of all my property at Dans- 
ville, and gone direct to the Falls, I should have been the gainer. 
Dansville will be a fine village, but the Falls, sir, is capable of great 
things.' I reminded him that he had established a successful paper- 
mill and other machinery at Dansville, and had otherwise aided in 
giving an impulse to the business of that already thrifty town. 'Yes,' 
said he, 'but I am past the age for building up two towns." During 
the conversation I had remarked that the name the 'Falls' was good 
enough then, but added, 'of course you will find a more fitting one as 
the place increases.' 'Ah,' said he, 'I have already thought of that, 
and have decided to give it my family name,' and that was the first 
time I ever heard the word Rochester applied to the present prosperous 
city. Col. Rochester was a fine type of the true southern gentleman." 

Frequent mention has been 
made of Captain Williamson, 
agent of the Pulteney estate and 
founder of extinct Williamsburg. 
He began to give much attention 
to Dansville soon after the first 
settlers arrived, selling lands to 
many comers and building mills. 
From 1791 to 1801 his energies 
were mostly directed to the build- 
ing up of the upper end of the 
valley, and as early as 1792 he 
established William McCartney 
close by Dansville as one of his 
land agents. 

Major jMcses Van Campen, the 
famous scout, spent the later 
years of his life in Dansville re- 
siding there from 1831 to 1848, 
the year before his death. An in- 
teresting memoir of his heroic life 

was published by his grandson, Rev. J. Niles Hubbard in 1841, and there 
is a summarized sketch of the same in A. O. Bunnell's History of Dans- 
ville, from which we select and condense. He was born in New Jersey 
in 1757 and died in Almond, N. Y., in 1849, aged ninety-two years 




HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 833 

While a boy he became skillful with the rifle, and in woodcraft. In 
school he excelled in mathematics, and learned surveying before he 
was sixteen years old. His father moved to Northumberland county, 
Pa., in 1773, and here, when !Moses was seventeen, he adopted the 
cause of the revolutionists, and was made captain of a company organ- 
ized for military drill and practice with the rifle. Soon he became 
ensign in the Continental army, and fully entered upon his career as a 
soldier in 1777, at the age of twenty. The war had then begun and 
the Six Nations had become allies of the British. Van Campen was 
placed at the head of a company to make forays against them, and 
within a few months conducted three or four short expeditions in such 
manner as to elicit warm commendations from his superiors. He studied 
thoroughly the characters and methods of the Indians, and understood 
them better than they understood themselves. His anticipations of 
their movements and aims seemed intuitive, and he was always ready 
to incur danger in meeting them. He connected himself with Gen- 
eral Sullivan's army in the expedition to the Genesee, and was made 
its quartermaster, in which position he showed remarkable ei^ciency 
in the collection and transportation of supplies. Soon he began to act 
as scout, and would go out alone, steal close to the camps of the In- 
dians, and watch and count them. General Sullivan soon discovered 
his qualities, and told him to select and command twenty-six soldiers 
as the advance guard of the army. With this company he performed 
several brave and skillful exploits voluntarily, for he continued to be 
quartermaster. He returned home from the expedition sick with a 
fever. In 1783 a party of ten Indians killed and scalped his father and 
younger brother, and made him prisoner with two other men and two 
boys, to be taken to probable torture and death. But he got hold of 
a knife, cut the bonds of himself and his companions in the night, 
killed five sleeping Indians while his companions killed four, and 
escaped. Later he was again taken prisoner in an expedition up the 
Susquehanna, and conveyed by his Indian captors to Fort Niagara. 
On the way he was compelled to run the gauntlet at Caneadea, and if 
he had been identified as Van Campen, whose name had become a 
terror to the Senecas, would have been tortured. At Niagara he 
became a prisoner of Colonel Butler, who offered him a commission in 
the British army, and threatened to deliver him to the Indians to be 
tortured if he refused to accept it, which he did. Butler placed him 



834 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

in confinement, and he was not released until after the treaty of 1784, 
when General Washington appointed him one of the interpreters for 
the Six Nations, a position which he held until a few years before his 
death. He moved from Pennsylvania to Allegany county in 17')(>, 
and there practiced surveying. In 1810 he was appointed a state sur- 
veyor to lay out some important roads. While living in Angelica he 
held several offices, among them those of judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas and county treasurer. While residing in Dansville he was 
selected for president of the day at the impressive ceremonies in 
Cuylerville connected with the removal of the remains of Boyd and 
Parker to Rochester, and at that time, although eighty-four years old 
and quite feeble, made a brief address. Mr. Treat in introducing him 
spoke of his "matchless heroism and virtues. " The combined hero- 
ism, skill and energy displayed by Major VanCampen in his military 
career were rarely equaled in the war of the Revolution. 

Red Jacket, the most eloquent of all the Indian orators, and whose 
great speech against signing the treaty made at Big Tree is a familiar 
historical event, had only a visiting connection with Dansville. This 
was in his later years when he was mourning the decay of the Sene- 
cas, their folly in signing away their land rights in the Genesee 
country, and was trying to drown his sorrows in drink. He would 
stand on boxes or steps in the streets of Dansville, in an inebriated 
condition, 'and make speeches of mixed English and Indian words, 
lamenting the departed glory of his tribe and the Iroquois League. 

The late Dr. F. M. Perine, a grandson of Captain Wm. Perine, 
whose coming to Dansville in IT)') has been mentioned, said in a paper 
before the Historical society: "Captain Perine was five years in the 
Revolutionary army, captain of cavalry under General Francis Marion; 
thinking him one of the greatest of our revolutionary generals he 
named his first grandson after him, the name I have the honor to bear. 
He had ten children all of whom grew uj) to manhood and womanhood, 
all now having passed to that unknown world from whence no traveler 
returns; the last surviving one being my father who died last spring 
at the age of eighty-four. Capt. Perine located east of Dansville, 
taking up a tract of land, in fact all lying east of what is now ;\Iain 
street (but then was simply a path cut through the woods) ; afterwards 
selling what was known as the Sheiiard and Rowley tract, reserving 
what was known as the Perine tract until his death, which occurred at 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



835 



the age of ninety-three. In connection with the flat lands taken up 
he also added several hundred acres of hill land, among which is the 
land now occupied by the Our Home on the Hillside, of Dansville. " 

Of a later early settler Dr. Ferine said: "Lester Bradner, who came 
here in 1814, together with Joshua Shepard formed a copartnership 
and conducted the business of merchants, distillers and millers. Mr. 
Bradner, selling out his interest in the store, and buying very largely 
of real estate, became in time one of the wealthv men of the section. 







'Mt^^^m^tt '^ 




MAIN STREET, EAST SIDE, DAXSVILLE, 1830 
FRO^I PEN SKETCH BY H. C. SEDGWICK. 



1 Josliua Shepard Store 

2 Geo. Hvlaud's Hat Shop") ^„,, , ., -,.. 

3 Holmes' Harness Shop I Called the Three 

4 Hasler's Tailor Shop \ fc»i!>ters 

5 R. Dav. Office aud Resideuce 

6 W. F. Clark Store 

7 Babcock Drug Store 

8 Wilson Teasdale, Watch Shop and Tenement 

House 

9 Mrs. Rowley Residence 



ID S. W. Smith Residence 

11 Smith aud Melviu Store 

12 Archway Leadtng^ to Potashery 

13 S. Hunt" Grocery and Haruess'Shop 

14 S.Huut, Residence 

15 O. D. Stacy, Tavern and Residence 

16 J. C. Sedgwick. Tailor Shop aud Residence 

17 J. C. Sedgwick, Tenant House 

18 Davis Orchard 



836 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and one of the most successful business men. He was instrumental in 
establishing the Bank of Dansville. and was chosen its first president 
in 1839 or 1840, and continued in that capacity for many years." 

Speaking of the time of Mr. Bradner's arrival (1S14) Dr. Ferine 
said: "Dansville had now emerged from its primitive state, and 
numbered among its one hundred inhabitants the Browns, Hartmans, 
Bradleys, Coverts, Abram Dippy, Justus Hall, the Smiths, Melvin 
Rowley, who was the model tavern keeper for many years, Hunt the 
harnessmaker, Sedgwick the tailor, Taggart the hatter, and the famous 
Pickett the grocer." 

Joshua Shepard came to Dansville from Connecticut in 1813, and 
became a successful merchant, almost all his trade being barter, on 
account of the scarcity of money. He would go to New York in the 
winter, riding all the way in a cutter. He was public spirited, and 
gave the land for the first church building in Dansville, besides assist- 
ing largely in paying for it. 

Dr. W. F. Clark, who came to Dansville in 1814 and commenced the 
practice of medicine, found one other physician in the village, Dr. 
James Faulkner. Later he engaged in several other kinds of busi- 
ness — had a lumber yard, an ashery and a store. He was influential 
in getting Dansville and adjacent territory set off into Livingston 
county. 

The brothers Solomon and Isaac Fenstermacher came in 1805, and 
for some time built most of the frame houses, including the only 
three-story building in the county at that date, called "Solomon's 
temple." 

Some of the later residents of the most prominence have been 
George Hyland, who came to Dansville in 1829 as a hatter, and ac- 
quired considerable wealth ; Reuben Whiteman, who came in 1851, and in 
the lumbering business became the wealthiest man in town; Emerson 
Johnson and Harriet N. Austin, closely associated with Dr. James C. 
Jackson in the development of the Health Resort; Judge Isaac N. 
Endress, John A. VanDerlip, D. W. Noyes, Samuel D. Faulkner, Job 
E. Hedges and Charles J. Bissell, all of whom became distinguished 
as legal practitioners; Sidney Sweet, a studious and much-traveled 
man, of great business ability, who was state senator in 1856-7; 
George Sweet, inventor of valuable agricultural machinery; David 
Mitchell, Archelaus Stevens and E. C. Daugherty, early editors and 



(ifflSllTAllM 




PACKET-BOAT 

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SCKNK UN C.\X.\I. AT COMMINSVII.I.K. 



838 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

publishers. One of the present editors and publishers is A. O. 
Bunnell, who started the Dansvillc Advertiser in 1860, and is known 
throughout the United States as secretary of the New York Press 
Association for about thirty years, as secretary of the New York Re- 
publican Press Association for a dozen years, and as having been 
president of the National Press Association in 18')4-5-6; another is 
Frederick A. Owen, head of the F. A. Owen Publishing Company, who 
within fifteen years has built up in a small village one of the large pub- 
lishing houses of the state, and established three magazines of enor- 
mous circulation; and another is Oscar Woodruff, who has published 
and edited the Dansville Express about a quarter of a century, and has 
been elected supervisor of the town and president of the village an 
uncounted number of times. The list of these later worthies might 
be considerably extended. 

As early as 1833 there w'ere fifty-five saw mills within a circuit of a 
few miles of Dansville, and in 1843 a number of steam mills h^d been 
started and the manufacture of lumber had increased enormously. 
The canal was opened then, and Dansville's most rapid growth was in 
the decade of the canal period between 1843 and 1853, before the com- 
pletion of the Erie railroad. The lumber business brought hundreds 
of teams and men to the village during the winter months, and the 
mills and stores and canal for transportation made it the chief center 
of trade between Bath and Rochester the year round. The business 
of the paper mills alone amounted to $200,000 a year, and they paid to 
their 200 employes over $100,000 a year. The total value of products 
shipped by canal from Dansville in 1844 was $250,000, while in 1850 
they amounted to $605,469, and the value of those received, to $1,287,- 
166. During this period packet boats were run regularly, and much 
of the time were crowded with passengers. 

Twice movements have been started to erect a new county from 
portions of Livingston and adjoining counties, and make Dansville its 
capital; but there was strong opposition in the northern towns of Liv- 
ingston and the movements were failures. They took place in 1830 
and 1853. 

An academy was started in Dansvillc in 1858, and provided good 
instruction the most of the time until the establishment of the present 
Union School caused it to be abandoned, in 1882. For a long period 
the district schools of the village were poor, but in the present large 




►J 
o 
o 

X 
u 






840 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



and handsome school building, constructed in 1887-8, all grades of in- 
struction from kindergarten to college preparatory are taught by an 
able corps of teachers. 

Dr. Philip vScholl came in 1808, and his daughter has said that at 
that time, and for some time afterwards, a log schoolhouse north of 
the village, was used for religious services, and there was not yet a 
professing Christian in the place. The irregular preaching was by a 
missionary or circuit rider who came along. Quoting from Doty's 
histor}': "As early as 1807 services were irregularly held in a tumble- 
down building a mile north of the village by a Presbyterian minister, 
but it was not until March 25, 1825, that the Presbytery of Bath or- 




THK ORIOIN.M, W.\TKK d'KE AM) SlRRdfNDINGS. 



ganized a church at Dansville. 'The church then organized,' says 
Calvin E. Clark, 'consisted of a small colony of nine members from the 
first Presbyterian church of Sparta, and two from the Presbyterian 
church in Buffalo, making eleven in all, which was placed under the 
care of the Rev. Robert Hubbard as stated supply. Additions were 
gradually made to this feeble society until the summer of 1827, when 
the church united with the Presbytery of Ontario, having at this time 
forty-six members.' " 

A little later Joshua Shepard donated a lot and contributed $1,000 




Dr. James C&leb Jackson. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



841 



besides, for a church for the society, and it was built at a cost of 
$3,500, and dedicated in 1831. In 1840 the society divided, and there 
were two congregations, and not until 1861 were they re-united. 

In 1818 occasional Methodist services were held at Merrit Brown's 
house by Rev. Thomas Magee and Elder Nash. During the next two 
years there was a revival through the ministrations of Rev. ilicah 
Seager and Elder Chester B. Adgate. In 1821 several Methodist 
families had come, and a class was formed. The first quarterly meet- 
ing was held in 1825, and this was followed by a prolonged revival. 
The first Methodist church was erected in 1829, and the first pastors 
were Rev. Robert Parker and Rev. Thomas Carlton, the first trustees, 
Merritt Brown, William Curtice and Benjamin Pickett. 




J.\CK.SON HEALTH RESORT— M.\IN IR-n.UING. 

The institution which has been most beneficial to Dansville, next to 
its schools and churches, and most extended its reputation, is The 
Jackson Health Resort. It was established in 1858 by Dr. James C. 
Jackson under the name of "Our Home on the Hillside;" became the 
property of a stock company with the founder as its head in 1872. and 
the name was changed to"Our Home Hygienic Institute," which it bore 
until 1882, when— the main building having been destroyed by fire. 




DR. JAMES II. JACKSON. 




TRKSKXT J.-\CKSON HH.-il.TH RKSdKT. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 843 

and replaced by the present great brick structure — it was called "The 
Sanatorium." In 1888 the name was again changed to "The Jackson 
Sanatorium," and again in 1904 to "The Jackson Health Resort." Con- 
nected with the main building as a part of the property are a number 
of cottages, a hall for public gatherings and various out buildings. 
The extensive and finely shaded grounds, with their paths, lawns and 
flowers, have been laid out and adorned with admirable taste, and 
from both buildings and grounds the views down, up, and across the 
rare valley are enchanting. To the founder, Dr. James C. Jackson — a 
philanthropist, reformer, writer and orator of great ability and origi- 
nality — -must be accorded the chief credit for the great success of the 
institution and its good reputation, extending over half the globe. 
Its present head is his son. Dr. James H. Jackson, who is a worthy 
successor of his distinguished father, and has been wise and skillful in 
adopting and applying new discoveries and improvements, thus keep- 
ing pace with the progress of the times, and a little ahead of them so 
far as sanatoriums are concerned. The institution has always been' 
prosperous, and was never so prosperous as now. The following state- 
ment of an admiring writer may be readily accepted: "The Jackson 
Health Resort, beginning with 1858, has been the center of the great 
health movement involving methods of hygiene, sanitation and pre- 
vention." A list of the cures effected and physical and mental 
conditions improved there during the almost half a century of its 
operation would fill a volume. All this has been chiefly the result of 
teachings and methods, but largely also, of the pure dry air on that 
Eastern hillside and the hygienic water of its All Healing spring. 

One of Dansville's important institutions is the F. A. Owen Pub- 
lishing Company, one of the largest printing and publishing plants in 
the Empire state. The business began in a small way at South Dans- 
ville, Steuben county, N. Y., in the year 1889 and has steadily grown 
until now its standing in the educational field is among the foremost, 
its publications permeating every quarter of the globe. The prin- 
cipal business of the concern is the publication of Normal Instructor, 
Primary Plans, and World's Events — the first two professional maga- 
zines for teachers, and the last a magazine of current events for the 
general reader. Besides these, the company publishes a vast amount 
of other educational literature, and conducts a large job printing plant. 
The business was originated by F. A. Owen whose name the com- 



844 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

pany bears. His office was the attic of a country grocery store and ' 
his capital consisted only of an idea! and a liberal amount of energy ' 
and pluck. Teaching by mail was his object at first, but this was » 
dropped when he entered upon the larger work of jiublishing Normal 
Instructor in 1891. In the spring of 1892 the business was moved to i 
Dansville, in order to obtain better printing and mailing facilities, j 
Various quarters were successively engaged and outgrown until the ( 
present new and commodious building was completed in February, I 
1904. This building (a cut of which appears elsewhere) has a front- i 
age of 150 feet and a depth of 200 feet. The front portion is used for j 
business offices of the company, the book and art de[)artments; the 
rear portion is devoted to the mechanical departments and stockroom. 
The mechanical equipment of the plant is complete and modern in ' 
every respect, the presses and all other machinery being operated by 
electric power. More than one hundred and fifty young men and 
ladies are employed in the various departments, whose weekly pay 
amounts to about thirteen hundred dollars. 

Dansville has one of the best libraries in proportion to its popula- 
tion of any village in the state. It is the outgrowth of a movement 
started by a few public spirited citizens in 1872, who formed a library 
association, and in various energetic and ingenious ways obtained 
money and books whereby a circulating library was opened in 1874. 
This was increased annually by means of entertainments, stock sales 
and donations, until in 1893 the property was transferred to the re- 
gents, and came under the supervision of the State, thus obtaining 
annual State appropriations to increase its books and usefulness. It 
has been admirably managed from the beginning and supplied the 
people of the village with many of the best books which would not 
otherwise have been accessible to them. 

A supplementary means of information and education to the schools 
and tlie library has been the Coterie, a Dansville literary society 
started by A. O. Bunnell and George C. Bragdon in the fall of 1873, 
and kept in vigorous condition ever since, so that it has now been in 
active existence thirty-two years. It has been guided by high ideals, 
and the limited membership has included persons who were or have 
been noted in various fields of activity. Its investigations have been 
in many departments of knowledge, it has given much attention to 
the great classics of literature, and its studies have been much 



N 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 845 

broader, while quite as thorough, as those of the Chautauqua circles 
which it antedated. 

The first local branch of the Red Cross Society in the United States 
was organized in Dansville by Clara Barton, the head of the national 
society, who was a resident ot the village for many years, and a mem- 
ber of the Coterie. 

A superior fire department in Dansville is made more efficient by an 
admirable system of water works with sufficient head to force water 
far above the top of any building. The department was started by 
the organization of the Union Hose company in 1874, and there are 
now several companies. They have been a great protection to the 
village which had before suffered from fires that were very disastrous. 
The water works also supply the houses with pure spring water. 

Dansville abounds in prosperous fraternal societies, the oldest and 
strongest of which is Canaseraga Lodge No. 123 I. O. O. F. This was 
organized in 1844, and has been one of the most spirited and useful 
of Odd Fellows lodges. Nearly all of the leading men of the town 
have belonged to it, and its esprit de corps has never waned. 

Among the calamities of the town have been two or three destruct- 
ive floods; three devastating fires, one in 18S4 and two in 1859; two 
bank failures, one in 1884 and one in 1887, with heavy losses to many 
depositors. The fire which destroyed the Health Resort's main build- 
ing in 1882 can hardly be called a calamity, as all the 150 patients 
were saved, the building was well insured, and the fire resulted in the 
erection of the present magnificent brick building on the spot of the 
old frame structure, with much more extensive and convenient 
accommodations. 

In this connection we quote from Mr. Bunnell's history; "In 1796 
the settlers heard a sound like a clap of thunder or the discharge of a 
great cannon, followed by the rushing noise of water. Then they dis- 
covered that a new stream was pouring from the eastern hillside, and on 
further inspection that it had burst through the rocks with such force 
as to throw out stones weighing from 200 to 300 pounds, and cast an 
oak tree two and one-half feet in diameter down the hill butt foremost, 
and split the hill from north to south. Thus was born the 'All Heal- 
ing Spring' of the Sanatorium, and the stream that pours from it, 
which has diminished with the lapse of time. In 1841 it turned the 



846 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

water wheels of a tannery. But for it Our Home on the Hillside ami 
the Sanatorium would never have been erected." 

The Rochester Presbytery News of June, 1903, contains a communi- 
cation about the Presbyterian church of Dansville. It was organized 
in 1825 with eleven charter members, and Rev. Robert Hubbard was the 
stated supply until 1834. A church edifice was built in 1831. Inl84o 
the church divided and a new church was established, but a reunion 
took place in 1861, when a new edifice was erected. In 1892 the pres- 
ent modern and beautiful building was constructed. This wasduring 
Rev. George K. Ward's pastorate of twenty-five years, ending in 1898. 
He was succeeded in a few months by Rev. Charles M. Herrick, the 
present pastor, under whose preaching and guidance the membership 
and congregation have largely increased, and the church been more 
prosperous then ever before. 

Most of the available facts connected with the early history of St. 
Patrick's Catholic Church, Dansville, may be gleaned from the Golden 
Jubilee History compiled by Rev. Jas. T. Dougherty in 1900. The 
Rev. P. Prost, Redemptorist priest of Rochester probably first visited 
the Catholics of this vicinity, and it is also a matter of tradition, that 
Rt. Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, at the time of his death Bishop of Hart- 
ford, Conn., came here from Rochester. As early as 1806 the Cath- 
olics of Rochester had mass celebrated by Rev. Patrick Kelly. They 
had a church in 1823. The Rev. Edward O'Connor [)astor of Canan- 
daigua, who formed missions in East Bloomlield and Rushville in 1850 
and 1851 was among the early visiting clergymen and is reported as 
having said mass here in a hall. The time of the appointment of the 
Saintly Bishop Timon to the new diocese of Buffalo in 1847 marked a 
new and progressive era for Catholicity in Western New York. 
Dansville early attracted Bishop Timon's attention and he sent the 
Rev. Edward O'Flaherty to be the first resident pastor for St. Mary's 
Church which the Germans and a few Irish had built. Thf^' had used 
the old school house moved from Main Street for a time as a church. 
The corner stone of St. ^Mary's was laid in 1845. In 1829 the (Jermans 
received a new pastor. Rev. Andrew Sweiger, and it was agreed that 
Father O'Flaherty should minister to the Irish and both nationalities 
should use the same church. After a time a disagreement came and 
the Irish withdrew to the old school house and finally from there to 
the town hall where Bastian's store now is and which was used for 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



847 



service till the church was built. The corner stone of St. Patrick's 
church was laid 1849 and the foundation was covered till further funds 
could be obtained. At this point it will be interesting to mention how 
the ground for the church was secured. Nathaniel Rochester had do- 
nated the church square to the people of Dansville and it was in the 
care of the "United Society," an organization of leading citizens. 
Finally a public meeting was held with John Sullivan as chairman. 
At the meeting it was unanimously voted that the portion of ground 
already staked out, six rods square, should be given to the Irish Cath- 
olics for church building purposes. Father O'Flaherty left in 1850. 

Father Charles Tier- 
ney was his successor 
and in 1851 attended 
Bath, Mt. Morris and 
Portage. He built 
the side walls and 
roofed the church at 
an expense of $1500. 
He had Rev. M. T. 
Maguire as an assist- 
ant in this extensive 
field. Father Tierney 
went from here to 
Portage and after- 
w a r d s to Buffalo. 
Father Donnelly was 
in charge from June 
1852 to May 1853. 
Father Story came 
here in those early 
days — Father Moore 
attended from Hornellsville, Father ^IcLaughlin and Father 
McKenna's names also appear, the latter remained from May to 
Sept. 1853. The marriage records also witness to the ministry of 
Kev. Terence Keenan. The Rev. Aloysius Somoggi was pastor 
seven or eight months. The Rev. Daniel Dolan and Michael Casey 
were at the helm of the church for a short time until Rev. Michael 
Steger was transferred from Perkinsville to the double mission of 




ST. P.\TRICK'S CHl'RCH. 



848 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Dansville and was pastor five years. Father Koenig assisted him 
for a time. Father Marshall was pastor a few months in 1861. Father 
Bradley also was pastor in 1861 and Rev. ChrysostoQ Wagner the lat- 
ter part of 1861 and until ^lay 1862. Father Sergius de Stchouiepni 
Kofi was pastor from May 1S62 to January 1864. The Rev. Joseph 
Albinger was pastor from 1864 to 1871. Father Albinger kept 
charge of both parishes until the arrival of Rev. Michael Biggins, July 
5, 1871. The addition to the church was commenced in August 1872 
and completed in a short time. Father Biggins was pastor six year.s 
and was succeeded by Rev. Simon FitzSimons, who is known for his 
zeal and scholarly attainments. He was likewise pastor si.t years. 
The Rev. James Day was pastor from March 7, 1884 until 1893, Father 
Dougherty was his successor until 1901. The Rev. William T. Dunn, 
after a short interim in which the parish was ministered to by priests 
from St. Bernard's Seminary, succeeded. 

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church of Dansville had its indi- 
vidual beginning in 1835, when the Lutheran members of the Union 
church, composed of Lutheran and Reformed members, obtained let- 
ters of incorporation, adopted a constitution and elected officers. 
They erected a church building on the square in 1847, at a cost of 
about §3000. This was occupied in January, 1848, Rev. John Selmser 
being then the pastor. Mr. Selmser resigned, and was followed by six 
other pastors, when after twenty-three years he became pastor for the 
second time. During the pastorate of Rev. W. M. Benson the church 
was remodeled at a cost of $3,000. Under his successor, Rev. C. G. 
Bikle, other changes in the building, at a cost of $1,000, were made. 
The present pastor is Rev. J. J. Minnemier, who came to the church in 
May, 1905, following Mr. Bikle. The first local branch of the Red 
Cross society was organized in this building in 1881 by Clara Barton, 
then a resident of Dansville. In 1901, by the will of Mrs. Elias 
(ieiger, §3,000 was put into the hands of the trustees as a trust fund, 
the interest of which was to be for the benefit of the church. With- 
in three years the membership of the church has increased ninety- 
five per cent. 

The German Evangelical Lutheran Church, from a transcript of the 
German writing contained on the first and second pages of the docu- 
menta'Cy record placed in the corner stone of the church in 1826, we 
find that no pastor of this particular faith visited Dansville until 1809. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



849 



Mr. Wilbur 
secured for 
a year and a 



The church historian states that among the early settlers came many 
Germans from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, most of whom 
were of the Evangelist Lutheran and Reformed congregations. 

The first pastor Rev. Mr. Markel, was called here from Pennsyl- 
vania, preaching every four weeks in both German and English in the 
school house. Being forced by old age to retire from the ministry in 
1815, Mr. Markel was not succeeded by a regular pastor until 1823, 

when the services of 

Rev. 

were 

about 

half. 

In September 1825, 
Rev. Mr. Marten 
of Sunbury, Conn., 
took it upon himself, 
after having at this 
time become the reg- 
ular pastor of these 
people, to combine 
their interests so that 
a church edifice 
might be built to 
answer for both con- 
gregations. The en- 
terprise was finally 
agreed upon and un- 
der the name of St. 
Jacob the house was 
to be dedicated. The 
trustees under which the church was built were, on the Lutheran side: 
Jacob Opp, John Hartman, and Abraham Zerfass, and on the Reform- 
ed side: Daniel Hamsher and Philip Kershner. 

The building committee was composed of Abraham Zerfass, John 
Hass, John Hartman, Jacob Welch, Sr., and Adam Hamsher. The 
church officers on the Lutheran side were: Elder, Jacob Opp; 
Deacons, Abraham Zerfass and John Hass; and on the Reformed side 
were: Elders, Daniel Hamsher, Solomon Fenstermacher; and Deacons, 




FIRST GERMAN LTTHERAN CHURCH. 



850 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

George Knaus, and Christian Fritch. Daniel G. Allmendinger was 
the clerk whose signature was attached to the document from which 
the above information was compiled. 

Just when the church was first organized has never been recorded, 
but it was among the earliest in the village and the first to erect a 
house of worship, the corner stone of which was laid on the 4th day of 
July, 1826, the date made famous in history by the almost simultan- 
eous deaths of ex-Presidents of the United States, John Quincy Adams 
and Thomas Jefferson. The ceremonies attending the laying of the 
corner stone were participated in by the Masonic fraternity of the 
village and surrounding towns, a military company and a large con- 
course of people. Abraham \'rooman was the master builder who 
constructed this substantial edifice. 

In November of the same year, the church was dedicated under the 
pastorate of Joseph Martin, who, after serving this church faithfully 
for many years, accepted a call from Ilarrisburg, Pa., where he died. 

The Rev. Mr. Wells and Rev. Mr. Rarnhardt served the parish for 
the next two or three years, the church having no settled pastor. 

Rev. David Lester was the next minister in charge of the church, 
of whom any record has been kept, and he was followed by Rev. 
Messrs. Strover, vSelmser, Miller, Sternberg, Lautz. Klein, Strobel, 
Borchard, Rumpff, Boyer and Young, until 1874, when Rev. Paul L. 
Menzel commenced his labors as pastor continuing in this capacity 
until 1887, removing that year to Richmond, Va., where he now resides. 
Rev. Richard Krause, was the minister from 1887 to 1897. Rev. 
Theo. Whittlinger, located at present in Tonawanda, N. Y., from 
1897 to 1900. Rev, John J. Lehman from 1900 to 1902,and the present 
pastor. Rev. R. T. \'orberg was appointed to the charge in January 
1903. 

During the ministration of Rev. Wm. T. Strobel, who was pastor 
from ]\Iarch 12, 1859, to May 18, 1863, the church edifice passed into 
the hands of the present congregation, the right to transfer same 
having been given by decree of the County Court, .Sept. 16, 1861. 
Dec. 2, 1861, a deed of the church property was given by John Shutt, 
George Zerfass, Benjamin Kidd, James Kiehle and R. Steffy, a major- 
ity of the trustees of the two congregations aforementioned, to William 
Schwendler, John C. Engert and Jacob Schwingle, trustees of this 
church, for the almost nominal sum of $800. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



851 



A few years after the dedication of the church, a fine pipe organ 
was placed in it. As it was the first of its kind ever brought to 
Dansville, it was an object of curiosity and admiration. There was 
then no regular organist in the village, and an accomplished performer 
named Snyder, residing at Avon, was hired to take charge of it en 
the Sabbath. He traveled from his place of residence to Dansville 
every week for a long time. When Mr. Selmser resigned his pastor- 
ate, he purchased the organ, which had become an object of conten- 
tion in the troubles which beset the church, and removed it to Lockport. 

In 1876, the church under- 
went extensive repairs. It was 
re-dedicated August 6, 187C>, 
service being conducted in both 
German and English, the for- 
mer by the pastor. Rev. Paul 
L. Menzel, and the latter by 
the Rev. P. A. Strobel. 
^ -^^mm The church severed its con- 

■ M^^9n nection with the United Ger- 

■ /4Hfe4r B BB man Evangelical Synod of 
I » r^BIB| ^Bj ; North America in the year 1900 

and now stands independent. 

It is probable that the Meth- 
odists first settled in Dansville, 
notlaterthan 1811. The first 
preaching by one of their min- 
isters was done by Robert Par- 
ker at intervals during the years 
1812-13-14. It is probable that 
others continued these occa- 
sional ministries until 1819 
when the Annual Conference formed the Dansville Circuit. This cir- 
cuit had twenty-four preaching places and extended from East Sparta 
five miles below Bath. The first preachers appointed were Micah to 
Seager as Senior Traveling Preacher, with Chester V. Adgate as the 
Junior. They were required to preach twice each Sunday, and every 
night in the week. Mr. Adgate continued on the circuit two years 
and was followed in 1821 by James Gilmore and later by Andrew 




THE METHODIST CHTRCH. 



852 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Prindle. The First Quarterly Meeting is said to have been held in 
1825. At the Conference of 1828 Robert Parker was appointed to this 
circuit and began at once to secure funds with which to erect a church. 
About $800 was subscribed and the work of building was commenced. 
The church was erected on the public square a short distance south of 
the present location of the Presbyterian church. It was dedicated in 
1829 by Wilber Hoag, at that time pastor at Perry and LeRoy. The 
church remained on this site until the present structure was erected 
on Chestnut street. The society was incorporated about this time. 

In 1831 William D. Buck and Thomas Carlton were appointed to the 
circuit. At this time the circuit embraced the following towns, viz., 
Dansville, .Sparta, Groveland, Springwater, Conesus, some parts of 
Naples and Livonia. There were fifteen preaching places. 

A full list of Preachers since 1849 is as follows:— 1849-50, John T. 
Raines; '56, David Ferris: '52, James Tuttle; '53, C. S. Baker; '54- 
55, K. P. Jervis; '56, John Mandeville; '57-58, J. J. Brown; '59, Wra. 
Holt; '60, Chas. S. Fox; '61-62, Isaac Gibbard ; '63, C. M. Gardner; 
'64, J. S. Bell; '65, E. Wood; '66-67, R. D. Munger; '68-69-70. H. 
Van Benschoten; '71-72, D. Leisenring; '73, J. Landreth; '74, T. J. 
O. Wooden; '75-76-77, Geo. W. Coe; '78-79, J. T. Gracey; '80, 
James Hill; '81-82, T. H. Youngman; '83-84-85, Wm. C. Wilbor; '86- 
87-88-89-90, Geo. W. Peck; '91, J. T. Canf^eld; '92-93-94-95-96, A. O. 
Sykes; '97-98-99-1900, F. J. Chase; '01-02-03, Irving B. Bristol; '04- 
'05, Benjamin Copeland. 

During the pastorate of Geo. W. Coe, the splendid brick church 
on Chestnut avenue was erected at a cost of $18,000, of which 
amount $8,000 was unprovided. The debt had been decreased until in 
1884 it amounted to l$5,500. \V. C. Wilbor w^as pastor at this time 
and instituted a vigorous canvass for funds to pay off the incum- 
branches. A debt paying Jubilee was held December 31, 1884 when 
the mortages were burned in public. 

The Parsonage now owned by the church, situated on Chestnut 
Avenue was purchased during the pastorate of Irving B. Bristol, at a 
cost of a little over $2,000. 

During the pastorate of Frank J. Chase, the church interior was 
thoroughly renovated. Some partitions were changed and all the 
walls handsomely decorated. New carpets and a new piano were 
purchased. The present membership is about 300. There are 227 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



853 



scholars enrolled in the Sunday School. The Epworth League has a 
membership of sixty-five. The Board of Trustees is composed of the 
following:— C. F. Snyder, G. S. Wilson, F. L. Ripley, W. J. Baker, 
D. E. Rau, J. W. Burgess, G. E. Saltsman, C. A. Artman and C. M. 
Kiehle. 

St. Peter's parish was organized April 13, 1831 at a meeting held in 
the little Methodist chapel. The Rev. Wm. W. Bostwick presided and 
the following officers were elected : Wm. Sharp and Amos Bradley, 

Wardens; Justus 
Hall, James Smith, 
Sedley Sill, Benj. 
C. Cook, Alonzo 
Bradner, George 
Hyland, David 
Mitchell, and Hor- 
atio Taggart, ves- 
trymen. Of the 
other official acts 
of Mr. Bostwick 
there is no record. 
In Feb. 1833 the 
Rev. Lewis Thibon 
began officiating 
here once in four 
weeks, driving over 
from Angelica. 
He reported to the convention ten communicants and that the 
prospects of St. Peter's were good. He kept up the work till 
1835, when he removed from Angelica and his successor does 
not seem to have taken it up. In 1837 Mr. Sharp, the senior 
warden, moved to Waterford, Pa., and until 1842 the services were 
discontinued. In that year the Rev. N. F. Bruce was appointed 
missionary in this section and officiated at St. Peter's once a 
month. March 20, 1843 Mr. Bruce was asked to take charge of 
the parish as rector which he did and continued in office until 
July 1, 1846. The second rector was the Rev. Payton Gallagher 
during whose rectorship the church was built and consecrated. The 
consecration service was held 25th of May 1847 by Bishop Lancey. 




ST. PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



854 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Mr. Gallagher was forced to resign on account of ill health and in July 
1849 the Rev. Oran R. Howard took charge staying in Dansville until 
called to Bath in 1857. Dr. Howard was succeeded by the Rev 
Thomas G. Meachem who remained in office until the spring of 1860 
July 22 of that year the Rev. V. Spaulding was elected rector, who, re 
signing in 1862 was followed fay the Rev. J. C. L. Jones and the Rev 
Robert C. Wall, both of whom remained but a year. In 1867 the Rev 
Lorenzo D. Ferguson became rector but resigned in 1870 to take 
charge of St. Mark's Church, LeRoy. The next two years the church 
was served by supplies, but in April 1872 the Rev. Luther H. Strycker 
accepted the rectorship and remained until May 1st, 1873. The ves- 
try then called the Rev. Joseph Hunter who for two years guided the 
affairs of the parish. Then ensued another unfortunate vacancy until 
April 1877 when the Rev. James B. Murray became rector. Ill-health 
caused him to resign and in Nov. 1878 the Rev. A. P. Brush took up 
the work which he carried on most successfully until April 1883 when 
he was called to the rectorship of St. Thomas, Bath. The next rector 
was the Rev. Joseph H. Young, who continued in charge fifteen 
months. After his resignation, owing to the failure of one of the 
banks, many of the liberal supporters of St. Peter's became financially 
involved, and so the vestry found it impossible to support a rector 
until June 1887, when the Rev.Wm. P. Chase entered upon his duties. 
During the interim the Rev. Hale Townsend a patient at the San- 
atorium occasionally ministered at the church and it was at that time 
the organ was placed in the addition erected at the northwest corner of 
the building. Mr. Chase was rector a little over a year leaving for 
California in Sept. 1888. For two years the church was again without 
a rector, though the Rev. E. A. Martin, then a candidate for Holy Or- 
ders, held services as often as his studies would permit. The next 
rector was the Rev. R. M. Sherman who held his first service June 15, 
1890 and continued in charge until Nov. 28, 1892. It was during his 
rectorship the boy choir was introduced and changes made in the 
chancel. Following Mr. Sherman was the Rev. James P. Foster who 
was rector from April 17, 1894 to May 1895. In June of that year the 
Rev. A. W. Bostwick became rector, resigning in Jan. 1897. The Rev. 
Henry W. Kirkby then took charge, resigning in Oct. 1899. He was 
succeeded by the Rev. J. L. Porter in Feb. 1900, his rectorship 
ended in Feb. 1902. May 25, 1902 the Rev. Stephen H. Ailing the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



855 



present rector entered upon his duties. In May 1904 ground was 
broken for a parish house, the corner stone was laid June 30th, and in 
Feb. 1905 it was opened for regular use. 

The Dansville Baptist Church was organized in 1850. The first 
pastor, called in 1851, was Rev. Howell Smith. The first trustees 
were Paulinus Cook, George Hovey, Barnett Brayton, Martin R. Mar- 
cell, Lemuel J. Smith and Charles L. Truman. A church building 

was erected later, on which 
extensive repairs were com- 
pleted in 1890, and a fine 
parsonage was built in 1892. 
Rev. W. H. Brown ii the 
present pastor. 

An Advent Christian 
Church was organized in 
1860 by twelve "believers in 
the speedy and personal com- 
ing of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
It did not have a long exis- 
tence. 

Dansville sent many men 
into the Union army during 
the Civil war, and a number 
of them achieved distinction 
in the service. Several of- 
ficers were supplied from the 
ranks of the Canaseragas, a 
famous militia company of 
Dansville composed of prom- 
inent citizens, which had be- 
come one of the best drilled companies in the state under the tuition 
of its captain, Timothy B. Grant. 

In 18f)3 the town paid a bounty of ,^300 to each of twenty-seven men, 
and 18()4 voted to pay a bounty of $600 for each volunteer, or substi- 
tute, or the family of a drafted man, up to the number needed to fill 
the town's quota, and in 1865 voted to pay more bounties to volunteers 
just before the draft was ordered. 




BAPTIST CHl'RCH. 



856 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



The following is the list of North Dansville's supervisors: 



Sidney Sweet 1846-47-48-49 

John Goundry 1850 

Henrv Hartman 1851 

E. B. Brace 1852 

Alonzo Bradiier 1853-54 

Matthew Porter, Jr 1855-56-57-58 

Joseph W. Smith 1859-60-61-65-66 

Samuel D. Faulkner 1862-63-64 

John A. VanDerlip 1867-68-69-70 



James Faulkner, Jr 

1871-72-73-74-75-83-84 

George A. Sweet 1876-77-78 

Lester B. Faulkner 1879-80 

Albert Sweet 1881-82 

Wm. Kramer 1885 

James E. Crisfield 1886-87-88-89 

Oscar Woodruff 1890-91-92-93-94-95 

J. J. Bailey 1896-97 

B. G. Foss 1898-99-00-01-02-03 

The following table gives the assessed valuation and tax rate of the 
town since I860: 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valuation 


on $1000 




Valuation 


on $1000 
11.89 




Valuation 


on Siooo 


i860 


813,661 


8.17 


1875 


1,381,537 


1S90 


1,473,451 


7.70 


1861 


804,548 


8.68 


1876 


1,308,179 


12.61 


1891 


1,650,900 


6.72 


1862 


567.125 


9-73 


1877 


1,265,259 


13.46 


1892 


1,623,843 


5-29 


1863 


800,496 


9.81 


1878 


1,240,524 


13.26 


1893 


1,615,950 




1864 


838,081 


20.00 


1879 


1,450,238 


14.81 


1894 


1, 572, .501 


5-15 


1865 


802,107 


39-70 


1880 


1,483,299 


14-34 


1895 


1,571,974 


5.83 


1866 


895.751 


26.30 


1881 


1,470,581 


14-45 


1896 


1,565,927 


5-03 


1867 


828,798 


18.53 


1882 


1,457,637 




1897 


1,646,213 


5-05 


1868 


826,759 


15.04 


1883 


1,588,134 


14.09 


1898 


1,641,680 


4.64 


1869 


803,944 


12.85 


1884 


1,531.543 


14-23 


1899 


i,fi44,42o 


5-32 


1870 


781,049 


15.87 


1885 


1,580,932 


12.55 


1900 


1,644,314 


4.72 


1871 


755.777 


17.99 


1886 


1,558,567 


7-63 


1901 


1,681,903 


4-31 


1872 


772,586 


22.33 


1887 


1,539,366 


8.52 


1902 


1,719,032 


2.89 


1873 


719,868 


22.18 


1888 


1,587,108 


6-53 


1903 


1,766,827 


2.81 


1874 


1,388,175 


10.44 


1889 


1,541,435 


7-99 









PORTAGE. 

Portage, the southwestern town of Livingston county, has an area 
of 15,585 acres, and its population in 1900 was 1,029. It is bounded 
north by Mt. Morris, east by Nunda, south by Granger (Allegany 
county) and west by Pike (Wyoming county). It was first a part of 
Southampton, Ontario county, and in March, 1805, was made a part 
of Leicester, Genesee county. In 1806 it was transferred to Allegany 
county as a part of Angelica, was merged in Nunda when that exten- 
sive town was formed in 1808, and was not made a separate town until 
1827. In 1846 both Portage and Nunda were taken from Allegany 
county and anne.xed to Livingtson county. Portage was named from 
the carrying place around the falls of the Genesee river, which flows 
along its western border. 

It is a hilly town, and some of the hills rise several hundred feet 
above the lower levels. Along the river the scenery approaches 
Niagara in grandeur. The Genesee has cut a stupendous gorge 
through the shale rock, and the banks on either side rise nearly per- 
pendicular in places from 200 to 250 feet above the swift flow of the 
water and the plunges of its falls, of which there are three within three 
miles. The upper falls are seventy-three feet high, the middle falls 
110 feet, and the lower falls sixty-eight feet. The Genesee valley 
canal which formerly crawled along the side of the almost mountainous 
range is a thing of the past, and the remains of an attempted tunnel 
for its passage through 1180 feet of rocks are still visible. This tunnel 
was commenced in 1839 under Elisha Johnson at a point on the south- 
ern side of the gorge, and its southwestern termination was to be near 
the middle falls; but the walls caved in from the crumbling of the 
shale during the years when work on the canal was suspended, and 
what was then the greatest undertaking of the kind in America was 
abandoned. The wooden railroad bridge near the upper falls is 
another recollection of the past, having been destroyed by fire in 1875, 
and an iron bridge substituted. The old wooden bridge was long an 
interesting object to tourists. It united the two banks 235 feet above 



858 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the river in a single span of 280 feet, and when built was said to be 
the largest wooden bridge in the world. 

The soil of Portage is a clay loam in the eastern part and a sandy 
loam in the western. The small villages are Oakland, Hunt's Station 
and Portage Bridge. 

Oakland is in the eastern part of the town, and long ago was called 
Messenger's Hollow. Hunt's Station, on the Erie railroad is near the 
geographical center of the town, and much produce is shipped from it. 
Portage Bridge, at the end of the high bridge, has a station, hotels, and 
a few dwellings, and is much resorted to by tourists, excursionists and 
others. 

L. L. Doty is authority for the statement that Jacob Shaver was the 
first man to enter the wilds of Portage and build a log cabin. This ■ 
was in 1810, and the next year he was followed by Ephraim Kingsley 
and Seth Sherwood. Other earliest settlers named by Mr. Doty were: 
Prosper and Abijah Adams, Enoch Haliday, Walter Bennett, Russell 
Messenger (who gave the name to Messenger Hollow), Nathaniel B. 
Nichols, Asahel Fitch, Elias Hill, Joseph Di.xon, Solomon Williams, 
George Wilmer, Stephen Spencer, Willis Robinson, Alien Miller, Elias 
Moses, Horace Miller, Thomas Alcott, Joseph and Thomas T. Bennett, 
Benjamin Fordyce, Horton Fordyce, Reuben Weed, Cyrus Allen, Wm. 
Dake, Nathaniel and Charles Coe. 

"In 1816," says Mr. Doty, "Colonel George Williams, as sub-agent of 
the Pulteney estate under Mr. Greig, came to Portage and under his en- 
terprise and skillful management the lands were brought into market 
and rapidly .sold to settlers. Col. Williams, who was a son of Dr. 
William A. Williams of Canandaigua, continued as agent for the sale 
of these lands for many years, and such was his liberal and considerate 
manner of dealing with the settlers, and yet the conscientious regard 
he manifested for the interests of his superiors, that he was held in 
high esteem, and retained through life the confidence and respect of 
those having dealings with him." 

Col. Williams became an extensive land owner himself. His agency 
in Portage covered 25,000 acres which had been known as part of 
the Cottinger tract, and in 1807 had been surveyed by Elisha Johnson, 
and subdivided into lots of about 165 acres each. He was said to 
have been the first man to advocate the building of a railroad through 
the southern tier of counties, and the first to advocate the construe- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 8S9 

tion of the Genesee Valley canal, and afterward he was a liberal pro- 
moter of both enterprises in preparing the way for them and facilitat- 
ing their construction. He was one of the negotiators in the purchase 
of the Gardeau reservation from Mary Jemison. He died in 1874 in 
his eighty-first year, as the result of injuries in being thrown from a 
wagon, and at that time owned nearly 3000 acres of land lying mostly 
on the east side of the Genesee river near Portage Station. 

Quoting from Doty's history : "Sanford Hunt emigrated from Green 
county to Livingston county in December, 1818, with his wife and 
seven children. Mrs. Hunt was a native of Coventry, Tolland Co. , 
Connecticut. Her maiden name was Fanny Rose, and she was a niece 
of the lamented Nathan Hale of Revolutionary memory, and daughter of 
a surgeon in the Continental army. The little household had tarried 
at Sonyea for two or three months, and reached Portage in January, 
1819. Of their way to Portage, Samuel R. Hunt says: 'In coming 
in from the direction of Mount Morris, we passed much of the way 
over corduroy roads, and through the si.x mile woods between the 
present river and State roads, across the White Woman's tract. We 
came out upon an old clearing east, called the Shaver place. Fording 
the creek twice we came to anchor as far south as the road was opened. 
There was not a bridge across the creek from source to mouth, though 
one was built the following spring. There were bvit three families 
south of here, by way of the State road, in eleven miles — that is, to 
the junction with the Dansville road. These were George Gearhart 
and a son-in-law, John Growlin and Andrew Smith. Here were also 
Henry Bennett, Nathaniel B. Nichols and Walter Bennett, his partner 
(who built a saw mill the year before), Enoch Miller, Henry Devoe, 
Elder Elijah Bennett and several single men. Deacon William Town 
and Henry Root lived near, and last, though not least, Elias Alvord, 
potash boiler." 

"On the west was Ephraim Kingsley, on the Nash farm. Mr. 
Hunt says: 'He first took up the farm in 1816, and set, I think, the 
first apple orchard on the Cottinger tract, unless it be a few trees 
on the Shaver place. Solomon Williams set a good orchard, and did 
more to introduce good fruit, apples especially, than any farmer I 
know of. He went to Utica, Chenango, and afterward to Canandai- 
gua, for grafts, and by saving some and discarding others he left, 
perhaps, the best and most profitable varieties in the county. South 



860 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of him was Warren Carpenter, cm the Short Tract road and west of 
him Samuel Fuller, a Revolutionary pensioner from Rhode Island." 

"Turner says of Sanford Hunt: 'He had come to the then new re- 
gion, with a large family, after business reverses, which had left him 
little but a manly fortitude and spirit of perseverance, to rely upon. 
He engaged in farming, merchandising in a small way, (his goods 
principally obtained in Geneseo), erected mills, an ashery, was a val- 
uable acquisition to the new country ; retrieved his broken fortunes; 
and what was a moral triumph of far more consequence, reared and 
educated a family of sons and daughters who have proved worthy of 
such a father, (and such a mother it might well be added).' Hunt's 
Hollow is so called from the fact of his residence there. He left five 
sons, among whom were Samuel R. and Horace Hunt of Hunt's 
Hollow, and Washington Hunt, governor of the State in the years 
1851 and 1852. 

"The future governor laid the foundation of his education in the 
common district schools of Portage, after which he was a student in 
the Geneseo academy, paying his way by doing manual labor morn- 
ing and evening. He afterward entered the store of Bissell & Olm- 
sted, of Geneseo, and when INIr. Bissell removed to Lockport, he fol- 
lowed him thither, at the age of seventeen years. There his progress 
and advancement were rapid, until he had attained the highest posi- 
tion in the State." 

He was appointed the first judge of Niagara county in 1836, was 
elected to Congress in 1842, 1844 and 1846, was elected state comp- 
troller in 1849, and governor over Horatio Seymour in 1850. In 1852 
he was again a candidate for governor but was defeated by Mr. Sey- 
mour, and thenceforth devoted himself to agriculture, and especially 
horticulture, on his farm near Lockport. He died in 1867. 

To return to his father, Sanford Hunt: he was chosen librarian of a 
library association organized at Hunt's Hollow in 1824, and patrons 
came to his store from many miles around to draw books. One of his 
visitors was John Mohawk, the Seneca Indian whom Major Van 
Campen tomahawked. Mr. Hunt's trade with the Indians was large, 
extending along the Genesee valley from Squakie Hill to Caneadea, 
and he had their entire confidence. It has been said of him : "Sanford 
Hunt was a worthy representative of the better portion of the 'ancient 




Hornby Lod^e. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 861 

regime.' He was liberal, public spirited, of sterling integrity, a 
noble, quiet, unostentatious man." He died in Portage in 1849. 

Elisha D. Moses, son of Elisha Moses, who came to Portage in 1816, 
emigrated from Connecticut with his father's family, and became the 
first physician of the town. He was prepared for practice, began it 
at once, and continued imtil 1837, when he moved to Rochester. His 
parents had twelve children. 

Other early comers were Horace and Orrin Miller, the latter of 
whom became distinguished as a Methodist preacher. Others were 
Thomas Bennett, Robert, George and Reuben Gififord, Elias Bowen, 
Benjamin Utter, Nathaniel Lewis, John McFarline. 

The first tavern in Portage was opened by Prosper Adams in 1817, 
and the first store by Sanford Hunt in 1819. Russell Messenger built 
the first' saw mill and the first grist mill in 1817. These were located 
at Hunt's Hollow, now Oakland. Soon a second grist mill was built 
by Thomas Alcott near the head waters of Spring brook. In the 
early '20s there were fourteen saw mills in town on Kashaqua creek, 
and as many more on the Genesee river and other streams. Horace 
Miller and Miss Bellinger taught the first schools in 1817. 

An anonymous historical paper, of the historical society says: "No 
district of the same extent has exceeded Portage in turning out from 
common schools so many scholars and business men. We name 
among these Dr. Moses, Dr. Parmelee and two brothers, Col. Williams, 
Solomon Williams, Gov. Washington Hunt, Lieut. E. B. Hunt, San- 
ford and Horace " Hunt, David Bennett and four brothers, Nathaniel 
and Hiram Olney, George Gearhart, Prosper Adams, Zophar Strong, 
John Boughton, Curtis Coe, Dr. Carpenter, Aziel Fitch, Elijah 
Elmer, S. Spencer." 

Nearly opposite Mr. Letchworth's famous "Glen Iris," on the east 
banks of the Genesee, "Hornby Lodge" was built by Elisha Johnson, 
afterwards mayor of Rochester, as a residence while he was to be oc- 
cupied in cutting the tunnel for the Genesee Valley canal through the 
side of the gorge below — the tunnel which, as has been stated, was 
never completed because of the caving in of the disintegrated shale 
rock. It was begun in 1840, the year of the exciting log cabin cam- 
paign which elected William Henry Harrison president. As Mr. 
Johnson was an ardent supporter of Harrison, he made his "Hornby 



862 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Lodge" a log cabin, but not of the ordinary style. It has been 
described as follows; 

"Each corner of what would otherwise have been a square house 
was cut off, and wings projected therefrom, each having a door open- 
ing into a large room, which as a result was an octagon; and in the 
center, utilized as a support for the timbers of the floors of the upper 
rooms, and the roof, which was framed into it, stood a large oak tree. 
Only the lower large room was octagonal, the upper rooms of the main 
structure being left rectangular. The upper or second story was left 
square, the corner projecting over the rooms in the wings below." 

All the furniture was constructed out of the rough limbs of trees, 
and exhibited all shapes of natural crooks. The wings were divided 
into rooms of convenient size. The large central room opened on four 
of its eight sides upon as many ornamental porches which extended 
from wing to wing, and on its four alternate sides into rooms in the 
several wings. The upper rooms were reached by a winding stairway 
nicely fitted to the central large oak tree, and led to the top of the 
observatory. Around the base was a cabinet of geological specimens 
and natural curiosities. Above the tWo stories rose the large observ- 
atory making two stories more. The interior decorations were in 
pleasing harmony with the main design, and included stuffed skins of 
different kinds of squirrels and birds on projecting perches. 

This unique and interesting structure cost about §3,000. It was a 
headquarters for canal men — commissioners, engineers, foremen and 
others, and many distinguished persons were entertained there. The 
projected tunnel was to run directly underneath it, one hundred feet 
below. Mr. Johnson's daughter was married in the lodge in the win- 
ter of 1840-41 in the presence of a large party of invited guests, some 
of them from Rochester, who w'ere detained there nearly four days by 
a big snow storm. Here the celebrated landscape painter. Thomas 
Cole, was entertained while he was painting his picture of the gorge 
and falls presented to Gov. Seward by a committee representing his 
friends and admirers. The painting was six by eight feet, and was re- 
garded at that time as a masterpiece of its kind. It probably still 
hangs in the Seward mansion in Auburn. Mr. Cole also made a sketch 
of the lodge, which through the kindness of Mr. Letchworth we are 
permitted to reproduce. 

It was during the suspension of work on the canal — for six years 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 863 

from 1842 in consequence of a change of the administration — that the 
tunnel caved in, and when work was resumed in 1848, and an open 
cut along the bank was decided upon in place of the tunnel, its course 
involved the demolition of the lodge, in 1849. During the days of 
Hornby Lodge a lattice bridge spanned the river a few rods above the 
middle falls. 

C. D. Bennett in a historical paper says: "The settlers of the whole 
town of Nunda (which then included Portage) seem to have gotten 
their mails from Mt. Morris and Geneseo until 1818, when the Nunda 
postoffice was established at Oak Hill by Dr. E. D. Moses. It grav- 
itated to Kashaqua, Greigsville, or the Hollow, as it was called, in 
1823, Sanford Hunt becoming postmaster. After Portage was formed 
the postoffice was moved to Wilcox Corners, and finally in 1832 to 
Nunda valley. In 1828 ^Mr. Sanford established the Hunt's Hollow 
postofifice." 

Quoting again from Mr. Bennett's paper: "The settlements that 
had formed the town of Nunda grew but slowly, for the hardpan lands 
of that frosty region proved deceptive. Alarmed by the rapid im- 
provement of the Cottinger tract, to prevent a removal of the capital 
they divided the town in 1818, on the transit line, the petitioners taking 
the new organization, named in honor of Gen. Z. M. Pike, the hero of 
Little York. The new town of Nunda held its first town meeting at 
the house of Joel Porter near the mouth of Wiscoy creek. Its site and 
the road on which it stood were long since abandoned. The capital, 
located at Oak Hill, was then a central point. There the lines of 
travel crossed and the roads leading. south ward separated, one passing 
through Hunt's Hollow, for some years the stage route from Mt. 
Morris to Angelica, the other known as the Short Tract road, leading 
farther west through a region now grown to an indefinite extent." 

Of the canal building period Mr. Bennett says: "In 1836 the loca- 
tion of the Genesee Valley canal filled the people with high hopes. 
The deep cut, Johnson's tunnel, the rock section and the aqueduct 
employed large numbers of men. For the many locks a large amount 
of material was massed or contracted for. The sudden suspension of 
the work in 1842 spread commensurate disaster. It not only burst the 
bubbles of speculation; it shattered the base on which legitimate busi- 
ness rested, and destroyed confidence between man and man. What 
ground for confidence could remain when the State broke faith with 



864 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

her citizens, repudiated her contracts, and virtually went into bank- 
ruptcy ? Perhaps in no place did the panic sweep more fearfully, or 
the ruin leave a greater wreckage than in Portage, for there the heav- 
iest jobs were let and the largest crowds of men employed." 

Mr. Bennett again: "After four years of rest, work was resumed 
on the canal, but its completion in 1857 was like the respite that 
reach3s the victim after his execution. The. lumber it had been de- 
signed to float away had been hauled to Mt. ^lorris. Though all were 
ready to welcome the Genesee Valley railroad in its stead, the town 
was tantalized by a railroad without a depot. '^Mountains and rivers 
interposed make enemies of nations,' and of neighborhoods as well. 
Neither Portageville, Oakland nor Hunt's Hollow was centrallylocated. 
Local feuds became more bitter than party strife. In the spring of 
1846 the electors in town meeting assembled at Portageville, and voted 
unanimously for a division of the town along the course of the river. 
By a similar vote the east side, retaining the name and three-fifths of 
the area, chose to go with Nunda into Livingston county, while the 
west side, the ninth town derived from the first Nunda, went with 
Pike and Eagle into Wyoming county, named Genesee Falls." 

A glimpse of the lumbering in Portage in the days when there were 
many pine trees from 150 to 300 feet high is of interest. Some of 
the trees were from seven to nine feet in diameter near the base, and 
it was estimated that some of the pine lands would make 75,000 feet 
of lumber an acre. There were slides down the 200 or 300 feet slope 
to the river, over which the logs darted, and then were floated to Port- 
ageville. From there the lumber had to be hauled several miles to 
below the falls, and thence was rafted to Rochester, where it sold for 
from seven to ten dollars a thousand. After the canal was completed 
it had a better market, but the supply had greatly decreased. 

The vear 1902 was the semi-centennial of the completion and open- 
ing of the railroad from Hornellsville to Attica. The B. & N. Y. C. 
R. R. was opened from Hornellsville to Portage on January first 1852, 
and on August 25th of that year the crossing of the wooden railroad 
bridge spanning the Genesee for the first time was celebrated by a 
great barbecue, when, it was estimated, 25,000 people were present 
and crossed the bridge. The present iron bridge was completed the 
same year that the other was destroyed by fire, being opened for traffic 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 865 

July 31, 1875. The railroad extension referred to was the "birth of 
Hunts," where a station was then established. 

The first church in Portage was organized in January, 1820, and was 
Presbyterian. It became at once a part of the Presbytery of Ontario, 
but in February, 1829, was transferred to the Presbytery of Angelica. 
It was located at Hunt's Hollow, and its first minister was Rev. Mr. 
Lindsley. In 1825 the membership numbered eighty-three, and in 
1832 it was 111. Rev. Phineas Smitii succeeded Mr. Lindsley as pastor 
in 1829, and Mr. Smith was succeeded the ne.xt year by Rev. Abel 
Caldwell, who remained six years. Some of the elders in those years 
were Erastus Norton, Silas Olmstead, J. B. Hewitt, Edwin S. Olm- 
stead, Joseph C. Burton, Arad French and Delos C. Wells. The 
church was consolidated with a Presbyterian church at Oakland in 
1848. Here a church building was erected by the society in 1850. It 
was destroyed by fire in 1871, when the members scattered to other 
churches, the most of them uniting with the Nunda Presbyterian 
church. As the first settlers of Portage were from New England they 
included more adherents of the Presbyterian church than all the others 
combined. 

St. Mark's (Episcopal) church was organzied at Hunt's Hollow in 
1826. The first wardens were Sanford Hunt and Walter Bennett, 
and the first vestrymen were Joseph Bennett, Miner Cobb, 
Thomas T. Bennett, Henry Bagley, Roswell Bennett, vSamuel R. Hunt, 
Greenleaf Clark and Lewis Peet. The society erected a church build- 
ing in 1828, and it was dedicated by Bishop John Henry Hobart. The 
first rector was Rev. Richard Salmon, who remained about two years, 
and was succeeded by Rev. George Bridgeman, and the latter, after a 
few months, by Rev. Thomas Meecham, who was rector four years. 

In 1819, w'hile Portage was a part of Nunda, Elder Samuel Messen- 
ger and eleven others met near Hunt's Hollow and organized the 
Nunda Baptist church. The names of the eleven were Russell 
Messenger, Aaron Thompson, Jr., Elijah Bennett, Jacob Devoe, Wm. 
Greening, Susannah Greening, Huldah Root, Rhoda Ann Bennett and 
Sally Thompson. The inconvenience of meeting places for services 
led t(j a division in 1828, when the Portage Baptist church was organ- 
ized with eighteen members. The new society did not own a church 
building until 1848, when it purchased one of the Presbyterian church. 
In 1829 representatives of this and several other Baptist churches met 



866 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



with the Portage and Castile church and formed an association. This 
was soon after the abduction of William ^Morgan, and the delegates 
resolved that "this association shall be composed of such Baptist 
churches only as have no fellowship Masonry." Elder Samuel 
Messenger acted as pastor of the society at first. Then Gilead Dodge, 
a licentiate at Mt. Morris, held services for it on alternate Sundays, 
and he was followed by Silas Morse. 

When the civil war began in 1861 thirty-si.\ men of the town of Por- 
tage quickly volunteered, and entered the army. In 1862 the town 
furnished forty-five more volunteers, nineteen more in 1863, and in all 
during the war 152. Their faithfulness and bravery obtained for 
them a historical record which is an honor both to themselves and 
their town. The total amount paid by Portage in bounties during the 
four years of the war was §47.250, and the private contributions of its 
people swelled this amount to $48,500. 

On account of the destruction by fire of the town records in 1868 
complete lists of town officers previous to that date are not obtainable, 
and the following list of supervisors is not complete, even from the 
time the town was annexed to Livingston county: 



James H. Rawson 1846-49-50-51 

Horace Hunt 1847-54 

Win. Hontjliton 1848 

John G. White 1852 

James S. Lvon 1853-55-64-65-66-68 

Thomas T. Lake 1856 

Amnion Smith 1857-58-59-60-61 

Joel C. Bennett 1862-63 

John A. Lvon 1866 

Charles H.' Randall 1867 

Benj. F. Kueeland 1869-71 

Charles D. Bennett 1870 



Merriman J. W'ilmer 1872-73 

John Fitch 1S74-75-76-77-78 

John JI. Griffith 1879-80-81 

J. J. Williams 1882 

C. F. Bennett 1883-84 

O. L. Crosier 1885 

A. J. Burroughs i886 

J. O. Willet 1887-88-89-90 

H. E. Lyon 1891 

E. A. X'ash 1892-93-94-95-96 

James M. Parker... 1897-98-99-00-0 1-02-03 



Assessed vaulations and tax rates have been as follows: 





Assessed 


TBI Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Kate 




Assessed 


Tax Kate 




Valuation 


on $1000 


1875 


Valuation 


on »1000 


1890 


\ uhiation 


on »1000 


i860 


374,161 


7-41 


730,371 


7.21 


731,364 


7.46 


I86I 


363,964 


14-32 


1S76 


689,680 


5-22 


1891 


691,655 


5.66 


1862 


371,518 


13-30 


1877 


674,259 


7.83 


1892 


689,233 


8.24 


1863 


365,439 


13.48 


1878 


642,871 


4.98 


1893 


761,124 




1864 


396,449 


17.80 


1879 


662,899 


6-75 


1894 


752,464 


6.15 


1865 


423,605 


50.20 


18S0 


682,929 


6-54 


1895 


725,724 


7. 87 


1866 


380,087 


20.60 


1881 


667,898 


4-77 


1896 


715,908 


6.91 


1867 


376,351 


20.85 


1882 


565,233 




1897 


741,340 


8.65 


1868 


375,643 


16.09 


1883 


749,956 


5.60 


1S9S 


734,625 


7-41 


1869 


373,240 


10.19 


1884 


753,193 


5.26 


1899 


728,315 


8.61 


1870 


377,491 


13-15 


1885 


771,943 


S-40 


1900 


724,098 


7-85 


1871 


370,397 


13-IS 


1886 


766,411 


6.35 


1901 


718,769 


6.62 


1872 


367,371 


20-13 


1887 


759,917 


6.0s 


1902 


717,280 


6.27 


IS73 


360,411 


13.18 


18S8 


758,628 


5-57 


1903 


717,912 


8.62 


1874 


746,616 


5-72 


1889 


751,621 


9-54 









« 



SPRINGWATER. 

Springwater, once a part of Middletown, Ontario county, was 
formed in April, 1816, from Naples and Sparta, then both a part of 
Ontario county. It is located in the southeastern corner of Livingston 
county, being bounded north by Conesus and Canadice (Ontario coun- 
ty), east by Naples (Ontario county), south by Wayland and Cohocton 
(both in Steuben county) and west by Sparta. The eastern part ex- 
tends six miles beyond the general east line of the county. It is the 
largest town in Livingston county, with an area of 32,562 acres, and its 
population in 1900 was 2,016. 

Apart from Springwater Valley, which is five miles long, of varying 
width, and ends on the north at Hemlock lake, the town is mostly 
hills, but the farms are generally fertile, and the soil being a sandy 
and gravelly loam intermixed and interspersed with a good deal of 
clay, is better adapted, on the whole, to grazing than grain growing. 

The principal stream is Hemlock lake inlet which flows northward 
through the valley and a marsh at the end of the lake. Cohocton river 
rises in the northeastern part, and flows southward into Steuben 
county. 

Springwater village is in Springwater valley — an enterprising and 
prosperous place, which had a population of 500 in 1900. It is the chief 
business center of the town — a good trading point, with several stores, 
and manufactories, an enterprising newspaper called "Enterprise," 
and the Erie railroad near by for transportation. Webster's Crossing is 
a hamlet and Erie railroad station in the northwestern part of the town. 

D. B. Waite of Springwater is authority for the statement that the 
first settlement of the town was at Hunt's Hollow, in its northeast 
corner, and the first settler was Jonas Belknap, a soldier of the Revo- 
lution from ]\Iassachusetts. His cabin was built in Richmond, 
Ontario county, in 1795, but his land claim extended into present 
Springwater, and he was the first to make improvements in the town. 
About a year afterward Andrew Hunt extended his land claim into 
Springwater, and set out an orchard on the extension. The next year 
James and John Garlinghouse put up a cabin near by, and became the 



868 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

first actual residents of the town, and there Mary Garlinghouse, the 
first white child born in Springwater, saw the light in June, 1797. 
These settlements were on the extreme edge of the town, and be- 
fore Mr. Waite published his information about them the first settler 
was supposed to be Seth Knowles, a native of Connecticut, who estab- 
lished himself on the east side of Springwater valley, a mile above the 
lake, in 1807, building there a log house. 

Doty 's history says: "The ne.xt settler was Samuel Hines, who 
located here in 1808. He built a saw mill the following year, three 
miles above the lake, which subsequently became the property of Far- 
num and Tyler. Hugh Wilson, who came from Northumberland, Pa., 
built the pioneer grist mill in 1813, at the foot of the hill where the 
road from Scottsburg enters the valley. It was a frame building 
about twenty-two by thirty, two stories high, and had two run of 
stones. Elder John Wiley, who settled in Springwater on the 14th of 
March, 1815, found thirty families in the town. He crossed Hemlock 
lake on the ice, returning from the war then just closed. * * The 
hamlet of Springwater then contained one frame dwelling house, built 
by Samuel Story on the premises subsequently owned by Harvey S. 
Tyler, a frame barn built by ilr. Watkins, of Naples, and a little frame 
seven-by-nine store erected by Hosea H. Grover, who kept the first 
store, built the first ashery and made the first barrel of potash. There 
were also three frame sawmills and a frame gristmill, besides four or 
five log houses. There was then but one schoolhouse in the town, a 
small log structure. " 

The first distillery was built by Alvah Southworth. It was a frame 
building, and its still made about twenty gallons of w-hiskey a day. 
The first wool carding and cloth dressing machine was put up by 
Edward Walker in 1831. It was a frame building twenty-two by thirty 
feet and two stories high. 

On the site of the village of Springwater there was but one log house 
from the first settlement of the valley lo 1824. In that year a state 
road laid out from Bath to Livonia, crossing another road, established 
a four corners, and made the spot the natural center for trade, when 
buildings began to appear. 

Settlers who came soon after Knowles and settled near him were the 
Gilberts. The head of the family was Reuben, and his children 
numbered ten. Two brothers soon followed him, Reuben and Phineas 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 869 

Gilbert, and John Alger put up a saw mill in 1811, which did a good 
business for many years. "The Gilberts," says Orson Walbridge, 
"cleared many acres of pine timber, erected scores of buildings for the 
country round about, and for quality of work, promptness and honesty 
in deal they left a good name." 

Others who came about that time were David Badgers, David Gelath, 
Jesse Hyde, Oliver Jennings, Jonathan Lawrence, John Wiley, 
Thomas, Andrew, Amos Spafford, David Luther, Alvin South- 
worth, Zadock Grover, Jared Erwin and Levi Brockway, Jr. 

Samuel .Story built and occupied the first frame house in town. He 
also built the first saw mill. Jonathan Lawrence was among the fore- 
most of the early settlers who souglit to establish public worship. 
Oliver Jennings was one of the first few to build a log cabin, built the 
first frame barn, and kept the first hotel. The first physician was Dr. 
David Henry. 

Martin Hopkins remembered arriving in the town with his father 
and Stephen Walbridge in 1819, and building a house, and the next 
year starting a blacksmith shop; that John Wiley also had a black- 
smith shop, and that David Luther was located there as a shoemaker. 

Seth Knowles, the first settler of the valley, when he came from 
Massachusetts in 1805 stopped first in Livonia for a year and a half, 
and came on to his permanent home in the fall of 1806. With him 
came also his son Jared and his brother-in-law Peter Welch and they 
brought guns, a.xes and provisions. After they had built a log house, 
they returned to Livonia for the winter, and on March 31, 1807, Seth 
Knowles and his family went up Heirilock lake on the ice and took 
possession of their forest home. He cleared eight acres on the flat, 
and lived there till 1821, when he traded with David Jolatt for a farm 
on the east side of the lake, where he remained until his death. He 
had twelve children. 

John Wiley and Hosea Grover have been mentioned as early ar- 
rivals. Mr. Wiley was a blacksmith, but joined the Methodist church 
in 1821. entered its ministry, and was a zealous preacher the rest of his 
active life. He had several children. Mr. Grover opened the first 
store of the town, and, like other of storekeepers the period in that 
region, had an almost exclusively barter trade. He exchanged goods 
for shingles, boards, maple sugar and potash, because almost no cur- 
rency was to be had. Boards were rated at seven dollars a thousand 



870 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

feet, shingles at twenty shillings, common shirtings at fifty cents a 
yard, pigtail tobacco at 5fty to sixty cents a pound and salt at five 
dollars a barrel. This was about 1814. It is probable that there were 
then only two or three horses in town. Produce and other things 
were carried on the muscular backs of the pioneers long distances. 
Mr. Wiley has said that his first school teacher was Harvey S. Tyler, 
then eighteen years of age, but James Blake had kept school before 
him in the log school house. 

Orson Walbridge, who has written a sketch of the early history of 
Springwater which was published in 1887 in pamphlet form, moved 
to Springwater with his parents in June, 1819, from Otsego county. 
He attended school winters in the log school house, and worked on the 
farm summers. Some years later he learned carpenter and millwright 
work, and helped construct several buildings. Two of his jobs were a 
meeting house for the Christian church on the east hill and one for the 
Presbyterian church in the valley. He also built several mills in 
Springwater and Steuben county. He held town offices several years, 
among them those of supervisor, justice and commissioner of highways. 

Edward Withington came from Massachusetts in 1813 with three 
sons and a daughter. He became the owner of one of the best farms 
in town, and made money raising Saxony sheep. His sons Samuel 
and Nathaniel carried on the farm a dozen years after his death in 
1855, and then sold it. The daughter married Hon. Wm. Webber, 
who went to East Saginaw, Mich., and became (me of the leading law- 
yers and politicians of the state. 

Among later residents of prominence and influence were Jared 
Erwin, Amos Root, Prentis AV. .Shepard, Elisha T. Webster, Maurice 
Brown, the Dyers, Ira Whitlocl?, Joseph C. Whitehead, Dr. John B. 
Norton, Dr. Arnold Gray, John Weidman. Dr. Norton served in the 
war of 1812 on Long Island as first sergeant. He afterward studied 
medicine, commenced practice in Auburn, and moved from there to 
vSpringwater in February. 1820. Here he practiced his profession a 
while with Dr. Arnold Gray, and then became a farmer. Dr. Gray's 
coming from Washington county was in 1824. He rode over Spring- 
water and adjoining towns to cure and care for the sick from that time 
almost to the day of his death in 1879. He was a faithful, sympathetic 
and skillful physician, highly esteemed by the profession as well as by 
his neighbors and patients. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 871 

The first annual meeting of the town was held in a school house in 
April 1817, when the following officers were elected: supervisor, 
Oliver Jennings; town clerk, Hugh Wilson; assessors, Jonathan Law- 
rence, Solomon Doud, Alexander McCuller; commissioners of high- 
ways, Samuel Story, Solomon Doud, Josiah Fuller; school commis- 
sioners, Samuel Story, Solomon Doud, John Culver; overseers of the 
poor, Henry Cole, Sam Story; school inspectors, John W. Barnes, 
Ephraim Caulkin, Thomas Grover; constable and collector, Jonathan 
Lawrence; pathmasters and fence viewers, John Johnson, Salmon 
Grover, David Marshall, Samuel Sparks, John Porter, John Wadams, 
Thomas Willis, Daniel Herrick, Joab Gillett, Simeon Shed, William 
Fuller. The sum of $250 was appropriated for highways, and it was 
voted that all hogs of over fifty pounds weight should be free com- 
moners. The first justice of the peace, who were then appointed by 
the governor, were John Culver and Joab Gillett. 

Alvah Southworth, the second supervisor, served ten years, and was 
sent to the Legislature. Through his influence a postofifice was estab- 
lished in 1818, and he was its postmaster thirty years. 

The following statement of Elder John Wiley about early religious 
matters in Springwater is reported in Doty's history: 

"On reaching the valley (1814) I found Elder John Cole, a Baptist 
minister, there. He was the first clergyman who settled in the town. 
Of the Methodist society, Phin'eas Gilbert, a native of Massachusetts, 
who located in Springwater in 1810, was the class leader when I 
reached there. The society then consisted of half a dozen persons. 
The Methodist circuit then embraced Bloomfield and Springwater, 
ot. Hemlock Valley, as our place was then called, and was supplied by 
the Rev. Elisha House, a man of superior parts, assisted by James S. 
Lent, a son-in-law of Lemuel Jennings, of Geneseo. The first quar- 
terly meeting ever held in the town was under charge of Abner Chase, 
presiding elder of Ontario district, in 1820 or 1821, in the barn of 
Jonathan Lawrence, who was then the class leader. The society met 
at private houses until the school house accommodated it better. 
There was no Presbyterian society, nor any member of that church in 
the town when I reached there. In a year or so, Mrs. Lucy Chamber- 
lain, my grandmother, who had been a member of the Presbyterian 
church at Dalton, Mass., for fifty-one years, came here to reside with 
her daughter, Mrs. Lawrence, wife of Jonathan Lawrence. The old 



872 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

lady took a letter from the Rev. Mr. Jenings, of Dalton, on leaving 
there, but told him she had learned that there was no Presbyterian 
congregation at Springwater, and that she would unite with the Meth- 
odists, which she did. The Rev. Mr. Bell, a Presbyterian missionary, 
preached a sermon in the house of Dr. David Henry in 1816, the first 
sermon preached by a Presbyterian minister in the town, I think." 

Families of Springwater and Canadice of the faith known as Chris- 
tians held meetings a number of years in the Waite schoolhouse in 
Canadice. In 1830 some of them organized as the Christian Church 
of Canadice under the leadership of Rev. Amos Chapman. About this 
time meetings were also held in the Williams schoolhouse in Canadice, 
and in 1834, the two groups united under the name of the Christian 
church of the two towns of Canadice and Springwater. A church edi- 
fice was erected and dedicated in 1839. The building was thoroughly 
repaired and re-dedicated in 1872, and again improved in 1895. 

Doty's history says: "The few Presbyterian families among the 
first settlers were occasionally visited by a minister of that denomina- 
tion. It was not, however, until fourteen years after the settlement 
of the town that a church was formed. It consisted of twelve mem- 
bers, and was formed on the 10th of February, 1821. The Rev. Ly- 
man Barrett, of Naples, preached the first sermon, and continued to 
supply the pulpit occasionally for the next five years. After him the 
Rev. James Cahoun performed similar service for about three years. 
The Rev. Seymour Thompson was stated supply for nearly three years. 
The Rev. Daniel B. Woods was ordained and installed pastor Sept. 
19th, 1839, and was dismissed from his pastoral charge August 25th, 
1841. The Rev. William Hunter succeeded Mr. Woods in October of 
the same year, and was ordained and installed Sept. 25th, 1844. He 
still retains his relation to the church. The house of worship was 
dedicated December 31, 1840." The church when organized had 
twelve members — AlpheusPhelps, Jonathan Dyer, Alfred Phelps, Dan- 
iel Ward, Nathaniel Adams, Lucinda Ford, Esther Flanders, Mercy 
Adams, Clarissa Phelps, Nancy Brown, Melinda Gott, Mary Whalen. 

Springwater was not an Indian village ground, but it was an Indian 
hunting ground, and the Senecas found much game at the head of the 
lake and along its borders. They came in companies in the fall of the 
year, and killed large numbers of deer. Orson Walbridge said that 
after he came to town (1819) he had seen as many as thirty or forty 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 873 

Indians there on a hunt, and they would kill so many deer that they 
could not take them all, and once, he remembered, they hired his 
father to take a load of the game, as much as a yoke of oxen could 
draw, as far as the top of the hill east of Scottsburg. After their 
reservation period for hunting ended (1823) many of them still came 
to the valley, and made and sold baskets there, and get very drunk, 
the squaws not excepted. 

The earliest settlers suffered at times from lack of provisions, but 
not long. The Indians often supplied their needs by bringing them 
game. Their experiences were much like those of the first settlers in 
other towns around them, although Springwater was more inaccessible. 
They were sturdy men, and cleared away the forest and built needed 
structures quickly. Logging bees were common, the settlers for miles 
around helping each other to draw and pile up the logs for burning, 
and sometimes keeping at work at one clearing all day, well supplied 
the while with food and whiskey by the proprietor's family, and per- 
forming their heavy task with cheerful hilarity. 

In 1824 an unsuccessful movement was started to form a new county 
from the towns of Springwater. Cohocton and Naples. A special 
town meeting was held in Springwater, January 1st, 1825, to oppose 
it, and a resolution was adopted declaring it to be "improper, im- 
politic and unjust and altogether against our interest that any part of 
this town should be made a part of the new contemplated county." 
At the same meeting a proposition to change the name of the town 
from Springwater to Veri was voted down. 

Orson Walbridge saw a good many deer after he came in 1819, and 
at one time in an open piece of woods sixteen at once. There were 
plenty of fish in the streams, and the inlet swarmed with speckled 
trout in the spring, when they came up from Hemlock lake to spawn. 
They would weigh from half a pound to four pounds, and were caught 
by spearing and netting, and sometimes taken with the hands. The 
multiplication of mills drove the trout away, so that few came into 
the stream after 1840. But there were plenty of suckers in the early 
spring, and Mr. Walbridge on one occasion assisted in spearing and 
netting six bushels in one evening. 

There were bounties paid by the town, as by other towns, for vol- 
unteers in the civil war, causing heavy taxes, and quotas were filled 
without much delay. 



874 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



Here follows a list of Springwater supervisors: 



Oliver Jennings 1S17 

Alva Southworth 

1818-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-2S 

Zenas Ashley, Jr 1827 

John Culver. 1829-30 

Solomon G. Grover 1831-32-33 

Tliomas C. Grover 1S34-35-43 

Andrew Spafford 1836-37-38-39-44-45 

Horatio Dyer 1840-4S-49 

Stephen Robinson 1841.42-47-54 

John Ray, Jr ,846 

George C. Marvin 1850-51-52 

Harrison H. Foskett 1853 

Moses A. Cunuuings 1855 

Arnold Gray 1856-57 

John S. Wilev 1858-59-60-76 

Orson Walbridge 1S61-62-65 



Thomas M. Fowler 1863-64 

Albert M. Withington 1866-67 

Robert H. Wiley 1868-69-70-71-72 

Harvey H. Marvin 1873-74 

E. A. Robinson 1875 

Dewitt C. Snyder 1877-78-79 

N. A. Kellog 1880-81.82 

\Vm. E. Humphrey 1883-84-S5 

Addison G. Marvin 1S86-87 

Samuel L. Whitlock 1888-89 

Jacob Suvder 1890 

DeWitt C. Boone 1891 

Hyde D. Marvin 1892-93-94-95 

Harvey W. Wilcox 1S96-97-98 

Geo. J. Margin 1899-00-01-02 

Wm. N. Willis 1903 



Assessed valuations and tax rates per $1000 have been : 



i860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 



Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Valuation 


on $1000 


579.704 


7.43 


531-039 


7-05 


511,087 


9-38 


499.156 


10.29 


559.960 


22.20 


528,910 


47.30 


500,497 


34.30 


516,113 


21.81 


521,938 


17.93 


515.601 


10.52 


517,306 


15.20 


506,213 


12.44 


507,253 


16.66 


493,503 


13.81 


1,017,921 


6.50 



1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 

1880 
1881 
1882 
1S83 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 



Assessed 
Valuation 



1,001,839 
960,928 
882,655 
878,089 
934.229 
959.822 
961,112 
1,034,502 
1,050,813 

1,073.983 
1,093,066 
1,012,213 
996,708 
1,012,914 
1,036,294 



Tax Rate 
on Slope 

6.23 
4.69 

4-99 
4.62 
5.88 
6.09 
5.16 

7.49 
5.64 
5-60 
6.44 
6.09 
5.66 
6.86 



1890 
1891 
1892 

1893 
1S94 

1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 



Assessed 
Valuation 



1.073.057 
1,076,917 
1,058,913 
1,052,482 
1.028,433 
1,018,193 
1,012,776 

1.095,359 
1,075,242 
1,050,240 

1.043.545 
1,068,342 I 
1,074,810 
1,050,822 



Tax Rate 
on $1000 

7.33 
6.17 
6.98 

6.47 
7.50 
6.91 
6.65 
6.68 
7.78 
7.26 
6.60 
7-44 
7.29 



WEST SPARTA. 

West Sparta was originally a part of Sparta, and was separated 
from it by an act of the Legislature in February, 1846. It is bounded 
north by Groveland, east by Sparta, south by Ossian and west by Mt. 
Morris. Its area is 19,820 acres and its population in 1900 was 906. 
The eastern division line between West Sparta and Sparta is crooked 
Canaseraga creek. Butler brook is in the southern part, and has a 
perpendicular fall of about sixty feet. Canaseraga swamp is a large 
marsh in the northeastern part. 

The western hills rise from the flats to heights of from 500 to 700 
feet. In the northern part the soil is a heavy clay or clay loam not 
easy to cultivate, and in the southern and eastern parts, along the line 
of the Dansville and Mt. Morris railroad, is mostly a sandy loam. 
There are good farms in the town, but some of the land is not very 
productive. 

The four hamlets are Woodville, Kysorville, Union Corners and 
Byersville. Woodville had a small boom in the early days, and tlie 
settlers hoped that it would rival or surpass Dansville, but the more 
advantageous location and superior water power of Dansville quickly 
attracted capitalists and Woodville- was left behind. 

In pioneer times there was a thick growth of white oak on West 
Sparta hillside, and a sprinkling of magnificent white pines, some of 
which were 150 feet high, and would cut into from 2000 to 3000 feet 
of lumber. 

The first comers within the limits of West Sparta were William Mc- 
Cartney and Andrew Smith, and they were also the first in the entire 
group of the southern towns of Livingston county. They emigrated 
from Scotland in 1791, landing in Philadelphia, and came to West 
Sparta in 1792, built and lived in a small cabin, but did not stay long. 
Mr. Smith remained only a year, when he moved to Bath, where he 
bought a farm and established his permanent home. ^Ir. McCartney 
was agent for Charles Williamson in the sale of the lands of the Pulte- 
ney estate, and after two years made Dansville his headquarters. 



876 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The first man who came to be a permanent settler was Robert Dun- 
can, from Carlisle, Pa. He bought a tract of land of Charles Wil- 
liamson before starting, and set forth to find it in the fall of 1793, 
but stopped at Painted Post for the winter, and came on in March, 
1794. Duncan was a Scotchman, and Williamson had truthfully told 
him that he expected a colony of Scotch families to settle in the vicin- 
ity of his purchase, but this expectation was not realized. Neither 
were Mr. Duncan's expectations in other directions, for the malaria of 
the valley gave him a fever, and the next fall he was taken with a 
congestive chill of whicbhe died in a few hours. His wife then took 
charge of his affairs, and proved to be an energetic and able manager. 
She looked after the clearing and cultivation of the farm, and made 
three horseback journeys to Carlisle to collect money on property 
which her husband had sold there before he moved to the Canaseraga 
valley. The distance to Carlisle was sixty miles, and nearly all the 
way her course was through a dense forest. But her resolute hardi- 
hood overcame all difficulties, and brought her safely out of all perils. 
She made friends of the Indians in her new home, and they liked her 
so well that much of the time they kept her supplied with venison. 
She and her family went to Indiana soon after the war of 1812. 

Jeremiah Gregory came about the same time as Mr. Duncan; Wil- 
liam Stevens about 1793, and raised the first apples and made the first 
cider; Benjamin Wilcox in 1793 or 1794, and was a prominent and in- 
fluential citizen; John McNair, Jr., about 1797; John McNair in 1804; 
Samuel McNair in 1802 and lived on his place until his death in 1853; 
Able Wilsey in 1797. 

The John McNair mentioned visited the valley in 1SU3, and was so 
well pleased that he purchased of John Wilson, of Maryland, a tract of 
400 acres three miles north of Dansville, then returned to his home in 
Pennsylvania, and early in 1804 came back with his family of six sons, 
one daughter and the daughter's husband, joining another son and 
daughter who had preceded them. They came in covered wagons, 
and brought tools and household implements. They arrived in the 
middle of June, and found a temporary home in the log cabin which 
had been occupied by Wm. McCartney and Andrew Smith in 1902. 
A part of their farm had been cleared and probably cultivated by the 
Indians. They built a house as soon as possible of logs which they 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 877 

hewed and squared, and this house is said to have lasted until the end 
of the century. 

Another of the early settlers was Ebenezer McMaster, "a man of 
stalwart frame and great physical powers, and withal, one of nature's 
noblemen," says David McNair. A mad wolf which was the terror 
of the settlement came into his yard one day and commenced biting 
his live stock, \vhen he caught up a fence stake and went for the beast, 
which rushed for him, but received such a powerful blow from the 
stake that it killed him almost instantly. 

An account of the sojourn of Millard Fillmore— who became Pres- 
ident of the United States — in West Sparta, has been written by him- 
self and published by the Buffalo Historical society, and the following 
lengthy extracts from it are interesting as a part of the history of the 
town : 

"In the fall of 1814, a neighbor had been drafted into the military 
service for three months, and he offered me what I regarded as a very 
liberal sum to take his place as a substitute. I was foolish enough to 
desire to accept the offer, but at the same time a man by the name of 
Benjamin Hungerford, formerly a near neighbor (in Cayuga county), 
but then living in Sparta, Livingston Co., N. Y., where he had estab- 
lished the business of carding and cloth dressing, came to my father 
and proposed to take me on trial for three months, then, if we were 
both suited, I was to become an apprentice to the business. My 
father persuaded me to abandon the idea of becoming a soldier, and 
to go home with Mr. Hungerford to learn a trade. He had come with 
an old team to purchase dye woods and other materials for his business, 
— his load was very heavy and the road very bad, — consequently I had 
to go on foot most of the wa)', something like a hundred miles; but 
I endured this very well. 

"Up to this time I had never spent two days away from home, and 
my habits and tastes were somewhat peculiar. For instance, I was 
very fond of bread and milk, and usually ate it three times a day, re- 
gardless of what others ate. And here I will say, I think that this 
early habit, and the thorough training afforded by out door exercise 
on a farm, gave me a constitution and digestive powers which have 
enabled me to preserve my health under all the vicissitudes of a varied 
life, and to my uniform good health and temperate habits I am 
chiefly indebted, under Providence, for any success I have obtained. 



878 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

But I found, when I got to Sparta, that milk was a luxury which I 
could but seldom indulge. On the contrary, I was compelled to eat 
boiled salt pork, which I detested, with, occasionally, pudding and 
milk and buckwheat cakes, or starve. This was very hard, but I did 
not complain. I was, however, more disappointed at the work I was 
required to do. I had become anxious to learn the trade, and sup- 
posed I should be put at once into the shop; instead of which > was 
set to chopping wood for a coal pit. I probably manifested some dis- 
appointment, but I was reconciled to the work by being told that 
charcoal was indispensable for cloth dressing; that I might be so sit- 
uated that I could not purchase, and that therefore it was necessary 
to know how to make and burn a coal pit. 

"I was the youngest apprentice, and soon found that I had to chop 
most of the wood, having very little opportunity to work in the shop; 
and as it seemed to me that I was made to enslave myself without any 
corresponding benefit, 1 became exceedingly sore und'er this servitude. 
One day when I had been chopping in the woods I came into the 
shop just before dark, tired and dissatisfied; and Mr. Hungerford told 
me to take my axe and go up on the hill and cut some wood for the 
shop. I took up my axe, and said (perhaps not very respectfully) that 
I 'did not come there to learn to chop; and immediatelv left without 
waiting for a reply. I went on to the hill, mounted a log and com- 
menced chopping. Mr. Hungerford soon followed me up, and coming 
near, asked me if I thought I was abused because I had to chop wood'! 
I told him I did; that I. came there for no such purpose, and could 
learn to chop at home; and that I was not disposed to submit to it. 
He .said that I mu.st obey his orders. I said: 'Yes, if they are right; 
otherwise I will not; and I have submitted to this injustice Tong 
enough.' He said, 'I will chastise you for yoUr disobedience,' and 
stepped towards me, as I stood upon the log, with my axe in my 
hand. I was burning with indignation, and felt keenly the injustice 
and insult, and said to him, 'You will not chastise me,' and raising 
my axe, said, 'If you approach me I will split you down.' He looked 
at me for a minute, and I looked at him ; when he turned and walked 
off. I am very glad that he did so; for I was in a frenzy of anger, 
and I know not what I might have done. I had dwelt in silence and 
solitude upon what I deemed his injustice, until I had become mor- 
bidly .sensitive, and his spark of insolent tyranny kindled the whole 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 879 

into a flame. I do not justify my threat, and sincerely regret it, but 
the truth must be told. 

"The next day he asked me if I wished to go home. I told him I 
was ready to go, or would stay the three months for which I came, 
if I could be employed in the shop. He said I might be, and so I re- 
mained until the time was up; when I shouldered my knapsack, con- 
taining bread and dried venison, and returned to my father's, on foot 
and alone. Mr. Hungerford came after me next year, but I refused 
to go with him. 

"I think that this injustice, which was no more than other appren- 
tices have suffered and will suffer, had a marked effect upon my 
character. It made me feel for the weak and unprotected, and hate 
the insolent tyrant in every station of life. Some acts of tyranny 
during the late Rebellion, have made my blood boil with indignation; 
but perhaps I was wrong, since the country at large seems to have 
borne them with more than Christian patience and humility. 

"One other incident that occurred during these three months of 
servitude, may be mentioned. The only holiday which I was allowed 
was the first of January, 1815; when I went, with the other employes 
of the shop, to the house of a Mr. Duncan, where the day was to be 
celebrated. There I witnessed for the first time the rude sports in 
which people engage in a new country; such as wrestling, jumping, 
hopping, firing at turkeys, and raffling for them, and drinking 
whiskey. I was a spectator of the scene; taking no part, except that 
I raffled once for a turkey, that was perched up in one corner of the 
room, and won it. No persuasion could induce me to raffie again; 
and that was the beginning and end of my gambling, if it might be 
called such, as I have never since gambled to the value of a cent." 

As Millard Fillmore was born in 1800, he was about fourteen years 
old when he went from Cayuga county to West Sparta to learn the 
wool carder's trade. Up to that time he had worked on his father's 
farm. When his time with Mr. Hungerford was up he went back to 
his native county and worked at his newly acquired trade, mean- 
while improving opportunities for study. After a time he studied law 
in Judge Wood's office, teaching school winters to pay expenses, and 
in 1821 went to Buft'alo, when he was admitted to the bar in 1823. 
His subsequent career is a part of our national history. 

In 1860 he wrote to William Scott a letter, intended and used in 



880 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

part for L. L. Duty's History of Livingston countv which is here 
reproduced: 

>.,v-ir c .. n- "Buffalo, July 28, 1800. 

VVilliam Scott, Esq.: 

"My Dear Sir— I was greatly obliged for your letter of the 12th of 
May, in answer to mine of the 5th, giving me much information as I 
desired to confirm my recollections of what I saw in Sparta durin'tr niv 
short residence there in 1814, and on the 16th of Mav I made a dr-ift 
in my letter book to Mr. Dotv, which is hereto annexed 
_ "But after I had finished my draft I felt a reluctance about sending 
It and permitted it to lie without copying, till within two or three days 
and while copying it my repugnance increased and I finally concluded 
to send it to you as an old confidential friend and authorize you to 
give any of the information contained in it in your language which 
you and Mr. Doty may deem of sufficient interest to justify it ' 

"I was born in Locke (now Summerhill) Cayuga County in 1800 
but my father moved to Sempronius (now Ni'les'") in 1802 'and settled 
upon a farm about a mile west of Skaneatelas Lake and ten miles from 
Adelphi, where I lived as long as I remained at home. The whole 
country was then new and my childhood was spent, as it were in the 
forests. ' 

"Benjamin Hungcrford was our neighbor, engaged in the business 
of cloth dressing, but about the year 1812 or 1S13 he sold out and re- 
moved to Sparta, in your county, where he established himself in the 
same business. Early in the fall of 1814 he returned east for his sup- 
ply of dyewoods, and called at my father's and he expressed a wish 
that I go home with him and learn the trade of dressing cloth 

"The war was then waging with Great Britain, and mv youthful 
imagination and ambition was much excited by what I heard from the 
soldiers who returned from the line, and, having an uncle and cousin 
on the Niagara frontier, I was anxious to try the'life of a soldier and 
asked my father's permission to go for three months as a substitute for 
someone who was drafted; but he refused his assent, and probably 
with a view of directing my attention from so foolish a project in- 
duced Mr. Hungerford to ask me to go. At all events my father 
expressed a strong desire that I should go and I consented. 

"My father's residence was not only "in a new country but remote 
from all of the great thoroughfares of travel, and m'v lite had been 
spent in obscurity. I knew nothing of the world, never having been 
absent from home for two successive days, nor formed the acquaint- 
ance of any beyond the few scattered neighbors of the vicinity I 
felt a natural reluctance at leaving a tender and affectionate mother 
but was buoyed up and sustained by the thought of doing something 
for^myself, and acting the part of a man. 

"But the journey to me was a very long and tedious one. I do not 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 881 

know the distance, but probably about one hundred miles. Mr. 
Hungerford had a poor team, heavily laden, and the road much of the 
way was very bare; and the consequence was that I traveled much of 
the distance on foot and suffered with sore feet and stiffened limbs. I 
recollect little that attracted my attention on my way except the wil- 
derness of the country as we approached the end of our journey, and 
the extraordinary lu.xuriance of vegetation in the valley of the Cana- 
seraga Creek. 

"I was indeed glad to reach Mr. Hungerford's residence, solitary 
and desolate as it appeared among the hills and almost unbroken 
forest. But I required rest, and a new country had no new terrors for 
me. Knowing nothing of the geography of the country, and never 
having been there since, I can only describe this locality bv what I 
have learned since from others. It was in the town of West Sparta 
and three miles northwest of the village of Dansville, or .Sparta West 
Hill, on a small rapid mill stream emptying into the Canaseraga 
Creek about a mile below. I understand that nothing of the old mill 
and shop remain but a part of the flume and dam; but that it is vet 
known as the Hungerford place, and is owned and occupied by a 
farmer by the name of Enos Hartman. 

"Whatever may have been my great dreams of ambition, I certainly 
had no thoughts of realizing them and at that time had no expecta- 
tions of anything more than to acquire a good trade and to pursue it 
through life for a livelihood. I went with the understanding that I 
was to remain four months and then if we were both satisfied we were 
to make further arrangements. But perhaps I expected too much. 
At any rate, the treatment which I had received was very galling to 
my feelings and has ever caused me to feel deep sympathy for the 
youngest apprentice (even the printer's devil) in every establishment. 

"Instead of being set to work at my trade, as I had anticipated, I 
was required to chop wood and do all manner of servile labor and 
chores; and when I manifested some surprise and reluctance at this 
treatment my murmurs were silenced by being told that this was the 
usage of the trade. I bore this for some time, and one day, wheti I 
had been chopping in the woods, I came into the shop a little before 
dark and was ordered by Mr. Hungerford to go on the hill and cut 
some wood for the shop. I took the axe and, as I went out of the 
door, said that I did not come there expecting to give my time tO' 
learn to chop wood. I waited for no reply, but went up the hill, 
mounted a log and commenced chopping. 

"In a few minutes I saw Mr. Hungerford coming after me with his 
face evidently flushed with anger. As he approached he said: 'Do 
you think yourself abused because you have to chop wood?' I replied: 
'Yes, I do; for I could learn to chop wood at home, and I am giving 
my time to learn a trade; lam not satisfied and do not think my 



882 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

father will be.' As I was angry, I presumed my manner as well as 
my language was not entirely respectful. At all events, he charged 
me with impudence and threatened to chastise me, upon which I 
raised my -axe and told liim if he came near me I would knock him 
down. He stood silent for a moment and then walked off. 

"Looking back for forty-six years at this little incident of my boy- 
hood, I am inclined to think that it was unjustifiable rebellion, or at 
least that my threat of knocking him down was going too far, for I 
fear I should have executed it; and my only justification or apology is 
that I have an inborn hatred of injustice and tyranny which I cannot 
repress. Next day he asked me if I wished to go home. I replied 
that I' had come for a trial of four months, and if I could be employed 
in learning the trade I would stay, otherwise I would return. lie said 
that I might remain, and from that time my employment was more 
satisfactory. 

"He had a large family of children and the fare was not such as I 
had been accustomed to and it required all of my fortitude and 
patience to endure it; but I resolved to go through, and I was deter- 
mined to accomplish what I had undertaken at every sacrifice of 
comfort. My pride was touched at the thought of an ignominious 
failure. 

"He had one older apprentice by the name of John Dunham, but 
our tastes did not agree and he was no company for me, but fortun- 
ately the foreman of the shop was William Scott, still living and resid- 
ing at Scottsburg in your county, who seemed born for a higher and 
better destiny, and whose merits, I am happy to hear, have in some 
measure been appreciated by his fellow citizens. In him I found a 
friend and also a congenial companion, so far as such a boy could be a 
companion to a man of mature years. I formed a friendship which 1 
still cherish with grateful recollections. He was the only society 
which I enjoyed. I scarcely visited a neighbor, for only one or two 
were near enough to be accessible to me. 

"I neither saw a book nor newspaper to my recollection. I attended 
no church and think that there was none in that vicinity, and I had 
no holiday except New Years. On that day we went down to Dun- 
can's on the creek and there, for the first time in my life, I saw the 
rough sports of the season and place such as raffling, whiskey drinking, 
and turkey shooting, with an occasional display of athletic strength. 
I recollect that I was ush.ered into a room almost stifling with the 
fumes of whiskey and tobacco smoke, in one corner of which was a live 
turkey, and in the center a table surrounded by men who w-ere greatly 
excited hi ratifling for the turkey. 

"The game as I recollect it was this: The turkey was put up by the 
owner at a certain price — say four shillings, and then they put twelve 
cents into a hat and each shook them up and emptied them on the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 883 

table three times, and he who turned the most heads in the three 
throws won the turkey. But instead of taking it he immediately put 
it up again at the same price and the same process was gone over 
again and this continued through the evening. I was urged to take a 
chance and I did so once and won the turkey, I put him up again, 
pocketed the prize and have never gambled a cent since. 

"The weather was warm for the season and it had rained some 
during the day. We stayed until about midnight and then started for 
home. We had to go about a mile through a dark pine forest, and our 
path in many places ran near the precipitous bank of the little stream 
on which Hungerford's cloth dressing establishment was situated. 
Only the underbrush had been cleared from the road, but the 
large trees were blazed to guide our way. As we had no lantern we 
supplied ourselves with a torch of pine knots; but we had not pro- 
ceeded far when by some accident it was extinguished and I was sent 
back to light it again. This detained me longer than anticipated and 
when I got back to the spot where I left my companions I found that 
they had gone, and so I pursued my way alone. 

"By the time I had got half way through the woods I was overtaken 
by a very sudden and severe thunderstorm, which extinguished my 
torch and left me in an Egyptian darkness. I am sure that I never 
saw a darker night. I looked up, but could not see the shade of a tree 
or openmg. I moved my hand before my upturned face but saw no 
shadow. The flashes of lightning for a moment revealed the dense 
forest around and then all was in impenetrable darkness. The 
thunder rolled terribly and at intervals I could hear the dashing waters 
of the swollen stream below, warning me that I was near the precipice, 
beneath which they flowed. 

"I dared not go forward for fear that I should be plunged headlong 
into the gulf beneath and the thought of standing there all night in 
the cold drenching rain was terrible. I had but one alternative and 
that was to make my companions hear if possible and bring them back 
to my relief. I halloed several times with all of my might, and at 
last i heard a response. They had just reached home but had not en- 
tered the house when they heard me. The worst of the shower was 
soon over. They prepared a light and came back and relieved me 
from my terrible situation. 

"Some time in December or January I was sent on foot to Dansville 
for some groceries for sickness. I cannot fi.x the time, but I recollect 
that there was two or three inches of snow on the ground, and I took 
what seemed to me a very circuitous route. By the time I had pur- 
chased my stores it was nearly sundown and I inquired if there was 
no nearer way back than the one which I came, and was told that there 
was an unfrequented path through the shrubby pine forest much 
nearer. I accordingly took it and found the track of a single person 



884 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

which I followed without difficulty, but just after dark I came to the 
Canaseraga creek which was not frozen sufficiently to bear me and 
there was no bridge. There had once been a wooden bridge, built on 
cobble horses for abutments on each bank, but it was all gone except 
the cobble horses and one string piece. 

"Just then I heard the wolves howl and presumed that they were on 
my track, I looked down into the dark waters of the creek and could 
see very little but could hear the ice crack as though a rising flood was 
breaking it up. I looked at the solitary string pieces across the dark 
abyss, covered with snow and concluded that I could not safely walk 
it. I could not turn back for I had not even a cane with which to 
fight the wolves. I telt that if I was once across that gulf I would be 
safe and that there was but one mode of accomplishing it and that 
was to climb up the old cobble horse, sit down on the string piece and 
hitch myself across: and this I did, and arrived safely at home, thank- 
ful for my escape. 

"I can tell little in reference to the people. I remembered a Mr. 
Baird owned a saw mill above Hungerford's on the same stream. The 
Duncans and a Mr. McNair lived on the fiats, but I had no acquaint- 
ance with them. Jonathan Weston, however, a brother-in-law of Hun- 
gerford and a son-in-law of General Daniel Shays, of insurrectionary 
memory, lived near Hungerford. I had known Weston before he went 
there, as he had taught school in Cayuga county and recollect' calling 
at his house and seeing General Shays there and being greatly disap- 
pointed in his personal appearance. He semeed to me a very common 
man and I could but wonder how he had become so famous, for it 
was as common when I was a boy to Hurrah for Shays as it has been 
since to hurrah for Jackson. But one was intended as a joke, whereas 
the other was sober earnest. 

"About the middle of January, 1815, my probation of four months 
being ended, I shouldered my musket and on foot and alone returned 
to my father's house, not exactly like the prodigal son, but scarcely 
less gratified to get home and fully resolved never to go back. But 
since then I have formed many pleasant acquaintances in your county 
and have enjoyed many [ileasant visits to other parts of it, but I have 
never revisited the scenes of my boyhood though I confess I should 
like to do so. Respectfully yours, 

"MILLARD FILLMORE." 

William Scott has said: "I met young Fillmore the morning after 
his arrival, for the first, and at once took a liking to him. He was 
dressed in a suit of homespun sheep's gray coat and trousers, wool 
hat, and stout cowhide boots, but his appearance was very tidy. His 
light hair was long, his face was round and chubby, and his demeanor 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 885 

was that of a bright, intelligent, good natured lad, quite sedate, rather 
slow in his motions, with an air of thoughtfulness that gained my 
respect." 

David McNair, died in February, 1895, aged eighty-seven years. 
He was the youngest son of the pioneer Samuel McNair, and had al- 
ways resided in West Sparta, where he had an excellent farm of 300 
acres. Some of his reminiscences are published in Mr. Bunnell's 
History of Dansville. His father's family consisted of seven sons and 
two daughters, of whom he was the only survivor. He remembered 
that Rev. Mr. Gray, the first preacher in the South Sparta Presbyter- 
ian church, once rebuked some boys for laughing on Sunday, and that 
his (Mr. McNair's) uncle denounced a neighbor, who could not get his 
grist ground in Dansville in time to get away Saturday evening, for 
driving home on Sunday. These are illustrations of the religious 
rigidity of the time. 

In a letter written by Nancy Marlin, a grand daughter of Robert 
Duncan, the first settler, she states that black bears were common in 
the early days of the settlement, and that after a hog belonging to 
Wm. Stevens had been carried off by a bear one night, an old hunter 
named Brooks fixed a rifle in such a way that when bruin came for 
his next meal of pork the rifle would go off so that the bullet would 
hit him. The shooting trap was successful, and the bear was killed. 

Benjamin Hungerford's mill was the first wool-carding and cloth 
dressing mill in West Sparta. The first tavern was probably opened 
at Kysorville in 1820 by Ebenezer McMaster. The first store was 
kept by John Russell at Union Corners, and opened in 1823. The first 
grist mill was built by Samuel Stoner in 1823. 

The first town meeting of West Sparta was held in April, 1846, in 
a school house, and the following officers were elected: supervisor, 
Roswell Wilcox; town clerk, Gideon D. Passage; superintendent of 
schools, Samuel G. Stoner; assessors, Jacob Chapman, James F. Mc- 
Cartney, Alexander Henry ; commissioners of highways, David Mc- 
Nair, James VanWagner, James Northrop; inspectors of election, 
Peter Van Nuys, Wm. D. McNair, Jr., Levi Robinson, Jr.; justices 
of the peace, Hiram Jencks, Stephen Stephenson, Samuel Scribner, 
H. G. Chamberlain, overseers of the poor, William Spinning, Aaron 
Cook; collector, B. F. Hyser; constables, Freeman Edwards, B. F. 



886 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



Hyser, A. J. Thompson, Nathaniel Hanna; town sealer, John 
Stone, Jr. 

The early religious history of West Sparta is that of Sparta, of 
which it was a part, and is noticed in the sketch of that town. A 
Presbyterian church organized at Union Corners by Rev. Elihu Mason 
in 1825, is the only church of an early date within the present limits 
of tlie town. Its first elders were Garrett \'an Wagner, James J. Am- 
erman and Jacob Middlesworth. 

Rev. John Humphrey sends us the following facts regarding the 
Methodist church of West Sparta: W. C. Wilson, from Maryland, 
about 1845 offered the trustees as much land for church purposes as 
they cared to appropriate, and in their modesty they accepted so little 
that afterward it was necessary to make two additions to the gift. 
The building was erected in 1847 by Richard Peck, and active in the 
work were James Northrop, Charles Marsh and Charles Drake. It 
was dedicated by Augustus Parker. About twenty years ago it under- 
went extensive repairs, and again in 1904, when 8800 were expended 
in improvements. 

West Sparta furnished an unusually large number of resident men 
in proportion to population for the civil war — nearly 100. There is a 
record of a town bounty paid to each of about thirty volunteers be- 
tween July, 1862, and July, 1864, but the later action of the town re- 
garding bounties is not on record. 

Assessed valuations and ta.\ rates per 81000 have been as follows: 



Year 


Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Year 
187s 


Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Year 


Assessed 


Tax Rale 


Valuation 


on $1000 


Valuation 
867,069 


on $1000 


Valuation 


on $1000 


i860 


449.198 


7.31 


11.22 


1890 


667,021 


7.39 


1861 


444,721 


9-17 


1876 


811,504 


8.60 


189 1 


691,610 


5-54 


1862 


431.553 


10. II 


1877 


757,793 


8.55 


1892 


671,577 


8.98 


1863 


429,768 


10.23 


1878 


750,681 


8.27 


1893 


958, 103 




1864 


443.720 


20.80 


1879 


728,043 


6.34 


1894 


638,274 


7.82 


1865 


441,279 


39-30 


1880 


727,378 


6.20 


1S95 


654,571 


8.01 


1866 


438,477 


30.10 


188 1 


724,936 


5- 16 


1896 


645,909 


9.64 


1867 


441,293 


21.05 


1882 


738,225 




1897 


658,202 


6.60 


1868 


466,043 


16.78 


1883 


807,716 


6-23 


1898 


663,028 


6.08 


1869 


453.854 


12.35 


1884 


809,886 


5-31 


1899 


664,257 


8.15 


1870 


453,930 


14.80 


1885 


816,536 


5-54 


1900 


666,006 


6.08 


1871 


4,53,503 


13-43 


18S6 


771,572 


6.81 


1901 


668,484 


S-76 


1872 


461,074 


19-33 


1887 


745.902 


5-99 


1902 


668,250 


4-30 


1873 


452,088 


19.86 


1 888 


745,154 


5-67 


1903 


666,545 


6.72 


1874 


877,561 


10.85 


1889 


740,080 


8.00 









HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



887 



Here follows a list of West Sparta's supervisors: 



Roswell Wilcox 1846-47-48-49 

Hugh McCartuey 1850 

James F. McCartney 1851-52 

Alex Kenney 1853 

David McNair 1854 

Leonard B. Field 

1S55-56-57- 58-59-60-61 

62-63-64-65-67-68-70-71-76-77-78-79 

Peter VanNuys 1866 

Ogden Marsh 1869 



Win. J. Slaight 1872-73-74-75 

James B. Frazer 

1880-81-82-83-88-89-90-92-93 

A. J. Slaight 1884-85-98-99-00 

Wm. A. Green 1886-94 

John Driesbach 1887 

H. B. McNair 1891 

H. VanMiddlesworth 1895-96-97 

J. C. Pickard 1901-02-03 



NUNDA 

Nunda lies in southeastern part of the county, with these bound- 
aries: North by Mt. Morris, east by Ossian, south by Grove (Allegany 
county), west by Portage. Its area is 22,291 acres and its population 
in 1900 was 2,397. 

The hills near the center of the town rise 1,200 feet above the broad 
flats on which is Nunda village. Its highlands and lowlands have a 
varied soil of loam, sand, gravel and clay, much intermixed, and gen- 
erally respond in large crops to cultivation. Much of the scenery of 
the town is strikingly beautiful. Kashaqua creek is the principal stream 
and is in the northwestern part, and in the 30's and 40's furnished 
power for many mills in its course from Allegany county to Canaseraga 
creek near vSonyea. The abandoned Genesee Valley canal crossed the 
northwestern corner, and here commenced its rise with deep cuttings 
and numerous locks, to the summit level in Portage. 

Nunda, the principal village, is in the northwestern part of the 
town, and in 1900 had a population of 1,018. It is an attractive and 
thrifty village, with handsome residences, several churches and two 
newspapers. 

The town of Nunda originally, as a part of Allegany county, com- 
prised, in addition to its present territory, the present towns of Pike, 
Grove, Granger, Centerville, Eagle, Hume and Genesee in Allegany,' 
and Portage in Livingston, and was twelve by twenty-four miles in 
extent. After it was formed from Angelica in 1808 it remained a part 
of Allegany county until 1846, when it was set off into Livingston 
county —a transfer which had been long desired by the most of its 
residents. Meanwhile, in 1827, its size had been reduced to form 
Portage. 

The succinct account of the early settlement of the town in L. L. 
Doty's history is here copied: 

"The Tuscarora tract, which embraced the town of Ninula and a 
portion of Mount ^Morris was at a very early day the property of Luke 
Tiernan, of Baltimore. It was late in coming into market, and the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 889 

rich lands were seized by squatters, whose only title was that given by 
possession. They spent their time in hunting, fishing and trapping, 
paying little attention to the cultivation of the soil. They were of no 
practical benefit in developing the resources and promoting the growth 
of the town, and rather hindered than encouraged emigration. Mr. 
Tiernan sent an agent, one ^McSweeney, to protect his interests, but 
not understanding the nature of the men he had to deal with, he was 
beset with troubles. The squatters had an able and shrewd advocate 
in Joseph Dixon, who defended them against all suits for trespass, 
and caused the agent much vexation. On the advent of settlers the 
squatters removed to other places where the annoyances of civilized 
life would not trouble them. 

"In 1806 Phineas Bates and Beela Elderkin located near the present 
village of Nunda, being the first permanent settlers of the town. 
Other settlers were David Corey and brother, Reuben Sweet and 
Peleg, his brother, Gideon Powell, Abner Tuttle, William P. Wilcox, 
John H. Townser, and James Paine. 

"In 1806 or 1807 James Scott and two or three other farmers went 
up the Kashaqua valley, with a view to locating, but these close ob- 
serving farmers saw that the hazel bushes had hanging on them 
dead hazlenuts, and, concluding that it must be frosty there, did not 
buy any lands. They spent the night in a partly built hut or log 
house between Brushville and Nunda village. There was then but 
one occupied house between these two places, and that was occupied 
by a squatter named Kingsley. Brushville was covered with low 
brush, no trees or large growth being found there. 

"Azel Fitch, Russell Messenger, Abijah Adams and Zaphen Strong 
settled in the town in 1816, and in 1817 George W. Merrick came. 
The same spring the families of John and Jacob Passage, Abraham 
Acker, John White, Schuyler Thompson and Henry Root settled in 
Nunda, which then embraced a territory as large as a modern county. 
Mr. Merrick was a native of Wilmington, Tolland county. Conn., 
where he was born in February, 1793. He was six times elected 
supervisor, and was for sixteen years justice of the peace. AVhile in 
Jefferson county, N. Y., 'Sir. Merrick read an account in some news- 
paper that a man named Barnard, of Nunda, with five others, went 
into the woods one Sunday morning, chopped the logs and laid up a 
log cabin as high as the chamber floor, and one log above, before sun- 



890 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

set. On reaching Xunda, Merrick purchased the claim on wliich 
the cabin was standing, fifty acres of land and improvements, for forty 
dollars in gold. The improvements were the log cabin mentioned, 
which was twelve feet square, and one-half acre of land cleared and 
sowed to turnips. He at once raised the logs five feet higher, and put 
on a roof of shingles of his own make,, without using a nail. Five 
hundred feet of boards were all he could procure anywhere for finish- 
ing pur[)oses. " 

Elijah Bennett and \V'illiam and Jacob Devon were others of the 
earliest settlers. Some of the other settlers who came to Nunda before 
1820 were John and Jacob Passage, Schuyler Thompson, Henry Root, 
John White, Abraham Acker, James H. Rawson, David Corey, and 
Henry C. Jones. 

The first frame house in town was built by George W. Merrick and 
the first in Xunda village by Asa Heath in 1824; the village was laid 
out in that year by Charles Carroll, who came in 1820 as agent for the 
sale of vicinity lands, and soon afterward became proprietor of the 
lands which are now the site of the village. The first inn-kteper of 
the town was Alanson Hubbell in 1820, and the first merchant was W. 
P. Wilcox, also in 1820. Another early inn-keeper was James Heath, 
and another early storekeeper was Hiram Grover. Willoughby 
Stowell built the first saw mill in 1818, and Samuel Swain the first 
grist mill in 1828. 

The pioneers of the town were mostly from New England and New 
Jersey. A few came from Pennsylvania, and a few from Cayuga 
county. Similar difficulties, trials and privations were experienced in 
journeying and getting established, to those of the pioneers of other 
towns. The conditions of travel to the Genesee country over long 
distances, and the surroundings of forest, Indians, game and danger- 
ous wild animals on arriving at destinations, were nearly the same 
witii all the earliest settlers. Hard labor, simple food, sometimes less 
than enough, and frequent peril were common to all. Some of the 
first comers to Nunda shipped their goods from Rochester up the 
Genesee to Geneseo, and oxen haultul them the rest of tlie way. Each 
family came with oxen, two or more cows and a pig, but no sheep 
because of the wolves. 

The most flourishing period of Nunda village was the decade begin- 
ning about 18.^5. There were then eighteen saw mills with twenty-one 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 891 

saws in operation within three and one-half miles of the village, and 
also flouring mills, tanneries, furnaces, a woolen mill, hat factories, 
and a machine shop for the manufacture of steam engines. The last 
gave employment to about one hundred men. In 1837-8 there were 
eighteen stores and trading shops in the place and its population was 
then larger than it has been since. After the lumber industry and 
manufacturing declined, and work on the deep cut and locks of the 
canal was stopped for a number of years, the population slowly 
floated away. 

At the first town meeting of the original Nunda in 1809 Eli Griffith 
was elected supervisor and Asahel Trowbridge town clerk. At that 
time the population of the entire town was about 500. 

At the first town meeting after annexation to Livingston county in 
1846 these officers were elected: supervisor, Edward Swain; town 
clerk, Charles E. Crary; highway commissioner, Earl J. Paine. 

The early records show that a town bounty of three dollars was 
offered for each wolf killed and that small appropriations were made 
for the destruction of Canada thistles. 

C. K. Sanders started the Nunda News in 1859, and conducted it 
until a few years ago, when he passed it over to his son. In a paper 
for the county historical society he states that the first newspaper 
published in Nunda was the Genesee Valley Recorder, which was 
started by Ira G. Wisner in 1840, but soon was moved to Mt. Morris. 
Four other papers were successively started and stopped in the village 
before Mr. Sanders began to print his successful Nunda News, at 
which time and for many years afterward there was no other news- 
paper in the town. 

Nunda was another of the intensely patriotic towns during the war 
of the rebellion. The first war meeting was held April 19, 1861, at 
which twenty-one volunteers signed the roll in response to President 
Lincoln's call for 75,000 men. A fund was soon raised for the support 
of the families of the soldiers, and the women immediately began to 
make articles for their comfort. In less than three weeks a company 
of fifty-six men was mustered in, with James McNair as captain. 
They joined the 33d New York Volunteers. In September, 1861, the 
town furnished thirty-six more volunteers, who joined Captain 
Tuthill's company, or Company A of the Wadsworth Guards, later 
known as the 104th New York Volunteers. In 1862 the town sent out 



892 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

forty-three men under Captain James Lemen. These and twelve more 
Nunda men were added to the First New York Dragoons. The 
Nunda volunteers earned their full share of honors in the war, and the 
town contributed liberally in money and material as well as men. 
Voluntary subscriptions and contributions amounted to §2,669, and 
the town paid out $8,810,327. There were few towns that did better 
than this in proportion to population and wealth. 

NUNDA CHURCHES. 

Baptist Church. — One of the first, if not the very first, of the relig- 
ious organizations of Nunda was that of the Baptist society. On the 
21st of May, 1819, twelve individuals, members of other churches of 
that denomination who had removed hither, organized the Baptist 
church of Nunda. They received the right hand of fellowship as a 
church from Elder Samuel ^Messenger, pastor of a neighboring church, 
who preached for them half the time that year. 

In 1820 the church became a member of the Ontario Baptist Associ- 
ation, in 1824 transferring its membership to the Holland Purchase 
Association. This relation was sustained until 1829 when the Gene- 
see River Association was formed. During the first three years, forty- 
seven members were added to the original number. Among the ac- 
tive and liberal members of the church in early days may be men- 
tioned Deacon Rawson, Deacon Schuyler Thompson, Nathaniel Coe, 
Reuben Pierce and Daniel Ashley. In October, 1823, Elijah Bennett, 
a member of the society, was ordained to the ministry and became 
pastor of the church. His compensation was very meagre, and he 
was often obliged to depend upon the labor of his hands to procure 
support. The church minutes, July 3d, 1825, contain this record: 
"Voted to give Elder Messenger $50 for half of the time, to be paid 
in produce by the first of the ensuing February." In 1826 Elder Ben- 
nett's pay was raised to §100 annually for half of the time. The so- 
ciety was incorporated in October, 1827, when John Waite, Silas 
Warren and Daniel Ashley were chosen trustees. They at once pur- 
chased a site on which was erected what was considered a commodious 
church edifice, of wood. The rapid growth of the membership eventu- 
ally required a larger building, however, and in 1840 the spacious 
brick edifice now in use was erected. The wooden building was pur- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 8'J3 

chased by the Niinda Literary Institute, and used for educational 
purposes until its destruction by fire. 

The First Presbyterian Church. — On October 6th, 1831, in a school- 
house, the organization of the Presbyterian Church of Nunda took 
place. In this schoolhouse, located two miles north-east of the present 
site of the church, and in the Page school house, half a mile east of 
the village, the services of the society were held during the first two 
years of its history. In 1833 the first church edifice was built on the 
corner of East and Church streets at a cost of about §2200. In 1846 
this property was sold to the Methodist Church and a new building 
was erected which was dedicated in June 1847. This building was 
constructed of wood at a cost of $>6,000 and during the years that have 
passed since its construction, over half a century, has given e.xcel- 
lent service. 

The history of the church has been marked by four revivals of un- 
usual power: The first in 1837 conducted by the Evangelist Little- 
john; the second during the pastorate of Rev. Wales Tileston ni 184(.), 
when ninety-seven were received into the church on profession. 
During Rev. Edward Marsh's ministry in 1843 fifty-six new members 
were received as a result of a successful revival. In 1902 a revival 
brought thirty-three into the church largely as a result of the labors of 
^liss Sarah Nichol. The following is a list of the regular pastors with 
years of service. Ludovicus Robbins, 1831-32. Wm. P. Kendrick, 
1832-33. Wales Tileston, 1837-40. William Lusk, 1847-52. (Stated 
supplies, 1852-64). Levi G. Marsh, 1864-7L T. Dwight Hunt, 1872- 
75. Bentley S. Foster, 1876-79. Newton H. Bell, 1880-84. John V. 
C. Nellis,1884-88. John M. Carmichael, 1889-99. J. H. Williams, 
1899-1902. Milton K. Merwin, 1902. 

The jNIethodist Episcopal Church of Nunda was the third religious 
society in point of time that was organized in the place; the Baptists 
forming a society about 1819, followed by the Presbyterians in 
1831, the Methodists not entering the field till about six years later. 
In those early years it was not common for a young society to have 
the financial strength to build a suitable edifice at the beginning of 
its history, so like the other denominations named, Methodism kept 
its existence by worshiping in private houses, school houses, unoccu- 
pied stores and other available places. Suitable records for giving a 
connected history of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Nunda are 



894 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

not obtainable; but from what can be gathered it a[)pears that the 
first society was formed in 1837, and among those who composed it 
were Samuel Record and wife, Jacob Osgoodby and wife and Mrs. 
Stivers. This little band first took the name of "Independent ^letho- 
dists" but soon after came under the supervision of the annual con-, 
ference. Like the early disciples their first place of worship was an 
upper room. 

In those earlier years the old time circuit system prevailed and 
Nunda became one of the regular appointments of the circuit preacher. 
The first regular pastors of the church were Rev. Amos Hurd and 
Rev. Ira Bronson in 1840. During the six years that followed the 
little society had a hard struggle to maintain an existence, but in 1846 
a church edifice was secured and a revival followed, resulting in a 
large addition to the membership. Since that time the society has 
continued its standing until the present. The building now occupied 
as a place of worship was purchased of the Presbyterians, and after 
extensive repairs, wa.s dedicated in 1840, the dedicatory sermon being 
preached by Rev. A. S. Baker, then pastor. The church has been re- 
paired several times since its long occupation and at present is well 
adapted to the use of the congregation. Connected with the church 
property is a new and beautiful parsonage nearly free from debt, to- 
gether with ample shed accom.modations for those of the congregation 
who reside in the country, all under the sujiervision of a competent 
board of trustees. There is a membership nf over one hundred and 
fifty with a thrifty .Sunday School numbering _17u, also an Epworth 
League Chapter well sustained by the young people of the denomi- 
nation. The contributions to the various benevolences of the church 
are regularly made, also a faithful response to the demands for funds 
to meet current expenses. Of the early pastors we find such names as 
Rev. D. B. Lawton, Rev. Robert Parker, Rev. A. S. Baker, Rev. 
Thomas Tousey and others, all regularly appointed by the Conference 
of which they were accredited members. 

Grace Episcopal Church. — Services were held for the first time, with 
a view to formation of a parish, April 7th, 1847, at Swain's Hall. 
The Rev. Mason Gallagher of Dansville, presided; H. Chalker was 
chosen as Clerk. The following was the first vestry: C. Remington, 
G. P. Waldo, Church Wardens; I. T. Turner. R. H. Spencer, N. 
Chittenden, John Guiteau, S. Swain, Jr., David F. Swain, H. Chalker, 



HISTORY OF Ln^INGSTON COUNTY 895 

R. Bennett, Vestrymen. Services were conducted for different per- 
iods by Rev. Gresham P. Waldo, Rev. Lucius Carlis and Rev. Asa 
Griswold, until December 1st, 1849, when the Rev. Andrew D. Bene- 
dict took pastoral charge, in connection with St. Marks Church, 
Hunts Hollow. During the rectorship of Rev. Benedict which ended 
May 1st, 1852, the present church was erected. The church .vas con- 
secrated some time later, by Bishop DeLancey. The [)arsonage and 
lot adjoining the church were donated by ]\Iiss Catherine Brooks of 
Brooksgrove, who also presented the parish with an expensive set of 
communion vessels and the altar linen, now in use. The Rev. James 
A. Robinson succeeded as rector May 1st, 1853 until fall of 1854. Rev. 
James O. Stokes, in charge from fall of 1854 until 1855. From. July 
1st, 185(> until April 1857, Rev. G. P. Waldo. 1857 to 186(1 Rev. H. 
V. Gardner. From June 1st, 18()3, until February 2Sth, 1866, Rev. 
Fayette Royce. The parish during the rectorship of Rev. Royce was 
connected with Brooksgrove Mission and Canaseraga. January, 1867, 
Rev. Waldo in charge. January 1st, 1867 Rev. H. Adams was called 
as rector. Rectors since have been Revs. Noble Palmer, AVoodward, 
H. M. Brown, S. H. Batten, F. A. Gould, Bodger, Cameron and H. L. 
Dennis. H. Chalker, the first clerk, served in this office until 1872. 
The officers at present are: wardens, Capt. Geo. J. Campbell, U. S.A., 
W. H. Fuller; clerk, J. R. Gurner; treasurer, Joseph ^liller; rector, 
H. L. Dennis. 

Holy Angels Church. — When the Genesee Valley canal was com- 
menced at Rochester in the year 1837, to be built to Dansville, many 
young Irish Catholics were employed in the work until the canal was 
finished to Dansville, in the year 1842. Immediately after the com- 
pletion of the canal to Dansville, a branch was begun at the Shakers, 
built to Olean and finished in the year 1852. The men who had been 
employed on the Dansville branch found employment on the Olean 
branch, many of whom located at Nunda and the immediate vicinity 
in the year 1842. 

Thos. Kiley, Michael Welch, Thomas Brick, James Brick, and 
Michael Creed were the first Catholics who came to Nunda. Shortly 
after came James Kiley, Patrick Barry, Owen Carroll, John Sheahan, 
Maurice Wall, the Blake and vSkelley brothers, Michael Barnes, Mau- 
rice Gurry and others, until in 1842 Nunda had quite a settlement of 
Catholics. The first marriage among them was that of Thomas Brick 



8% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and Ellen Fitzgerald in 1845. At the "Deep Cut" two miles from 
Nunda a colony of about three hundred Catholics located, where they 
were employed by the firm of Sharp and Quinn, who had the contract 
for "making the cut." vSharp and Quinn, came from Rochester. 

Through their influence Father O'Reilly, who later became Bishop 
of Hartford, came on horseback from Rochester to the "Deep Cut" to 
hold services. The few- Catholics who were living at Xunda attended 
mass at the "Deep Cut" for a time. Father O'Reilly while passing 
through Nunda on one of his visits to the "Deep Cut" stopped at 
Nunda and baptized the first child born of Catholic parents in the vil- 
lage. vSubsequently Father O'Brien came to Nunda from Greenwood, 
Allegany County, and held services in a private house a number of 
times. In the year 1S4('). Father vSheridan was stationed at Portage- 
ville where a large number of Catholic families had located. Father 
Sheridan's field of labor extended south to Belfast, west to Pike, Perry 
and Warsaw, and north to Nunda. 

There were no churches at any of the above named places at that 
period, the priest being compelled to read mass in private houses. 
Father Sheridan remained at Portageville five or si.x years. Father 
McEvoy succeeded Father Sheridan and remained until the year 
1854. After Father McEvoy came Father Dolan in the year 1854. 
Father Dolan purchased a building in Nunda in the year 1854, which 
had been intended for a dwelling house. The building was begun 
by Mr. Marsh, a tailor who was unable to finish it because of 
financial difficulties. Mr. B. P. Richmond purchased the building 
and sold it to Father Dolan, who converted it into a church. 
This church was plainly finished and furnished, the seats con- 
sisting of plain pine boards without any backs. Father Dolan felt 
very proud that the few Catholic families residing in Nunda had at 
last obtained a church of their own in which to worship. Father 
Dolan was succeeded by Father Ryan, who was followed by Father 
^loore who remained only three months, then came Father Dean who 
remained until 186(1. Father Dean had the church repaired and 
painted on the inside and pews put in. Father Dean remained until 
1862, when Father Purcell took charge of the church and remained 
until 1863. Father Purcell had a new altar and confessional built. 
Father Lawton took charge in 1863 and remained until 1864. Father 
Greig came in the early spring of 1864, and remained until late in the 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 897 

fall, being followed by Father McGmnis who remained until March, 
1865. Father Cook then came and remained until 1872. Father Cook 
was a classmate of General Thomas Francis Meagher, and a fellow 
sympathizer in the Young Ireland movement of "48." Father Big- 
gins of Dansville succeeded Father Cook in 1872. During the period 
Father Biggins had charge of the church Nunda was transferred from 
the Buffalo to the Rochester Diocese. Father Biggins built the pres- 
ent church and remained until 1874. Father Seymour next took 
charge of the church and remained until 1875. Father Seymour was 
the only one of all these priests who took Nunda as his only charge. 
The congregation however was too small and too poor to support a 
priest, which fact Bishop McOuaid soon discovered, and Father 
Donnelly, who was stationed at Mt. J^Iorris, with the assistance of 
Father O'Connell attended Nunda from 1875 to 1882. Father Don- 
nelly had new pews placed in the church, and made many other im- 
provements. Father Day was appointed pastor of the parishes of 
]\Iount Morris and Nunda May 1, 1893, and is still in charge. From 
July, 1898 until Nov. 189') he was assisted by Rev. E. A. Rawlinson. 
The interior of the church has recently been papered and painted and 
the altar remodeled and decorated. 

Thomas Kiley was the first lay trustee and held office up to his 
death in 1879. James Price was also a trustee for a few years with 
;\Ir. Kiley. John O'Connell became a trustee to succeed Thomas Kiley 
in 1879 and still holds office, jointly with R. H. Hughes, who was ap- 
pointed in 1893. The other trustees are the Bishop and ^^icar General 
of the Diocese and the pastor, ex officio. The church is without debt 
and has a membership of thirty families. 

First Universalist Church. — The first meeting for the organization 
of the Universalist congregation was held in a district school house in 
the village of Nunda, .September 12th, 1840. The officers at that 
meeting were Elijah Horton, Moderator, and L. S. Church, Clerk. 

The deacons chosen were Granville Sherwood and Joseph Root. The 
names of the persons enrolling themselves as members were: Richard 
Church, Elijah Horton, Abram ^Merrick, Joseph H. Root, Charles 
Stillson, Granville Sherwood, Joshua Fuller, George Townsend, Law- 
rence S. Church, Lyman Smith, Amman Smith. Leonard Church, 
Nathan Sherwood, Jonathan Hay, Sarah Horton, Elvira Starkweath- 



898 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



er, Malvina J. Church, Esther Merrick, Abigail Gould, Harriet Horton, 
Mercy Fuller, Maria Sherwood. 

On the 23rd of January, 1841, the Universalist society was formed, 
R. Church presiding as chairman, and Elijah Horton as secretary of 
the meeting. The following trustees were elected: David Grover, 
Richard Church, David Babcock, Granville Sherwood, Hiram Merrick, 
Elijah Horton, Joshua Fuller, William Huggins, Silas Grover. A 
committee on building was appointed at this meeting, and the church 
was built in that same year. In 1871 the Church of the Redeemer 
was erected, a large and beautiful structure standing on East Street. 

The first pastor mentioned in the records is Rev. A. Kelsey, who 
officiated four years. After his ministration the following is the suc- 
cession of pastors as near as can be ascertained: Rev. O. F. Brayton, 
1852; Rev. A. J. Aspinwall, 1856-1860; Rev. C. C. Gordon, 1861- 
1862; Rev. E. Tomlinson, 1863; Rev. A. C. DeLong, 1864-1865; Rev. 
C. V. Craven, 1S66; Rev. E. Reynolds, 1866; Rev. F. S. Bacon, 1867- 
1869; Rev. G. F. Jenks, 1870; Rev. A. L. Rice, 1870; Rev. J. A. 
Dobson, 1871-1873; Rev. Mr. :McLean, 1S74; Rev. :Mr. Kelsey,1874; 
Rev H. Jewell, 1S75; Rev Mr. Shepherd, 1876; Rev. Mr Snell, 1876; 
Rev. Mr. Aldrich, 1S76; Rev. S.J. Aldrich, 1877-1879. Since the 
first of April, 1879, there has been no settled pastor. 

The following is the town assessment and ta.x rate for the years be- 
ginning in 1860: 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




.■\>scssed 


Tax Rale 




Valuation 


on Siooo 




Valuation 


on Siooo 




Valuation 


OU *IOOO 


iS6o 


555,767 


6.91 


1875 


1,095,671 


9-79 


1890 


1,166,570 


12.86 


iS6i 


613.941 


7-75 


1876 


1,024,769 


8.48 


1891 


1,144,575 


10.76 


1862 


813,851 


9-39 


1877 


1,000,986 


10.90 


1892 


1,112,939 


9.40 


1863 


573,878 


9.24 


1878 


1,059,077 


10.12 


1893 


1,133,942 




1864 


598,587 


16.30 


1879 


1,133,746 


11.40 


1894 


1,131,877 


10.14 


186s 


585,583 


38.90 


18S0 


1,187,321 


9-43 


1895 


1,106,470 


9-25 


1866 


566,505 


14.90 


18S1 


1,179,765 


9.12 


1896 


1,087,228 


8.72 


1867 


580,429 


18.00 


1882 


1,173,373 




1897 


1,154.157 


8.46 


1868 


577,738 


14.67 


1883 


1,231,106 


10.04 


1898 


1,125,509 


7.32 


1869 


583,541 


10.55 


1884 


1,170,059 


9-31 


1S99 


1,123,860 


8.08 


1S70 


591,417 


11.22 


1885 


1,215,829 


10.54 


1900 


1,115,116 


7.87 


1871 


598,115 


18.12 


1886 


1,159,820 


11.20 


1901 


1,120,113 


T :.»w 


1872 


576,559 


19.12 


1887 


1,138,782 


11.38 


1902 


1,133,640 


C 6.«> 
T 0.211 


1S73 


566,906 


18.85 


1 888 


1,138,492 


10.67 


1903 


1,132.995 


c fl.2a 


1S74 


1,062,020 


7.60 


18S9 


1, 186,304 


14.02 









HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



899 



The following is the list of the supervisors of Nunda since the town 
was passed over from Allegany to Livingston county in 1846: 



Ei-lwaril Suaiu 1S46-47 

Samuel Skinner 

1848-49-50-51-53-54-55-60-61 

Elislia Whipple 1S52 

Lewi^ B. Warner 1856-57-5S-59 

E. O. Dickinson 1S62-63-74-75 

Alfred Bell 1864 

H. D. Page 1S65-66-67-68-69-70 

Jared P. Dodge 1871-73 

Elijah Youngs 1S72 



Pliu D. Lyon 1S76-77 

Wm. W. Hunt 1S78-82-83-84 

W'ni. Y. Robinson 1879-80-81 

Chas. S. Lvude 1885-86 

Wm. H. P'aj-ne 1887-S8-S9 

James McNair 1890 

C. A. Norton. ..1891-92-93-94-95-96-97-98 

E. C. Olney 1S99-00 

Piatt C. Halsted 1901-02-03 



YORK. 

The town of York is larger than any other town in Livingston c<iunty 
except Springwater. Its area is 29.639 acres and its population in 1900 
was 2730. It is bounded north by Caledonia, east by Avon and Gen- 
eseo, south by Leicester, and west by Pavilion and Covington (Wyo- 
ming county.) It was formed from Caledonia and Leicester in 1819, 
and later, in 1823. a small portion of Covington was added to straighten 
the boundaries. The east boundary line is the Genesee river. The 
surface from the river Ihits westward is gently undulating. The soil 
is a clay loam in the cential and eastern parts and sandy and gravi-lly 
loam in the northern part. 

The two principal streams besides the Genesee arc Brown's creek 
and Calder creek, the former flowing through the central section and 
the latter through the northern section into the river. 

Robert Grant has described the physical characteristics of the town 
as follows: "The town of York being one of the largest and most fer- 
tile in the county of Livingston, is also almost entirely exempt from 
any broken or waste lands, as well as being uniformly and generally 
well watered for stock and other purposes. Its entire eastern border 
is laved by the tortuous course of the meandering Genesee, whose sev- 
eral tributaries flowing from west to east, nearly equidistant through 
the entire town, betoken a most wise and essential provision of nature 
for both man and beast. "" 

The villages of Y'ork are small and unincorporated. They are York 
Centre, Fowlerville, North and South Greigsville, Pifl.'ard and Lin- 
wood. Y^'ork Centre is nearly at the geographical center of the town, 
and Fowlerville, with about the same population — less than half a 
thousand — in the northern part. North and South Greigsville. in the 
southern section, are hamlets about a mile apart. Pift'ard is in the 
southeastern part. 

In early days York Landing on the Genesee, located one mile east 
of York Centre, and practically the head of river navigation, became 
the great grain mart and interport, not only for the surplus of York, 
but large portions of Leicester, Perry, Castile. Covington, Pavilion, 



HHI . -sAJlOn _ _. 




i 
■::a 




lll"'^'^HBBHil 






i^S 


GILMORE'S Mill. AM) OIDEST BRIDGE 
o.\ GKM.sEE kivi:r, GENESCO, ^. Y. 



Bridge between Geneseo and York. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 901 

and considerable regions beyond these towns, and larye warehouses 
were constructed there for storage and shipment. After water was 
let into the canal in 1840, this shipping trade was distributed some- 
what to other points of the region, such as Cuylerville, Spencerport, 
Piffard and Fowlerville, but two basins were constructed at York 
Landing, and new warehouses went up, the old ones being inconven- 
iently located, and the place remained for some years longer one of 
the busiest shipping places in the valley. The discontinuance of the 
' canal in 1878, and the completion of the railroad in 1879, ended its 
business. The northeastern part of the town was originally called In- 
verness by the Scotch settlers, in memory of their Scotland city. 
The town is underlaid with great mines of crystalized salt, which 
have been developed into an immense business since their first discov- 
ery in 1878. 

The town of York was originally a part of Caledonia, and the first 
settlers were Scotcii immigrants who spread out from the Caledonia 
settlement. They built log hnmes in what was then called the "South 
Woods" about the year IStlO, and prominent among them were Donald, 
John and William ilcKenzie, John and Alexander Frazer, Angus 
McBean, John ^IcCall, Archibald, Gillis, Ale.\ander Stewart and Wil- 
liam Dorris. John Clunas and John and David 'Slavt arrived a little 
later. Ralph Brown came in 1808, purchased the land which is the 
site of York Centre, built a small log house, and used it as a tavern 
for the accommodation of guests. Donald D. McKenzie settled in 
York in 1804. John Russ and John Darling came from Vermont in 
18o9, immediately built a log house, and returned east for the winter. 
When they came to their cabin again in the spring each brought a 
sister with him, and also household goods and farming implements. 

Donald D. McKenzie, who lived in Y'ork fifty years and died there, 
has written an account of the coming in 1803 and settlement of the 
band of Scotch families who accompanied him. This account ap- 
pears at length in the sketch of Caledonia. The hardships of their long 
journey to and beginning in America were great, and they were 
slow in deciding just where to establish themselves, but finally 
decided upon lands which afterward were set oft" as a part of York. 
At first they built temporary wigwams, in the Indian style. Some of 
the men had to travel eight or nine miles and back in helping to build 
the first log houses. They bought yokes of oxen and cows so far as 



902 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

their means permitted, and when harvest time came men and women 
worked in the fields to get provisions and seed wheat. 

Mr. McKenzie wrote: "I often shudder when I recall the careless- 
ness of the pioneers in erecting their log houses and log barns. Some 
of those barns were forty to fifty feet by thirty to thirty-six feet, and 
often twenty feet high. Three or four of the top logs were whole the 
entire length. These were raised in place amid a great confusion of 
tongues caused by the diversity of languages together with the free 
use of whiskey. For some were talking English, some Gaelic, some 
Dutch, etc. Whiskey drinking was not then considered disreputable, 
and the men were full of vigor from their cups, and it is a mercy that 
more were not injured." 

In 180') James Calder, from whom Calder creek takes its name, 
located in the north part of the town, and the next year Oliver Stone 
located a mile from the Centre, bringing with him the first wagon 
owned in York. The first saw mill was erected by Ezekiel Morley 
and his son Joseph near the Centre in 1807. A grist mill was built at 
the Centre by Ralph Brown in 1808 according to one authority and 
eight or nine years later according to another. If the former date is 
correct it was the first grist mill in town. Another was put up by 
Moses Gibson and Col. Robert j\IcKay in 1814, and another, probably 
in the next year, by Wells Fowler and William Taylor. Wells Fowler 
and Plynn .Warren erected a saw mill near Fowlerville in 1817, and 
about the same time Samuel Warren erected one further up stream. 
The first store was opened at the Centre by Chandler Pierson in 1S16, 
and another by Peck and Goodman in 1817. Robert Stocking started 
a blacksmith shop there in that year or the next. 

As an illustration of common experiences of the early comers, we 
quote the following from Doty's history: "Another early settler was 
Holloway Long, who came to York in 1818, from Shelhorn, Frank- 
lin county, his birthplace, his wife accompanied him. Their goods 
were brought by a team consisting of a yoke of oxen and a span of 
horses. The family started in a cutter in which they made a part 
of their journey. The snow then failed them and wheels were substi- 
tuted. The little group was protected from the inclement weather 
by a piece of towcloth that had been spun and woven by Mcs. Long. 
The cutter contained their provisions and cooking utensils, for which 
they found freq-uent use on the route. The family were nine days on 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 903 

the road, the teams with the goods being twenty-eight days making 
the journey. Temporary shelter was provided for the family on their 
arrival, and Mr. Long went to work at once to erect a log house. In 
a few days it was up and occupied, though not very comfortable until 
the opening of spring enabled him to chink it. Mr. Long settled on 
the Forty Thousand Acre Tract, and on his arrival found four or 
five families occupying temporary quarters on the tract. The locality 
was then called 'Caledonia South Woods.' The Indians were peac- 
ably disposed. Mr. Long took up the farm at fourteen dollars an 
acre, on which he continued to reside until his death." The "South 
Woods" were a part of "Big Woods." The region was a dense and 
magnificent forest. 

John Russ and his cOusin, John Darling, boarded at Ralph Brown's 
log tavern two months while building a house after they came here in 
1S0*J. Mr. Russ has said of the tavern accommodations at that time 
that Mr. Brown had but two knives and two ^orks in the inn, and 
when these happened to be in use, the guest or boarder would use his 
pocket knife if he had one, or would be supplied with a hickory stick. 
■ Among the early physicians were Drs. Durelle, Long and Stickney. 
One of the first ministers was Rev. Josiah Goddard, a Baptist. The 
first white child born in town was a son of Donald Clunas, and the 
second was Angus McKenzie, son of Donald McKenzie, in March, 
1805. 

Alexander Gillis, a Scotchman who came in 1804 with his wife, 
three sons and two daughters, and settled on the western border of 
York, was prominent in organizing the first Presbyterian church of 
Caledonia. He lived to be eighty-nine years old. 

Fowlerville was named from Wells Fowler, who settled there in 
1816. In 1819 he was appointed the first postmaster of the town. He 
was active and influential in causing the construction in 1820 of the 
first bridge over the (ienesee river on the road from Avon through 
Fowlerville to Buffalo. It was built by voluntary subscriptions and 
labor. 

David Piffard was a useful and esteemed resident of York, where he 
lived from 1824 until his death in 1883. He was a native of England, 
and was born there in 1794. He went with his parents to France in 
1802 lived there with them eleven years, and meanwhile was educated 
in Paris and Versailles. There he studied architecture, and continued 



904 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the study in London. When he came to York he bought a tract of 
OtiU acres, and also became the owner of 5,000 acres in Flint, Mich. 
He was a man of varied attainments and extensive knowledge, in- 
cluding general literature, science, architecture, medicine and horti- 
culture. He hail nne of the finest gardens in Western New York. He 
died in 1SS3. 

The m<.)St distinguished man whose life has been to some extent 
identified with the town of Yorl: was Chester A. Arthur, president of 
the United States from 1881 to 18S5. His father Rev. William 
Arthur, was pastor of the Baptist church at York Centre for a number 
of years, beginning with 18.^7, when the future president was seven 
years old. 

John R, McPherson was born in York in 1832, and after his educa- 
tion in York and Geneseo schools, became a York farmer until he was 
twenty-six years old, when he moved to New Jersey, there engaged in 
agriculture on a large scale, and became an extensive and widely 
known dealer in cattle. But his chief distinction is in certain inven- 
tions of great practical value. He improved and applied the French 
abattoir fur the slaughter of stock. He originated the railroad car for 
long-distance transportation of live stock, and invented effective 
methods for improving soils. He represented New Jersey in the 
United States Senate. 

Col. Holloway Long came in 1816, and a little later was elected cap- 
tain of the "York Artillery," a famous militia company. The records 
of this company are a little mixed, but it must be inferred that it 
had been organized several years when Col. Long was chosen its cap- 
tain, as it was ordered to the frontier on the breaking out of the war 
of 1812, remained two weeks, and afterward was ordered out several 
times. A detachment of the company took part in the siege of Fort 
Erie in 1814. Col. Long was familiar witii military tactics, and be- 
came its very efficient leader and drill master. 

The first town meeting of York, held in April, 1819, elected the fol- 
lowing officers: supervisor, William Janes; town clerk, Perez P. Peck; 
assessors, John Darling, John Dodge, Henry James: collector, Joseph 
R. Ramsdell; overseers of the poor, Moses Allen, Thomas Blake; 
Commissioners of highways, John Russ, William Taylor, Newcomb 
Mead; constables, Jonathan Tainter, Joseph R. Ramsdell; commis- 
sioners of schools, Wells Fowler, Philander Se.\ton, N. Backet. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 905 

Tlie following is an extract from Donald D, ^McKenzie's narrative, 
before quoted: "When (in 1804) we arrived here (York) there were 
perhaps a dozen families in Hartford (Avon), as many in Caledonia, 
and about equal numbers in Buffalo and Ratavia each. All the rest 
of the large territor}' did not contain many inhabitants, except the 
Indians. There were several families in Ganson settlement, and also 
a few in Leicester; all the rest west of the Genesee river was an un- 
broken wilderness. " 

About a quarter of a century ago the people of York awoke to the 
knowledge that there was more wealth underneath their surface 
than upon it. We quote on this subject from a paper read 
before the Livingston County Historical society : "The first indica- 
tions of salt were found upon the premises of the late Samuel Warren 
some sixty-five or sixty-six years ago, but the first salt well actually 
drilled in the town of York was in 1S7S near Greigsville.upon lands of 
Carroll Cocher, who for many years had encouraged the project. 
Among those who furnished the necessary aid were [Messrs. M. Noonan, 
L.W. Crossett, C. H. Young, H. H. Guiteau, Josiah Warren and Har- 
lan P. Warren. At a depth of 1012 feet a vein of 137 feet of rock salt 
was struck. The investment of capital and the employment of men by 
the Retsof Salt Company upon the farms of Asa Bidwell, and others 
is among the stupendous business enterprises of modern times, with a 
future that no man dares to predict. * * In 1883 Charles F. 
Wadsworth, T. N. Shattuck of Piffard, and Otto Kelsey, A. A. Cox 
and lames B. Adams of Geneseo, formed a company under the name 
of the Livingston vSalt Company, for evaporation of salt. Being suc- 
cessful, they continued to further their interests until 1895, when 
their property was disposed of; the Genesee Salt company, which 
was started in 1884 carried on for several years a prosperous salt evap- 
orating plant at Piffard." 

From another historical paper (date not given) we make, this ex- 
tract: "There are now five wells near the Lackawanna railroad at 
Geigsville ranging in depth from 1050 to 1150 feet, all passing 
through salt deposit. A well at Piffard on the line of the Canal rail- 
road, put down within the past year by the Livingston Salt company, 
proved to have about eighty feet in depth of crystallized salt, and also 
an abundance of brine of perfect quality. Evaporating works have been 
erected and a short experience has demonstrated tiiat the works have 



906 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

a capacity of about 20(» barrels per day, and the cjuality unexcelled in 
the world." 

The following very interesting contribution to the history of the 
town of York is by Robert Grant: 

"It was always represented to me by early and intelligent members 
that my wife's grandfather, Rev. John Eastman, early in the twenties 
was instrumental in organizing a Congregational church both at Fow- 
lerville and at (ireigsville in the town of York and for some years 
ministered to both. Subsequently the church at Greigsville removed 
to York Centre where a very neat and inviting house of worship was 
erected and Rev. John Whittlesy was called to the pastorate and in 
which public services were steadily maintained under different and 
able pastors until about 1864 or 5 when the church was disbanded, the 
members mainly uniting with the United Presbyterian church of 
York, Rev. John Van Eaton, D. D., pastor. This church early in the 
thirties erected a neat and commodious house of worship upon ground 
previously set apart as a public square, which, after standing a few 
years, was destroyed by fire supposed to be the work of an incendiary. 
Another was erected in the immediate rear of the former in 1838 upon 
which many improvements have been made. Those who have offici- 
ated as pastors and the order in which they served are as follows: 
Revs. John Eastman, Walker, John Hubbard, Powell, Pierpont, Bur- 
bank, Lyman, She, E. H. Stratton, J. P. Foster, Robert Laird, Rridg- 
man, Chapin, Henry Snyder, Timothy Darling, Thomas A. Wads- 
worth, Moses, Powell, Yeomans and Modesit. 

" During the respective ministries of Pierpont, Laird, and Wads- 
worth, quite extensive revivals occurred and on each occasion large 
numbers were added to the church. During the ministry of Rev. T. 
A. Wadsworth the church withdrew from the care of the Presbytery 
becoming distinctively a Congregational church. During the spring 
of 1878 steps were taken to change the organization of the church 
from Congregational to Presbyterian, which being accomplished on the 
22d of April, 1878, Rev. E. G. Cheeseman became pastor and was 
succeeded by Revs. Seward and Nelson. 

I would like to have mentioned as among the early merchants of 
York, David McDonald who began business at an early day when a 
young man at a point in the northeast part of the town called the city 
of Ghent, about 1819, and in 1S23 at York Centre, where he continued 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 'i(»7 

steadily in business until 1850 and at which place he died in 185S hav- 
ing raised a large family and acquired a large fortune. 

"Porter P. Peck was another early merchant commencing business 
in a small way at what is now known as "Sit. Pleasant, one mile south- 
west of Fowlerville from whence he removed to York Centre, becom- 
ing perha[)s the first merchant there as well as the first postmaster 
and afterwards removing to Rochester. Peck was succeeded in trade 
and in the office of post master by Shepard Pierce, a most popular man 
in both respects, who removed early in the thirties to Livonia, where 
he engaged in the same avocations and David McDonald became the 
postmaster at York holding the office almost continuously until 1S4S). 

"Cyrus Hawley, Alvan Hayward, Thomas Fraser, Steven B. Noble, 
Edward Brown, Abram Stocking, Fish and Crissy, Allen Ward, James 
Mc Pherson, Wm. Fraser, Jr., Roswell H. French, George F. Rams- 
dell, James W.Whitney, Henry Peck,Orrin Chamberlain, James Fraser, 
Edward R. Dean, Charles O. Beach, Walter Elliott Gilmore, Alexander 
Skellie, James anri Duncan Mc Intyre, John W. Stewart, Neil and 
Charles Stewart, Alexander Reid, James W. McArthur, Alexander F. 
McKean, James A. Forrest, Edward F. Caldwell, Charles N. Stewart, 
Mrs. W. J. Reid and Mrs. Bessie Dresser have been among the early 
and late merchants at York Centre. 

"Among the hotel keepers have been Nathan Rup, Timothy Rice, 
Vinton West, R. C. Moore, Peleg Blankenship, Newell L. Bowman, 
Ira Harrington, T. Butler, Wm. McCandlish, John C. Fiero, Hiram 
Martin, Hector L. McLean, James Plan, Wm. Stebbins, John L. Mc- 
Lean, Isaac Hayward, Ray Hitt, Wm. Howell and George A. Root. 

"The physicians at York Centre have been Drs. John W. Leonard, 
Wm. Holloway, James Green, Joseph Tozier, Royal Tyler, Enoch 
Peck, Benajah Hanson, John S. Graham, H. S. Gates, Josiah Long, 
George O. J. DuRelle, John Craig, John R. Craig, A. F. Mclntyre, 
John B. Norton, D. L. Shull, Wm. B. Sprague, Jacob G. Staley, 
J. VanDike, I. A. M. Dike, J. G. Filkins. 

"At Fowlerville the merchants have been Clark L. Capron, 
Nathaniel Goodman, Joseph R. Ramsdell, Judge Riggs, Bradley 
Martin, Alonzo Fowler, Walter Whitcomb, Little & Dixon, 
Charles Estes, Charles J. Folger, Wm. Fraser, Amos Fowler, James 
S. Fowler, John P. Carey, Robert Grant, Stephen Loucks, Chauncey 



908 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Haxton, Thomas J. McDonald, B. F. Dow, Luman F. Dow, John W. 
Howe, Sanford Weller, W. J. Rogers and Donald A. Fraser. 

"Among the hotel keepers have been Wells Fowler, Clark L. Capron, 
Amos Fowler, Justus Weller, Isaac N. Steward. Caleb White, Alex- 
ander JMcHardy, and William Howell. 

"The physicians have been Joseph Tozier, Zina G. Paine, John Mc- 
Lean, Walter 'Wallace, Frederick R. Stickney, James Northrop, O. 
D. Hamilton, A. A. West and George H. Jones. 

"At (ireigsville the merch:ints have been Fish & Crissy, Edward R. 
Dean, John P. Dickey, John D. Fraser, James Jones, Elisha Williams, 
and Simpson. 

"The hotel keepers have been Gideon Barnes, William Bowman, John 
C. F'iero, George A. Rout, and Samuel Dorris. 

"Greigsville was the birthplace of Genera! Clinton B. Fisk. 

"At Spencerport the merchants have been John Spencer, Charles 
and Edward Hosmer, Peter Fraser, James McPherson and John \'an 
Valkenberg. The hotel keepers have been Amos Fowler anil James 
H. Bow." 

YORK CHURCHES. 

United Presbyterian Church.— The origin of the United Presbyter- 
ian Church of York dates back to ISll. In the spring of that year 
seven families of vScottish descent came from Johnstown, Fulton 
county, N. Y. to locate in the fertile valley of the Genesee. These, to- 
gether with four families recently from Ireland, settled in the neigh- 
borhood called "Coille Mohe" or Big Woods, known today as York. 
Sometime before this an Associate Reformed Presbyterian church had 
been established in the northern part of the town, now the town of 
Caledonia, and these people attended services there. This church 
was just preparing to extend a call to John Campbell, a licentiate of 
the Saratoga Presbytery, which then included the Caledonia Presby- 
tery, and the newcomers anxious to participate in this movement sent 
John McKercher, Jr., and James P. Stewart to represent them before 
the society of Caledonia and request a portion of Mr. Campbell's ser- 
vices. The society of Caledonia generously granted them one-fourth 
of his time for two years, for which they were to pay only one hun- 
dred of the five hundred dollars salarv. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 909 

During the year 1813 the first trustees were elected. They were 
Donald Fraser, Daniel McNab and Robert McGlashen. The onlv place 
of meeting yet was in a small log house, or in a barn, which was pre- 
ferred when the weather permitted. In 1814 the first house of wor- 
ship was erected, the dimensions of which were 33x32 feet, the seats 
being slabs split from logs of basswood. During this year Alexander 
Harvey was chosen first ruling elder to act with this part of Mr- 
Campbell's charge with the session of Caledonia. In the early part of 
1817, Rev. John Campbell died, and in the same spring Elder Harvey 
removed to Canada. In the summer of 1818 the elders chosen the pre- 
vious fall were ordained and installed. They were as follows: Donald 
G. Fraser, James McKerlie and Hugh Innis. The Rev. Robert 
Proudfit presided at their ordination. After this Rew James Mairs, 
of Argyle, N. Y., supplied them for a time. Thus, although there 
had been a society and a church, no regular organization was effected 
until 1822 when it was incorporated as the First Associate Reformed 
Presbyterian Church. Henry Wilkins, a licentiate of the Associate 
Reformed Presbytery, was ordained and installed as pastor of the con- 
gregation. 

The year 1825 marked the erection of a new and more commodious 
house of worship, which was enclosed at an expense of about Sl.'Htn. 

In November of this year the first dissension in the society 
arose, owing to the fact of the session's passing a resolution 
making the observance of Fast Day a term of communion. This 
action resulted in the resignation of all the elders except Donald G. 
Fraser and the withdrawal of ten families, who placed themselves 
under the care of the Associate Presbytery of Albany, and were organ- 
ized as the Associate Presbyterian Church of York and Covington. 
Although this withdrawal crippled the society for a time, a subsequent 
increase in the membership placed them again on a sure footing. In 
1826 Neil jMcDougall and John McMartin were added to the session, 
and in 1827 James jMcNab, Archibald Kennedy, John McCleary and 
Alexander Proudfit were also added. In the year 1831 the edifice, 
which had been inclosed in 1825, was completed at an additional ex- 
pense of 1^1,000, which constitutes the rear part of the building now 
standing. In 1834 Rev. Wilkin resigned his pastorate and the church 
was without a settled pastor until the installation of Rev. Alexander 
Blaikie in the beginning of the year 1836. During 1837 it was re- 



910 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



solved to enlarge the church building by adding twelve feet to its 
length, together with a steeple, which was done at an expense of 
SI, 240. In 1844 Rev. Blaikie resigned his charge, after which the 
pulpit was vacant until the coming of John M. Herron who was in- 
stalled as pastor in May 1848. In this same year eight families with- 
drew from the society and with a few others formed the Associate Re- 
formed Church of Cuylerville, which made two churches which had 
grown out of the mother church, Covington and Cuylerville. In De- 
cember 1852, Rev. Herron resigned his charge, but in September of 
the following year the congregation succeeded in obtaining the ser- 
vices of Rev. John Van Eaton, of Rochester. 

Until within a short time the society had owned no parsonage but 
prior to the departure of Rev. Herron, in 1852, the present property 
was purchased at a cost of about §600 and in 1854 the main part was 
rebuilt at an expense of about 81,500. During 1854 a Sunday-school 
was organized with Elder James Cameron as superintendent, followed 
successively by Hon. Archibald Kennedy, Rev. J. VanEaton, Rev H 
A. :McDonald and Rev. A. K. Duif. 

In the year 1S58 the union between the Associate and the Associate 
Reformed bodies was consummated, forming what is known as 
the United Presbyterian Church. 

The United Presbyterian Synod of New York held its first meeting 
in this church. After a laborious and successful pastorate of exactly 
twenty-seven years. Rev. VanEaton, in the autumn of 1879 on 
account of ill health, was obliged to seek rest, which the cono-rega- 
tion cheerfully granted. He died the following March, and the remains 
were brought to York, where the funeral was attended by a large con- 
course of people. 

After a vacancy of about two years a unanimous call was extended 
to Rev. H. A. McDonald, of Philadelphia, Pa., which was accepted 
his installation taking place December 1, .1881. For some months :ilr.' 
McDonald was the only settled pastor in the village of York, which 
added materially to his labors in the communitv. After a pastorate of 
four years Rev. Mr. McDonald accepted a call from the United Pres- 
byterian Church of Oxford, O. In 1886 aunanimous call was extended 
to Rev. A. K. Duff of New Castle, Pa., which was accepted and he en- 
tered upon his duties as pastor the second Sunday of February, 1887. 
During Mr. Duffy's pastorate and largely owing to his untiring per- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 911 

sonal effort, a new church ediffce was erected, and dedicated January 
13, 1891. 

First Reformed Presbyterian Church. — This church which no longer 
has an existence was organized in 1S32. The first elders were James 
!Milroy, James Cullings, James Guthrie, Jr., Trustees, Robert J. 
Guthrie, David ^IcMillan, James Kennedy. 

The first pastor was Rev. John Fisher, whose pastorate lasted some 
fifteen years. The next pastor was Rev. Samuel Bowden, who was 
installed in 1847, and who continued with the Society until his resig- 
nation in October, 1876. The first church was built in 1833 or 1835, 
and was abandoned in 1871 for a more commodious edifice erected in 
that year. 

Baptist Church. — The present Baptist church of York was formed in 
1832 by the union of two churches called the First and Second Baptist 
Churches of York. 

There exists no definite information of the First Church previous to 
1819, only that it was known as the Church of Caledonia and Leicester; 
its members being scattered over a large area of territory, and hold- 
mg their meetings in different localities. 

At this time the town of York was formed from the towns of Cale- 
donia and Leicester. The church was then called the First Baptist 
Church of York, numbering fifty members. The two following years 
were of marked interest in the history of this church, and are known 
as'the great revival period. Many additions to the Society were 
made through the labors of Rev. John Blain and others. The church 
belonged to the Genesee Baptist Association, which met for the first 
time with the church in York in 1827, holding its meetings in the barn 
of Allen Smith. 

The names of the ministers who, in the following order, preached 
from 1819 to 1832, were Revs. Josiah Butler, John Blain, Jesse Bramin, 
Miner, Solomon, Dimock, and O. H. Reed. 

Among the earliest members were Jotham Forbes and w-ife, James 
Rice, Oliver Rice, Amos Baker, Gershom Waite, Allen Smith, Pa- 
tience Smith, Timothy Tryon, Harrison Church, Marens Carter and 
wife, Enoch Weller, Rhoda Weller, W. D. Powers, Elizabeth Powers, 
Abigail Powers, Cyrus Lyon, Polly Lyon, Nathan and Eunice Clapp. 

The second Baptist Church of York was organized in 1822 at York 
Centre, numbering twenty members, and holding their first meetings 



912 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



in the h:ill of a public building, and afterwards in the school-house. 
This church also belonged to the Genesee Baptist Association, and was 
presided over by Rev. Josiah Goddard until the two churches were 
united. 

Among the earliest niemljers of this church were: Spencer and 
Cynthia Pomeroy, Nathaniel and j\mos Goddard, Elisha Goddard, 
Sarah Goddard, Jesse Skinner, Joseph (jouid, G. T. Roberts, Anna 
Ri>berts, Augustus Weller, Rhoda Weller, Ira Grant, Maria Grant, B. 
W. Willard and Clarissa Ferrin. 

York sent many volunteers to the front during the Civil war, but 
her action regarding bounties was not recorded. 



York's supervisors have been as fo 

Titus Goodman, Jr 1821-22-25-26-27 

H ol lo way LoiiR 1824-25-2S-32-37-38 

John Hollo way 1S29-39-40 

Asa .\niolil 1S30-31 

Donald Frazer 1S33 

Donald Fra/er, Jr 1S34-35-36 

Wni. H. .Spencer 1841-42-43 

Wni. vSlewart 1844 

Edward R. Dean 1845-46 

David McDonald 1847 

Israel D. Root 1848-49 

Aaron Russ 1850-51-52 

Daniel McPlierson 1853 



David H. Abell 1854 

Hamilton E. Smith 1S55 

Neil Stew.irt 1856-57-5S 

Allen W. Smitli 1859-60 

Geo. \V. Root.. 1861-62-63-64-65-66-67-6S 

Arch Kennedy 

1869-70-71-74-75-76-77-78-79-80 

Benj. F. Dow 1872-73 

A. D. Newton 1881-82-83-84-85-S6-87 

Henry Walker 18S8-89-90-91 -93-94-95 

\Vm. H. Clapp 1896-97-9S 

T. N. Shatluck 1899-00-01-02 

I. A, M. Dike 1903 



The following table gives assessed valuations and ta.\ rates: 





Assessed 


Tax rate 




Assessed 


Tax rate 




Assessed 


Tax rate 


Year 


Valuatiou 


on $1000 


Year 


Valuation 


on $1000 


Year 


Valuation 


on Siooo 


i860 


1,270,909 


6.65 


1875 


2,289,011 


10.86 


1890 


2,208,446 


9.11 


1861 


1,209,155 


6.98 


1876 


2,172,553 


9-87 


1891 


2,430,100 


6.79 


1862 


1,172,494 


9.42 


1877 


2,043,154 


7-50 


1892 


2,282,744 


8.12 


1863 


1,188,543 


9.04 


1878 


1.988,932 


7-77 


1893 


2,315,549 




1864 


1,214,862 


24.40 


T879 


1,716,599 


16.02 


1894 


2 257,407 


6.92 


1865 


1,248,388 


37-90 


1880 


1,751,829 


11-93 


1895 


2,281,815 


7-09 


1866 


1,191.159 


13-90 


1881 


1,753,426 


9.66 


1896 


2,251,522 


7-45 


1867 


1,194,942 


19.92 


1882 


1,629,097 




1897 


2,154,038 


7-24 


1868 


1,193-275 


16.44 


1883 


1,926,702 


5-00 


1898 


2,143,962 


6.72 


1869 


1,214,824 


9-58 


1884 


1,954,038 


8-39 


1899 


2,165,680 


6-45 


1870 


1,199,585 


12.58 


1885 


2,005,409 


8.73 


1900 


2,151,213 


5.10 


1871 


1,249,190 


11.96 


1886 


2,292,864 


7-25 


1901 


2,181,036 


4-48 


1872 


1,167,236 


25-18 


1887 


2,142,922 


10.21 


1902 


2,182,193 


3-74 


1873 


1,174,589 


19-91 


1888 


2,150,038 


7-95 


1903 


2,407,511 


4-95 


1874 


2,328,125 


9.98 


1889 


2,133-965 


9-79 









HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 913 

YORK VOLUNTEERS IN THE WAR OF 1S12. 

Between the years of 1804 and 1812, the south part of the town of 
■Caledonia and what subsequently became the northwesterly portion of 
the town of York, in Livingston county, and which was familiarly 
known as Coille Mohr, or "Big Woods," was settled very generally 
bv a hardy, frugal Scotch population coming directly from their na- 
tive Scotland heath, from Albany, from Argyle in Washington coun- 
ty, and from Broadalbin and Johnstown in Montgomery county. Of 
such were Collin Gillis, Angus Cameron, Alexander Mann, Archibald 
Gillis, Donald McColl, William Fraser, Daniel Ferguson, John Rui 
Mclntyre, James White, Duncan Grant, Duncan Mclntyre, Alexander 
Stewart and Donald G. Fraser. The region was one of dense and 
magnificent forest of superior soil, but of peculiar hardships, and 
fraught with many thrilling incidents and privations. During the 
3-ear 1812 or 1813 when British cannon was booming all along the 
northern frontier, and both Rochester and Buffalo, and all contiguous 
country seemed in imminent danger, the three last named settlers, 
although aliens and not subject to the country's call, conceived it to 
be their moral duty to leave their chopping and their logging, and 
volunteer their services as soldiers at the recruiting station or rendez- 
vous at Batavia. Hence one day in the early autumn after partaking 
of a hearty breakfast of fried pork and boiled potatoes, the patriotic 
young Scots with coats on arm and staffs in hand set out on foot for 
Batavia via Caledonia or "Big Springs," some six miles distant, fully 
determined apparently to serve their adopted country ; and taking in 
the route the cabin of their less zealous neighbor, Duncan Grant, they 
halted for a few moments before his door to belabor him for his want 
of enthusiasm in refusing to join them, after which their march was 
vigorously resumed. Mr. Grant, however, was possessed of an inkling 
that the zeal of his neighbors would hardly last them to Batavia, and 
as the evening shades began to prevail, he lay in ambush near what 
he supposed might be their returning path to listen for their retreat- 
ing footsteps. He had not to wait long before approaching voices 
were heard, which proved to be those of Mclntyre and Fraser earnestly 
■endeavoring to persuade their compatriot Stewart (who was endowed 
with a strong sonorous voice which seemed not all modulated by a day 
spent at the "Big Springs") to practice lower tones while passing 



914 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Grant's lest they should all become the subject of his sarcastic jokes. 
They were all however completely surprised in their hasty homeward 
march, chided severely, and to the last days of their lives ceased not 
to be reminded of their valiant services in the war of 1812. 

Nevertheless the quartette of young Scottish pioneers all survived to 
subdue their respective farms, to hew out comfortable homes, to ac- 
quire a competency and to each rear and educate large families of 
children. That of Duncan Mclntyre consisted of six sons and three 
daughters, among whom were the late Captain John D. Mclntyre of 
Wilmot, Wis., and James ^Iclntyre of York, both successful agricul- 
turists and business men. They buried their paternal parent in June, 
1838, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. 

The family of Alexander Stewart comprised six stalwart children, 
all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, among whom may be 
mentioned his son Niel, one of the most extensive and successful busi- 
ness men as well as largest landholders of York, and the late Hon. 
Charles Stewart of Rochester, Minnesota. The head of the family 
who evinced more than ordinary capacity for acquiring property, died 
in February, 1845, having reached the age of nearly seventy years. 

The family of Duncan Grant consisted of seven children, five sons 
and two daughters, including the late Captain Gerrit V. S. Grant of 
York, and Dr. Alexander Grant of Bath, South Dakota. Their father, 
after a quiet and happy life, died in May, 1853, having attained the 
age of seventy-seven years. 

But Deacon Donald G. Eraser, the "noblest Roman of them all," 
was blest -with a family of eleven children of superior physical i.>rgani- 
zation and talents, to whom reasonable advantages were conceded, 
and among whom may now be mentioned the late Professor Donald 
G. Fraser, Jr. of Illinois, Alexander C. Fraser of Chicago, attorney at 
law, and Mrs. Geo. D. Tallent, superintendent of public instruction 
of Pennington county. South Dakota. The patriarch of this large 
family had, in comparative health and strength, reached the age of 
eighty-two years, when, on the night of the 1st of October, 1865, at 
the dead hour of midnight, \vhile quietly reposing along with his 
second wife in the home which he had occupied for considerably more 
than half a century, he was attacked by James Sherwood of Pif?ard, 
Charles Heelan of Fowlerville, and Thomas Howard and Jeremiah 
Roberts of York, who conspired to secure what they could of the old 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 915 

gentleman's well earned wealth. ]\Ir. Fraser died on the 15th day of 
the month following the attack and from its effects. The assailants 
were promptly arrested on the morning following the deed, lodged in 
the Livingston county jail, and indicted by the grand jury on the 
27th of October for murder, to which they pleaded guilty in the second 
degree. On the following 4th of November, at the Oyer and Terminer 
term of court, Hon. Henry Wells presiding, they were severally 
sentenced as follows: Jeremiah Roberts, for the term of fifteen and a 
half years; Thomas Howard, Charles Heelan and James Sherwood 
during their natural life in the penitentiary at Auburn. After serv- 
ing some three or four years, Jeremiah Roberts was pardoned by the 
Executive, and about the same time Charles Heelan committed sui- 
cide in prison. Thomas Howard and James Sherwood, after having 
served some seventeen years of their sentence, were also pardoned, 
by the governor of the state for what has ever been considered the 
greatest outrage and the most heinous crime ever committed in the 
whole history of the town of York. 

YORK LANDING. 

BY ROBERT GRANT. 

That portion of the Genesee river, from the great falls therein, at 
what subsequently became Rochester, in the county of Monroe, to its 
junction with the Canaseraga creek, near what became Mt. Morris, 
in the county of Livingston, and the said creek, from its said junction 
to the southern boundary of township number seven, in the seventh 
range in the county of Ontario was, on the 10th day of August, 
in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, by act of 
the legislature of the state of New York, at its 22d annual session, 
declared a navigable stream or public highway. By an act of the 
legislature passed April 18, 1828, the line was extended from Roch- 
ester to the Pennsylvania line without prejudice to mills and dams 
previously erected. 

Upon the completion of the Erie canal to Rochester in 1822, and the 
erection of a state dam across the river at the head of the rapids some 
two miles south of the business center (3f the then prospective city, 
and the construction of a feeder from the above mentioned dam along 
the east bank of the river and connecting with the canal on South 



916 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

St. Paul street, through which boats were able to pass, and the Elys, 
Beaches, Kempshalls and others having erected extensive flouring 
mills in Rochester, whose product soon found an active eastern de- 
mand, the necessity and desire for a large quantity of the favorite fall 
"red chaff" and "white flint" wheat, grown in the upper Genesee 
valley, was early felt, and means devised for securing and transport- 
ing the same to what soon became known as the Flour City, and whose 
superfine brands soon came to rule and reign king in the markets of 
the world. 

To this end barges, batteaux, flat or pole river boats were im- 
provised and numerous large and commodious grain warehouses were 
early built at various points along the river banks, notably at York 
Landing, in the county of Livingston one mile east of the center or 
business place of the town and directly opposite the point of the great 
bend there made in the tortuous stream, and constituting what has long 
been known as the extensive Wadsworth "Ox-Bow" farm, which com- 
prises many of the extreme southwesterly acres of the town of 
Avon. As early as the year 1804 or 1805 some of the rich 
agricultural lands on the York side of the river at this point were 
occupied by Capt. Angus McBean, who soon removing a little farther 
north, early became the possessor of what was acknowledged to be the 
best cultivated farm, and he the best farmer in the county. A little 
later on, one Mr. Hitchcock from Oneida county, and Michael ^\■est, 
respectively, became the owners of the greater portion of the lands in 
this vicinity; the former disposing of his interest to James Gilmore, 
and the latter exchanging with Timothy Rice for town property at 
Y'ork Centre and selling a portion to Holloway Long. 

In the pioneer days of 1827, there came from New England to this 
locality a Mr. Perry Gardner, a man marked with great energy of 
character and strong expression of speech, who also purchasing a por- 
tion of Mr. West's lands, commenced at the foot of the street, leading 
directly east from York Centre, the erection of a dwelling and grain 
•warehouse upon the river bank, where he established himself in the 
produce business and in operating a line of boats upon the river. He 
was assisted in his warehouse business by James H. Bow and Capt. 
Jehial Freeman; the latter aiding in the warehouse in the winter time 
and running one of the fleet of boats in the summer, or during the 
season of navigation. Mr. Ebenezer W. Walker surrendered a clerk- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 917 

ship in the Eagle, the leading hotel of Rochester, to take charge of 
j\Ir. Gardiner's warehouse, who not onlj' did quite a large business in 
the purchase and transportation of grain to Rochester, but in bring- 
ing therefrom merchandise for the merchants of York, ^loscow, Perry, 
Castile, Warsaw, and other localities beyond in Wyoming county. 

He also stored and shipped largely for other operators, among whom 
was Cyrus Hawley, a merchant of York, who in the winter of 1S3S 
had in store a large quantity of pork and lard when the warehouse 
and dwelling were both consumed by fire. The failure of Mr. Hawley 
in business soon followed, not without serious detriment, however, to 
some of his best neighbors, friends, and customers, and not entirely 
without some suspicions, either just or otherwise, touching the matter 
of incendiarism in the loss of the Gardner buildings and contents. Mr. 
Gardner was a man of most undaunted courage, and a tradition 
early obtained relates that one evening, while performing some labor 
in the basement of his warehouse, he was attacked by an enormous 
army of wharf rats, through which he was obliged to cut his way in 
order to make his escape. After the fire he disposed of his premises 
to Hon. Thomas Kempshall, of Rochester, and became, along with 
his son-in-law, !Milo Powell, one of the early emigrants to Michigan. 

Mr. Kempshall, along with Col. D. H. Abell, erected upon the prop- 
erty purchased from Perry Gardner, what was known as the "red 
warehouse" and a small dwelling a little lower down stream. The 
latter was occupied by Hon. D. D. Spencer during the construction of 
the Genesee valley canal and for some years afterwards, and is now 
the property of LeRoy Budlong. The warehouse was operated by 
Messrs. Kempshall & Abell until the completion of the canal in 1840, 
and was generally attended by Addison T. Ramsdell and others. 
What was originally a part of the Gardner property a year or two 
previous to the completion of the canal, came into the possession of 
!Mr. Thomas Emerson of Rochester, who erected a dwelling upon the 
foundation of the former Gardner residence, and a store adjacent 
thereto; sending hither a stock of goods, and fifty-one years ago the 
Hon. Thomas Parscjns, of Rochester, with his young bride, to manage 
the entire business, including the grain business upon the river, in 
which he was assisted by Ira Piersons. 

At quite an early day Messrs. Roberts & Crooker built some eighty 
rods above the Gardner warehouse a very large one for Messrs. J. H. 



918 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and E. S. Beach, who were extensively engaged in milling in Roch- 
ester and Auburn, and who sent hither from the former city about the 
year 1833, as a purchasing agent, Hiram C. Martin, who resided in 
a dwelling erected by Erastus Bailey midway between the river and 
the Cottage tavern, and was assisted in the warehouse by George W. 
Root and others. In 1834 Mr. Martin, who proved a most lively man 
in the market, solicited Mr. Kiel Stewart to forego his oxen and his 
plow upon his father's broad acres and to take the entire charge of the 
warehouse and boats, which he did for six years; Mr. Martin remov- 
ing to York Centre, where he bought largely upon the streets previous 
to his engaging in hotel-keeping in the Harrington House, and his 
removing to Milwaukee, just then coming to the front as one of the 
great grain marts of the new northwest. 

Mr. Peres P. Peck, one of the earliest merchants and postmasters of 
York, was also the builder of a warehouse on the river bank some 
forty rods above that of the Beaches. After Mr. Peck's removal to 
Rochester, it was for many years utilized by Mr. J. B. Bloss, who 
came from Rochester and operated in the interest of Messrs. Elys, of 
the same city, doing a large business. It was reached by a road con- 
venient to those coming from the south, running directly east from 
the Fowlerville and Geneseo road at a point near the Cottage school- 
house. After being abandoned as a warehouse it was used as a dwell- 
ing by Henry Osborne and others mostly in the employ of the state. 

David McDonald, another of York's most early and successful mer- 
chants, was quite an operator in grain and the manufacture and ship- 
ping of potash, using for the most part the Peck warehouse. Ira Pier- 
sons another good specimen of New England Yankee, coming to the 
landing early in the thirties, opened his log dwelling at the junction 
of the foregoing mentioned highway — and that leading directly east 
to the Beach warehouse — as the Cottage tavern, where many a thirsty, 
dusty farmer slaked the greater thirst of his faithful animals and wet 
his own whistle, while hastily pursuing his way to the warehouse be- 
yond or holding his position in the long procession of teams patiently 
waiting to be unloaded. Mr. Piersons having sat at the receipt of six- 
pences at this point until 1840, was enabled to rebuild his hostelry, 
and in the course of time to reduce it to a private and comfortable 
residence for himself and family until 1865, when Mr. and Mrs. Pier- 
sons were both called to occupy that house not made with hands. The 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 919 

property is now owned and occupied by Hon, D. D. Spencer and fam- 
ily as a residence. 

Erastus Bailey, a native of Vermont, residing at South LeRoy, con- 
structed across the river at this point a dam with a lock for the pass- 
age of barges, as well as the good steamer River Genesee, and erected 
upon the west bank what was then considered a first-class custom 
flouring mill, with three run of stone and a capacity of 130 barrels of 
merchant work in addition to a good custom business. The winter 
being an open one, the enterprise was given a successful and satisfac- 
tory start on the first day of January, 1831, amid the general rejoic- 
ing of the people of a wide radius, as the scheme had been looked upon 
as an intricate one. Mr. Bailey also built the mill house upon the hill, 
Father Lowe was installed as miller, and subsequently succeeded by 
Grant Sprague, Mr. Norton, Mr. Chilson — who was drowned in the 
river — and others until the coming of Job H. Ensign in 1845, who be- 
came owner of the plant in 1849 by purchase from the Bailey estate, 
Mr. Bailey having died at LeRoy in 1847. During Mr. Ensign's 
ownership the mill was burned and rebuilt by him and Neil Stewart. 
Subsequently Duncan Cameron, George W. Root, Mr. Gilbert, F. A. 
Gray, D. D. Spencer, Abram Stocking, George K. Whitney, and J. 
W. Ensign, have variously held interests in the establishment. While 
Jay W. Ensign was proprietor, the dam was carried away by high 
water, and by him permanently replaced. On the 15th of December, 
1887, he lost his life by being wound around the line shaft in the 
wheat house of the mill. A boy had met with a similar fate in the 
mill in 1866. Upon the death of Jay W. Ensign his father, Job H. 
Ensign, resumed ownership and operations, and in his experienced 
hands the establishment is now doing a large and profitable business. 

Inasmuch as York Landing was practically the head of navigation 
on the Genesee, and hence its greatest grain mart and interport, not 
only for the surplus of her own town, but for large portions of Lei- 
cester, Perry, Castile, Covington, Pavilion and other regions beyond 
as well, it called for the means of transportation and men and muscle 
to manage the same, as fiesh and blood constituted the propelling 
power at that period. Prominent among such were Captains David 
Drew, (while John Robinson, George and Mose Cavenaugh, sailed 
among his crew), Jehial Freeman, and Alexander Dale, along with their 
respective crews. Capt. Drew built the comfortable residence near the 



920 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

cottage tavern in which he resided until 1842 and in which he died, 
when Dexter Bond became possessor of the buildings and excellent 
gardening grounds now owned and occupied by Miss Christy McKay. 
Capt. Freeman entered the employment of Roswell Stocking and 
afterwards that of the Wadsworths as one of their principal stock men, 
when he became owner by purchase of the Tobey farm on the York 
Landing road and subsequently that of the larger Campbell Harris 
farm on the Geneseo road where he died several years ago. 

Capt. Dale finding his occupation of river boating gone, resumed 
it upon the canal for a time and afterwards went into business at Cuy- 
lerville. The log house at the top of the hill was built when the mem- 
ory of man goeth not to the contrary, and was in turn for many years 
occupied by John Robinson, Solomon Sherwood, and Hugh O'Hara, 
until burned down some three years ago. There were a few other un- 
important buildings erected in the vicinity of which we have 
neither time nor space to speak. 

It is somewhat of a mooted question what eventually became of all 
these river warehouses or the immense timbers and quantities of 
lumber employed in their construction, but it is possible that much 
of it was utilized in providing business houses upon the Genesee 
valley canal; which was completed to Mt. Morris and the water let 
therein in September of 1S4(), which event proved quite a new era to 
York Landing; two basins having been provided in its construction, 
by Hon. D. D. Spencer, who had charge of the work in the respective 
ravines putting in at this point. Thomas Emerson owning several 
acres contiguous to the lower basin plotted it into a city, which was 
called the city of Emerson, and placed the lots upon the market. Hon. 
Thomas Parsons here early erected upon the basin a large and com- 
modious warehouse and at once entered upon an extensive produce 
storage and forwarding business. It was here he resided and that his 
son the Hon. Cornelius R. Parsons, who after being chosen for three 
successive terms to represent his ward in the common council of the 
city of Rochester, was by large majorities called to the mayor's chair 
for seven successive terms, covering a period of fourteen years of the 
city's greatest growth and prosperity, and now representing the as- 
sembly district in the popular branch of the state legislature, was. 
born; and the venerable Dr. John Craig of Geneseo claims the honor 
of having been present on the august occasion. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 921 

Messrs. Kempshall and Abell built upon the upper basin a large 
warehouse in which they transacted a large business for themselves 
and others. It was with them that Neil Stewart did his large business 
while buying on commission or his own account after dissolving his 
relations with the Beaches. It was the popular point for the landing 
of both freight and paci<et boats upon the canal, and for the transac- 
tion of a general forwarding business. A few years' experience after 
the completion of the canal demonstrated the fact that York Landing 
must divide the prestige which it had so long enjoyed as a wheat mar- 
ket with Piffard, Cuylerville, and other points, both above and below. 
Mr. Parsons disposed of his property to Henry Chamberlain and 
removed to the former place, and subsequently to Rochester, having 
transacted a large business at both places, and from the latter was 
chosen a member to the state senate. Henry Chamberlain sold the 
warehouse to Niel Stewart and after the abandonment of the canal in 
1S7S Mr. Stewart disposed of it to Joseph Trimble who converted it 
into a barn upon his own premises. The discontinuance of the Gen- 
esee valley canal resulted in the removal or desuetude of other 
property and upon the completion of the Rochester and Genesee valley 
canal railroad in 1879 a depot was established near the Ensign flouring 
mill where Mr. Don A. Scott is now station agent and telegraph oper- 
ator and the station is designated York, upon the line of the growing 
Western New York & Pennsylvania railroad. In the great salt dis- 
covery in the valley of the Genesee and its development, York Land- 
ing or Station, has shared in its benefits. In the fall of 1884 Neil 
Stewart, Alexander Reid, Hon. Archibald Kennedy, Thomas Gilmore^ 
Alexander Stewart, A. D. Newton, George K. Whitney, Charles N. 
Stewart and Mr. Wolcott became the incorporators of the York Salt 
Company, and purchasing from James W. McArthur at an expense of 
$2500 some thirty-four acres of land lying immediately upon the river 
and the line of the former canal and the railroad, and which had 
originally been a part of the lands of Michael West transferred to 
Holloway Long and others, proceeded to vigorously prepare for the 
manufacture of salt by drilling a well upwards ot 1000 feet in depth, 
which struck salt of superior quality, and the erection of one of the 
finest and most complete salt blocks in all the valley with a corres- 
ponding cooper shop, etc., at an outlay of some 850,00(1 or $()U,000. 
With Alexander Reid as manager, Mr. Theodore Freeman of Fowler- 



922 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ville as foreman, and the employment of about eighteen hands, the 
average annual output has been 70,000 barrels of superior salt for 
which a ready market is found at remunerative prices. 

THE STREAMS OF YORK. 

The town of York being one of the largest and most fertile in the 
county of Livingston, is also almost entirely exempt from any 
broken or waste lands, as well as being uniformly and generally well 
watered for stock and other purposes. Its entire eastern border being 
laved by the tortuous course of the meandering Genesee, whose several 
tributaries flowing from west to east, nearly equidistant through the 
entire town, betoken a most wise and essential provision of nature for 
both man and beast. 

The most northerly of the latter has its source upon lands originally 
entered by Duncan iMcColl in the western part of Caledonia, and run- 
ning in a southeasterly direction through farms formerly owned by 
Angus Haggart, Rev. Alexander DeNoon, Daniel Robertson, Niel 
Mc Lean, Donald McLean, Thomas Baker, John D. Cameron, Geo. W. 
Thomson, James Maxwell, Donald D. Christie, Dugald Thompson, 
Hugh Christie, Ebenezer Watson, Archibald McVean and Colonel 
Orange Sackett, where it debouches into the parent stream about one 
mile south from Canawaugus. 

The first improvement upim this stream, and perhaps the first in 
the town, was a sawmill, erected in ISii" by Ezekiel and Joseph Mor- 
ley, about one mile from its mouth upon lands now owned by the heirs 
of the late Homer Mc\'ean. A short distance above the Morley mill, 
at an early day, Marsenus Haxton operated for several years a card- 
ing machine which he abandoned to open the Caledonia House, built 
by James Shaw in 1S31. Some half a mile farther up stream, at that 
point where it crosses the old Ellicott road, or town line, known in 
pioneer days as the City of Ghent, where the late David McDonald 
in 1819 commenced his long and successful mercantile career, upon 
lands purchased of Ebenezer Watson and Hugh Christie, Elijah 
Heath & Co., constructed in 1840 a saw mill and an extensive hand 
hayrake factory, when the locality became familiarly known by the 
euphonious designation of Toggletown, which; along with the city of 
Ghent, as business centers, long since became extinct. 

Another half-mile above, Moses Gibson and Colonel Robert Mc- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 923 

Ka)-, as early as 1814, built a grist null ivhich, in the year 1826, along 
with the valuable farm attached became the property of Hugh Christie, 
in whose family it has remained until the present clay. Here, upon 
the premises of Hugh Christie and Dugald Thompson, during the 
construction of the Genesee Valley canal in 1837 a very superior blue 
limestone quarry was developed, from which was supplied the finest of 
material for nearly every lock and other stone work upon said canal 
between Dumpling Hill and Mt. Morris. 

This branch crosses the Leicester road at that well-known locality 
of Teasle Hollow, where, upon lands of Thomas Baker, a natural gas 
spring was long since discovered, whose brackish water ever seemed 
to possess a rare attraction for wild pigeons, and where in 1838 par- 
ties prospected for coal, and where, since the great salt find of the 
Genesee valley, a company consisting of William Hamilton, Malcolm 
Campbell, John Clunas and others have drilled for it, reaching the 
strata nearer the surface, with a quality of brine superior to that of 
any other point yet tested. The stream has generally been known as 
Christie's creek. 

The next most northerly and perhaps the longest stream of the town 
takes its rise in the extreme southwestern part of Caledonia, upon 
lands owned by James Reed, and flowing in a southeasterly course 
through farms belonging at an early period to Donald D. McColl, 
James Sinclair, Alexander Mann, Donald McColl, Archibald Gillis, 
David Martz, James White, Dudley Newton, Spencer Pomeroy, Rob- 
ert Vallance, Asa Arnold, David Wild, Plynn Weller, James Calder, 
William Taylor, Colonel Henry Janes and Hon. William Janes, where 
it discharges into the river one mile east of the village of Fowlerville, 
through which it runs. Midway between the two points last men- 
tioned. Wells Fowler and William Taylor, between the years 1815 and 
1820, completed the first grist mill of the town, the timbers of which, 
after being in use for many years, were taken down to be used in the 
erection of warehouses upon the Genesee Valley canal at the time of 
its completion. 

In the early part of the year 1817 Wells Fowler and Plynn Weller 
were associated in erecting upon this stream that essential to all new 
countries, a sawmill, at what afterward became Fowlerville. In the year 
1836 it became the property of Abijah Pierce and James M. Bigelow, 
who rebuilt it, making it one of the finest mills within a large region. 



924 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

In the spring of 1840 John W. McNeil purchased the interests of Mr. 
Pierce, and after operating it for several years in connection with Mr. 
Bigelow, conveyed it to Hon. H. E. Smith, and he, in 1854, to Messrs. 
Dow & Fowler, who added a fifteen-horse power engine and during 
all the years of the active operation of that firm the mill was an 
important factor, and is now owned by one Mr. Lewis. 

Adjacent to the sawmill, Eliakim Weller and Ira Torrey for sev- 
eral years carried on quite an e.xtensive tannery, in which business 
they were succeeded by John M. Beach, Esq., late of Geneseo. On 
the opposite bank of the creek Alonzo Fowler for a number of years 
did quite a large business in the manufacture of potash; and just 
above the mill pond in those years when Alonzo Fowler and Walter 
Whitcomb were associateed in the mercantile business, they main- 
tained an ashery. 

Half a mile farther up the stream, in the days when such things 
were tolerated, upon land purchased from David Wild, Alexander 
Murray, Jr., constructed a distillery, which business was abandoned 
many years ago. In the same vicinity upon lands purchased from 
Asa Arnold, Bailey Bodwell established a wool-carding and cloth- 
dressing business, which proved of great convenience to the community 
and in which much superior work was done for a long time. A short 
distance above 'Sir. Bod well's works one Campbell, at an early day, 
upon lands of Spencer Pomeroy, maintained a blacksmith shop, axe 
factory and trip-hammer; and in the same locality a brick yard was 
for several years operated and may be said to have been the head of 
business enterprises upon the branch. But a good deal of interest for 
several years attached to a certain locality near by upon the southern 
bank and upon lands of Robert Vallance where one Joel Bullock, 
known as the wandering Jew, on account of the full beard he sported, 
excavated for what was currently reported to be a large amount of 
gold and silver coin, buried midway between the river and a small 
tamarack swamp upon the premises of James White, by a detachment 
from the British army during a forced march in the war of 1812. As 
absolute silence during the progress of the work was a part of the the- 
orj' of the treasure-seeker's key to success, and the same being broken 
by a heavy outburst of laughter on the part of the proprietor of the 
land, and, the spell broken, the precious pot was never exhumed. An- 
other party under the lead of one John Glace, is said to have sought 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 925 

for the same prize at the mouth of the creek but allowed the work to 
cease by reason of some monster of the deep bearing down upon them 
while quietl)' engaged in their nocturnal search. 

At that point where it crosses the Leicester road, David Martz, in 
the early history of the country, erected upon its banks a two-story 
hewn-log inn, which for a series of years was kept open for the accom- 
modation of travelers and emigrants by said Martz, subsequently by 
his widow, and lastly by Henry VanValkenberg. Here, early in the 
thirties, an episode occurred, which for a time seemed fraught with 
serious results. It was on the occasion of the marriage of Donald A. 
Cameron to Jennett ]\IcBean, on a balmy afternoon in April at the 
houseof her brother, Gillis McBean, on the farm of Malcolm McNaugh- 
ton two miles west from York Centre. After the ceremony and feast 
were ended and the all-day ball game had been played, the procession 
took up its line of march for the home of the bridegroom in the edge 
of Caledonia, moving to the enlivening strains of the bagpipes in 
the hand of said Gillis McBean. Before reaching the locality indi- 
cated the sky had become overcast and the evening one of thick dark- 
ness accompanied by vivid and frequent flashes of electricity. In 
attempting to cross the somewhat swollen stream, the bridge was in a 
measure missed and some of the conveyances with their occupants 
were precipitated into the water. In the party were such personages 
as Colonel Alexander Gordon, Angus Gordon, Peter J. and Daniel J. 
Campbell, with their sisters, and many others. After the cutting of 
several traces and otherwise righting up, the entire party reached 
terra firma and their objective point, where a goodly number of the 
girls and young men were obliged to do their dancing in very damp 
shoes and stockings. This stream has long furnished water to numer- 
ous flocks and herds, pools for sheep and wool washing, and swimming, 
fishing and skating rinks for the boys, and its banks and bottoms 
slate pencils, sassafras, wintergreens, pigeon-berries and the finest of 
chewing gum for the girls. It has variously been known as Mann's, 
McCall's, Newton's Calder's and Fowlerville creek, and its chief 
branch as the Mclntyre Kelso creek. 

The next, being the middle or most central stream of the town, 
heads in the northeastern part of the town of Pavilion, in the county 
of Genesee, and bearing east by southeast, finds its way through lands 
originally owned by Thomas Simpson, George Hall, James Walker, 



926 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

George N. Russell, Elijah Heath, Erastus Harris, Daniel Mcilillan, 
William Bryce, John ^IcCleary, Ralph Brown, Holloway Long, Ros- 
well Stocking, Daniel Holmes and Arad Hitchcock, where its waters 
are received by the friendly Genesee, near York landing. 

Some three-fourths of a mile from its confluence with the river, 
William Bryce constructed at an early day a sawmill which, after 
operating for several years, he disposed of to Daniel Holmes, who 
erected the inevitable distillery, and added to the water power a mill 
for preparing the grain for distillation. A little hamlet sprung up 
upon the banks of the stream with one store kept by Perez P. Peck. 
The point was one of much attraction for many years for those whose 
tastes led in the direction of stimulation and revelry, and this dis- 
tillery was among the last in the town to discontinue the manufac- 
ture; but many years since, it, with all its appliances and surround- 
ings, went into absolute desuetude. At this point on the northern 
bank of the stream, is located the pleasant little Mt. Pleasant ceme- 
tery, where repose the remains of many of the fathers. 

Half a mile farther west, at what afterwards became York Centre, 
Ralph Bnnvn, in 1808, erected a grist mill and a distillery. Titus 
Goodman, jr., also built and operated a distillery at this point and 
Cyrus Hawley an ashery. The grist mill after being operated by water 
for many years, was in 1840, by Major George W. Brown, converted 
into a steam mill and by him conveyed to Barney McBride, in whose 
hands it fell a prey to the devouring element. 

About the year 1819 Duncan and Colonel Hugh Mc^Millan built a 
sawmill upon the same stream, one mile farther west, at what is 
now known as "Limerick" and in the construction of which the ances- 
tors of Senator McNaughton of Monroe county were employed. 

Duncan MciMillan transferred his interest to his brother Hugh, who 
sold the property to Eber Holmes, after which Flaggler Bigelow and 
Joseph Kingsley severally became owners, the latter disposing of it to 
William Bryce, whose son, James Bryce, in 1844 rebuilt it, making it 
in all respects a first-class mill with the best site and best dam and 
pond of any similar institution in town. In its time it was a favorite 
resort for skating, bathing, sheep washing and immersions. 

The creek was usually known as "Brown's Creek" or "Long's 
Creek" and not one of its water powers is now utilized. 

The longest, largest, most historic and important, with abundant 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 927 

promise of a great future and the most southerly stream of the town, 
only, remains to be spoken of. It had its source at or near the west 
boundary of the town in three different branches, the most northerly 
of which takes its rise upon lands formerly possessed by Ebenezer A. 
Carlisle; the middle one upon that of James Guthrie, and the most 
southerly one upon that of James Dow, and after watering the farms 
of James P. Stewart, Farquer McKercher, William Craig, James Newall, 
Robert J. Guthrie, James Cullings, Thomas Gorden and Hugh Innis, 
unite upon the farm of Dexter Bond and after flowing with a strong 
and rapid current through the former well-known lands of James 
Spital, Asa Davis, Samuel Warren, Schuyler Richardson, Samuel 
Dorris, Lyman Casey, William McCIeary, Josiah Fisher, Asa Bidwell, 
Jr., J. M. Howell, Paul Goddard, James B. Harris, Hon. Moses Hay- 
den, and Campbell Harris, where it empties into the parent stream 
midway between York I-anding and Pif?ard. At that point where it 
crosses the highway leading from Fowlerville to Geneseo,the first York 
post-office is said to have been established in a log house upon the 
bank, with Hon. Moses Hayden as post-master, who about the same 
time erected half a mile above, a saw mill, which was afterward owned 
and rebuilt by John Allen and others, going out of use about the year 
1856. 

At the crossing of the York and Geneseo road, Asa Bidwell, jr., 
erected and operated another saw mill for upwards of fifty years, as 
did Josiah Fisher,one mile above at the crossing of the Leicester road. 

In the year 1816 Samuel Warren, coming from Litchfield, Herkimer 
county, N. Y. , the following year purchased one mile still farther up 
the valley from Asa Davis, some thirty-three acres of land, upon 
which he built a log dwelling, and the first saw mill in that part of the 
town, which after operating for many years he disposed of the mill 
privilege proper, to William Hull, who operated in connection with it 
a brick yard, until about 1841, when he sold the property to David 
Richardson and he to Erastus Knowlton, after which Isaac McMillan 
became the owner for twelve or fifteen years when in 1857 it again 
fell into the hands of the original owner, Samuel Warren. Mr. 
Warren was also an expert horticulturist, making himself generally 
useful in grafting the orchards of the surrounding country and in 
planting upon the banks of the stream an extensive vineyard, from 
which he supplied many vines and as early as 1832 he entered into the 



■928 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

manufacture of pure wines for medicinal and sacramental purposes. 
In that year the product amounted to twenty gallons, the first pro- 
duce in the county. In the year 1853 it reached upwards of 3,400 
gallons and its reputation became known from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific. Mr. "Warren died very generally lamented on the 14th of 
September, 1862. 

In the year 1865 Josiah Warren erected upon the grounds a large 
•stone building to be used as a wine press and wine cellar and, a few 
years subsequently Harlan P. Warren, added the facilities for the 
manufacture of cider and grinding feed, in which he transacted a 
large business. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad hav- 
ing secured the right of way and run their tracks directly through 
this once interesting spot, the buildings are no longer in use and all 
the prolific vines have been exterminated. The company have a water 
station at the point and are about to rebuild the dam in a most sub- 
stantial manner. But what has given a boundless notoriety to the 
valley of "Warren Creek," has been the unprecedented salt discovery 
and development of the last decade, the first indications of which 
were found upon the premises of the late Samuel AVarren some fifty- 
five or fifty-six years ago and for which he refused a competency at 
that day. The first salt well actually drilled in the town of York or 
county of Livingston, was in the year 1878 near Greigsville upon lands 
of Carrol Coker, who for some time previously had manifested a won- 
derful zeal in agitating and encouraging the project and who may be 
said to be the originator of the find of the salt deposit in the Genesee 
valley, Messrs. M. Noonan, L. W. Crossett, C. H. Young, H. H. 
Guiteau, Josiah Warren and Harlan P. Warren furnished the material 
aiding. At a depth of 1,012 feet a vein of 137 feet of rock salt was 
struck. The investment of capital and the employment of men by 
the Retsof Salt Co., upon the former farm of Asa Bidwell, Jr., and 
that of the D., L. & W. Co., upon the former farm of William Mc- 
Cleary, both upon the banks of this stream, are among the stupen- 
dous business enterprises of modern times, with a future that no man 
•dares to predict. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 929 

HISTORY OF THE PIFFARD CHURCH. 

Mr. and 'Sirs. David L. Haight of New York, whose daughter, Mrs. 
David Piffard, had settled in the Genesee valley, Livingston county, 
in 1824, became in consequence of frequent visits to Western New 
York, greatly interested in the welfare of the people in the near neigh- 
borhood of their daughter's home. Feeling a deep religious sympa- 
thy with those about them, and bending with noble energy every 
power to the work, they succeeded in establishing a church of their 
own denomination — Protestant Dutch Reformed. Deeply interested 
themselves, every effort was seconded — with successful result, by 
their co-workers, and on the 13th of July, 1847, was duly constituted 
the Dutch Reformed church of Piffard. 

On the 14th of August, 1843, a meeting was held at the house of 
Duty S. Thompson, to consider the subject of raising funds toward 
erecting an edifice for religious worship. David Piffard, Wm. H. 
Spencer, Duty S. Thompson and Samuel R. Hawks, were elected trus- 
tees for the purpose of raising a subscription, and superintending the 
building of the church. Wm. H. Spencer declined to serve. 

The building was to progress as fast as funds were raised. As 
soon as the floor of the church was laid, the pews were marked out and 
numbered, and sold to the highest bidder. All subscribers were en- 
titled to apply their subscriptions toward payment for their pews, 
and the surplus — if any — was to be considered as donations to the 
church. 

On the second Saturday of the ensuing September (1843j, the corner 
stone of the church was laid with appropriate ceremonies, by the Rev. 
Dr. Gustavus Abeel, of Geneva, N. Y. The basement was soon 
afterward completed, and Rev. J. Hammond of ]\It. Morris was then 
engaged to supply the pulpit every Sabbath, which he did until the 
spring of 1846. 

At a special meeting of the citizens held in the basement of the 
church on the 13th of April, 1846, the following resolution was unan- 
imously adopted: That we politely solicit the Rev. J. C. VanLiew, 
one of Christ's commissioned servants, to be presiding minister over 
the Dutch Reformed church of this place, and that Mr. Piffard be re- 
quested to inform Mr. VanLiew of this resolution. In compliance 
with this invitation, Mr. VanLiew was appointed by the synod's 



930 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

board, and entered on his labors as minister in charge, about the 
middle of May, 1846. 

The church edifice being completed, was solemnly dedicated to the 
service of the Triune God, on Saturday, August 1st, 1846. The Rev. 
Dr. Wyckoff preached a most interesting and appropriate sermon from 
Isaiah, 60th chapter, and 13th verse, "And I will make the place of 
my feet glorious." The act of dedication was performed by the Rev. 
Mr. VanLiew, the minister in charge. The exercises were solemn 
and impressive. 

On Sept. 1st, 1846, they met to consider the sale of the pews, or 
renting of the same. The valuation was assessed at 82,500. The funds 
raised for those sold were to go toward expenses of building, of those 
rented toward the minister's salary. 

The committee appointed by the classis of Cayuga, to organize a 
church in this place, met in the basement of the church July 13th, 
1847, at three o'clock, p. m. The Rev. Dr. Abeel and Rev. J. C. Van- 
Liew, were present, and opened with prayer. The following persons 
were then received as members of the church: Mr. Chauncey Van- 
Vliet and his wife, Pelina VanVliet, and Miss Sophia Steenberg, on 
certificate, from the Presbyterian church at Perry. Thomas Boyd 
and wife, Mrs. Miriam Boyd, on certificate from the Presbyterian 
church at LeRoy. Thomas Kincade and his wife, Mrs. Susanna 
Kincade. Mary Adeline, wife of Rev. J. C. VanLiew, from 
the 2nd Dutch Reformed church of New Brunswick, N. J. Jacob N. 
Clute, George Sinclair and his wife, Mrs. Mary Sinclair, also Mrs. 
Mary Sprov/1. The following gentlemen were then elected officers of 
the church: Elders — Thomas Boyd, Chauncey VanVliet. Deacons — 
Jacob N. Clute, George vSinclair. 

Public service was then held in the church according to notice given 
orv the previous Sabbath. Dr. Abeel preached the sermon, the text 
taken from 1st Timothy, 3d chapter, last clause of the 15th verse, 
"Which is the church of the living God — the pillar and ground of the 
truth." After the sermon, the elders and deacons were ordained in 
their respective offices. At a meeting following these services the fol- 
lowing wardens were elected: David Pifiard, Edwin Buckridge, and 
B. C. Nichols. 

Matters thus went on comfortably until Oct. 1847, when the Rev. 
J. C. VanLiew accepted a call to be principal of the Genesee academy. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 931 

Hciwever, iri accordance with request, he continued to preach in con- 
nection with his new duties, until a resident minister might be ob- 
tained. Application was made to the classis of Cayuga, in 1847, for 
missionary aid with every prospect of its being granted, and the Rev. 
James M. Compton — a relative of Mr. VanLiew— was called, ac- 
cepted, and entered on his duties as pastor. A little later on, Nov. 
ir)th, 1S5(I, the missionary board failing to make any appropriation, 
he withdrew his services and gave up the charge. 

In June, 1853, the Rev. Charles Ray, Presbyterian pastor, took 
charge ot the congregation, and under his influence and that of others, 
it became a "society" connected with the Presbytery of Wyoming, 
and took the name of ''The First Presbyterian congregation of Pif- 
fard." In the year 1853, ^Irs. D. L. (Ann) Haight, gave to the 
church, and placed in the hands of Levi A. Ward and others, the sum 
of 81,500, the interest of which was to be used for various church ex- 
penses. Rev. Charles Ray continued his labors in this field for sev- 
eral years, when he removed to Geneseo, to fill — as did a predecessor 
— the position of principal of the Geneseo academy. Subsequent to 
his removal, the Rev. F. DeW. Ward, lately missionary in India, took 
charge of the church in connection with his parish in Geneseo — the 
Old School Presbyterian church. For twenty-five years he labored 
patiently and faithfully — never deterred by inclement weather or bad 
roads — winning the appreciative love of his parishioners. The organ- 
ization being at that time merely a "society" he was obliged to take 
those converted under his efforts, into his church in Geneseo, until 
such time as a church organization here would admit of their being 
enrolled members of such in this place. 

When at last Dr. Ward resigned his field here, the church was var- 
iously opened by clergymen in the vicinity, kindly giving their ser- 
vices during the summer months, or Mr. Slack during the winter 
months, it being closed in the intervals. During the spring and sum- 
mer of 1884, a number of the members of Dr. Kittredge's congrega- 
tion of the Prebsyterian church in Geneseo, held weekly meetings in 
Piffard, with such success that out of the new life instilled through 
their labors, the church after a season of semiquiesence, started 
afresh with every prospect of enduring success. In the summer of 
1884, the following trustees were elected: Nina H. PifTard, T. N. 
Shattuck and Robert M. Ferris. Subsequently in the place of Mr. 



932 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Ferris, resigned, Mrs. Charles F. Wadsworth was elected trustee. 
In the autumn of 1884, the Rev. Mr. Gutelius of Moscow, began to 
hold services in the church at the request of the congregation, increas- 
ing the newly-grown interest, and continuing until a resident min- 
ister could be secured, which w-as done during the summer of 1885. 
Rev. John M. Wolcott of New Haven, Ct., was called, and accepted. 
Under his influence was regularly organized the "First Presbyterian 
Church of Piffard." 



GROVELAND. 

Groveland may be called the central town of Livingston county. 
It is bounded north !)y Geneseo, west by Conesus, south by West 
vSparta, and east by ^It. Morris. Its area is 24,769 acres, and its pop- 
ulation in 1900 was 1949. 

In 1812 the legislature enacted that "all that part of the town of 
Sparta in the county of Ontario comprising township eight in the sev- 
enth range and the west lialf of township eight in the si.xth range of 
Phelps and Gorham"s purchase" be erected into a separate town by 
the name of Groveland. The population'was then very small and 
scattered, but soon increased. Three-fourths of the town consists of 
elevated table lands. These slope down to the Hats of Canaseraga 
creek which comprises nearly all of the remaining one-fourth of the 
area. 

Doty's history says: "The pioneers found the surface of the town 
everywhere diversified with clusters of fine trees, free from under- 
growth, with intervals of natural openings. The fires periodically 
kindled by the Indians had destroyed the leaves and bushes and in a 
great measure the fallen and decaying wood, so that it presented the 
appearance of a succession of groves, and when the town was created 
the early settlers had the good taste to petition that it be called by 
the appropriate name of Groveland." 

And Samuel Magee is quoted assaying: "What is now called Grove- 
land hill was at first considered very poor land. Many portions were 
scatteringly covered with chestnut and the different kinds of oak, and 
some places were destitute of timber altogether. The openings grew 
up to a tall red grass which was burned over every fall by the Indians. 
In some parts of the timbered lands would be found an undergrowth of 
whortleberry and other bushes; and take it all in all, the land was 
considered poor. Consequently there were tew settlers on the hill 
until the introduction of clover and plaster. Then the land seemed 
to come right up. Groveland farmers could then raise as good crops as 
we of the valley, and the wheat was of better quality — the berry was 
larger and more plump." 



934 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The uplands produce fine crops of wheat, and the flats are more 
suitable for grass, corn, beans and root crops. The farms are care- 
fully cultivated by progressive farmers, and it is a productive town as 
much by reason of their intelligent toil as its generally excellent soil. 
The surface is cut up somewhat by rivulets which have eaten so deep 
and wide as to make picturesque ravines Avith remarkable chasms and 
beautiful waterfalls. One of the chasms is 350 feet across, and has 
perpendicular banks 175 feet high. These scenic features attract 
and delight the lovers of nature. 

The two principal streams are Canaseraga and Keshaqua creeks. 

The three hamlets are Groveland Corners, East Groveland (former- 
ly Hunts Corners) and Groveland Station. 

Extinct Williamsburg was located in Groveland at the confluence of 
the Genesee river and Canaseraga creek, and here the settlement of the 
town and the first village of the county were started by Captain 
Charles Williamson in 1792. He came to the Genesee Valley as the 
first agent of the Pultenej' estate, and quickly selected the site indi- 
cated, for his trade center, as being the best for transportation pur- 
poses, the two streams being then navigable for flat boats — 
the river for fifty miles down the valley and the creek for twelve miles 
up, in straight lines. The same year he employed German emigrants 
to open a road through the wilderness from Pennsylvania north to 
Williamsburg. 

Buildings were quickly erected at Williamsburg and in 1798 there 
were several log houses and three frame dwellings. A post office was 
established there in 1792, it being the terminus of a post route from 
Whitestown. Here the first store in the county was kept by Alex- 
ander McDonald, and near here in 1793 Capt. Williamson constructed 
the first race course for running horses. 

Among the surveyors who came with him were John and Hugh 
McNair and John Smith, and the original deeds of many of the farms 
of Groveland show that they were surveyed by Smith. He purchased 
a tract of land a mile square on which he built a two-storv frame 
house. 

Judge John Rosebrugh, one of the most prominent of the earlv set- 
tlers, arrived in 1795. William Magee and family came in 1796, and 
until a house could be built they found shelter in a bark tent. 
Thomas Ward was one of the earliest settlers, and for a time was 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 935 

almost the only carpenter in town. Benjamin Smith, step-son of John 
Smith, the siirvej-or, came in 17'JS on foot from Sussex County, Pa., 
and built the first log house on the Dansville and Geueseo road. He 
learned to speak the Indian language fluently, and counted among his 
friends Mary Jemison, Little Beard, Tall Chief and Red Jacket. 

About this time, or near the close of the century, arrived in Grove- 
land John Harrison, Captain John Vance, Levi Dunn, the Hunts, 
Culbertsons, Robertsons, Stilwells, Barbers, Kellys, Ewarts, Boyds, 
Roups and Gambles. 

Thomas Bailey, a Revolutionary soldier, came from New Jersey in 
1803. Samuel M. Mann came from Pennsylvania in 1S05, and the 
next year went back and returned with a bride. He was a black- 
smith, and brought an anvil through the woods to his new home. 
Michael Johnson and his wife Margaret came from Ireland to Geneseu 
in 1804, and three years later moved to Groveland. Their little 
daughter at that time was the late Mrs. Nancy Culbertson. 

On the town records are the names of Daniel Ross, Levi Dunn, 
Hugh McNair, William Harris and William Kelly as settlers in 1797, 
and Elias Harrison, William McNair and John Rosebrugh as settlers in 
1795. 

Daniel Kelly came to Lakeville from Pennsylvania with his father 
and family of eight children in 1797, and settled in Groveland in 1799 
on the farm where he died, and on which he lived sixty-two years. 
He was a man of strong character, and much esteemed. He was sup- 
ervisor of the town many years. 

John Hunt, who in 1800 settled on the farm afterward owned by 
Samuel Culbertson, in 1814 opened a tavern at Hunt's Corners, and 
kept it six years. There wer.e then two other taverns in town — 
William Doty's in the southern part and Joseph Richardson's at 
Williamsburg. The following is a description of William Doty and 
his tavern : 

William Doty, Senior, came to what is now the town of Groveland, 
to reside permanently on June 4, 1806, from the township of Derry, 
County of Westmoreland, and State of Pennsylvania. This was his 
second visit. He had removed thither from the town of Groveland in 
the year 1795. On his first visit to the "Genesee Country," he resided 
about three-fourths of a mile from the residence of Judge Carroll, but 
had purchased a farm and had commenced the erection of a log house 



936 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

down ver)' near the head of Conesus Lake, on the inlet of the lake. 
He had raised it about three logs high on each side before abandoning 
it and returning to Pennsylvania. The reasons for his leaving the 
"Genesee Country" are probably found in the fact that very few set- 
tlers had as yet made homes in that wilderness territory, his sons were 
not yet of an age sufficient to render him much aid, and becoming 
somewhat discontented, he went back to Westmoreland county, Penn- 
sylvania, where his brothers, Jonathan, Joseph and Nathaniel resided. 
Previous to his first emigration to Western New York, he had 
removed from Bascomb Ridge, Sussex county. New Jersey, to West- 
moreland county, Pennsylvania, and hence to the Genesee country. 

He purchased the premises on which he resided until 1831, and now 
owned and occupied by Fort Benway, of one Jonathan Miller. Mr. 
Miller had built a dwelling house of round logs on the east side of the 
highway and about twenty rods south of the present house. There are 
still two apple-trees standing in the meadow, which stood on either 
side of the house. This house was one story and a half in height. It 
had two windows in front and end windows on the north side, and east 
side windows on the south side. The door was in the middle on the 
east side next to the corner. The marsh near which Geo. Patterson's 
fanning mill shop was afterwards built was only about eighty rods 
from this house. 

The family when it left Derry consisted of Mr. Doty and wife and 
six sons (Parker, Jonathan, Hugh, Zebulon, William and Joseph), and 
an old bachelor named John Melvin. The conveyance consisted of an 
old fashioned Pennsylvania farm house wagon. The wagon box was 
of oak panel work and turned up at both ends. The top consisted of 
unpainted tow cloth stretched over hoops. The horses were four in 
number, two and two abreast, and driven with one line. In fording 
streams one of the boys would ride the lead horse, and Mr. Doty 
would ride what was called the "saddle horse," which was the near 
side wheel horse. The near side forward horse was called the "lead 
horse." When they came to the Susquehanna River it was pretty 
high. In crossing it three of the smaller boys were required to stand 
on their tiptoes in the front part of the wagon and hold on to the high 
front board of the wagon. The water was so high that it just came in 
on the bottom. A fifth or riding horse was brought along. The small 
riding horse was ridden alternately by the boys and the mother. In 




! I 



,>!-*• 



Wm Dotts Inn. 

C- r o V G I Q rt d N Y. 



Csely /btir- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 937 

crossing the Susquehanna Mrs. Doty chose to attempt fording that 
stream on horseback, and when about in the center, either from play- 
fuhiess or pleasure the horse laid down. ^Mr. Melvin who was on foot 
and happened to be near at hand waded rapidly towards her and res- 
cued Mrs. Doty from the water and carried her on his back to the 
bank where she rejoined the rest of the family thoroughly wet. This 
was in the month of ^lay, 1806. They remained over night at Dansville 
on their way, and came ne.xt day to the house of Capt. John Smith. 
Capt. Smith was the step-father-in-law of Mr. Doty. Jlr. Smith then 
resided on the premises since occupied by his daughter Rose Draper, and 
subsequently occupied by Dea. Wm. Learning, and more recently by ^Ir. 
James Galbraith. In the following fall ^Ir. Doty moved up on Grove- 
land Hill to the Miller house, and commenced the construction of the 
hewed log house at once. This house was built on the west side of the 
highway, and a little south of the Miller house. It stood on a promi- 
nent knoll to the north of the well which is still in use on the farm. 

On the evening preceding Christmas 1807, William Doty removed 
from the Miller house to the new hewed log house, and in 1808, opened 
this house as a tavern. The main part was two stories and an attic in 
height; the first story of which consisted of two rooms, the second the 
same number, and the attic or garret was in a single room. The bar- 
room was i!i the large or south part. He built a lean-to for a kitchen 
on the north side, consisting of a single room, and one story in 
height. 

After he opened as a tavern, John Yard, a cabinet maker residing in 
the neighborhood of Mt. Morris, constructed for him a sign. It con- 
sisted of a piece of black walnut board an inch and a quarter in thick- 
ness. The name was produced by veneering with a kind of white 
wood. The veneering was done by farrowing out the board in the 
shape of the letters and inserting the white colored wood. It had 
neither cornice nor moulding, but was perfectly flat. It read "Wm. 
Doty's Inn. " 

An influential Groveland citizen of the early days was Michael John- 
son, who came from Ireland. He was one of the first deacons of the 
Presbyterian church. The first minister to preach in Groveland was 
the Rev. Samuel J. ^Mills, a Presbyterian, who held services in the 
warehouse at Williamsburg. 

Among the earliest settlers were the McNairs, who were Scotch 



938 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



Irish. John ^IcNair emigrated to America in 1736, settled with his 
family in Pennsylvania, and died there. His sons, William and John, 
came to the Genesee valley in 1798, driving; teams and cattle before 
them. They made Williamsburg a temporary home. William 
bought a farm of 262 acres adjoining the lands of the present Craig 
Colony, cleared it and lived there until he died in 1823. His son Hugh 
became judge of Ontario county while it included Livingston. 

It has been stated that Captain Charles Williamson came to the 
Genesee country as agent of the Pulteney estate. The lands had been 
purchased of Robert Morris, and were owned by an English company 
of which Sir William Pulteney was the head. Captain Williamson 







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HOTEL AT WILLIAMSBl-RG PHOTOGRAPHED FROM A DRAWING. 



was a remarkable man. He was far-sighted and enterprising, with 
business ability to correspond, with genial and humorous qualities 
which made him popular. He did more than anyone else to bring 
settlers to the valley. The road which he opened through the woods 
to Pennsylvania was the first highway to the Genesee country from 
the south. The annual races and fairs which he organized and adver- 
tised in connection with his driving park at Williamsburg attracted 
distinguished sportsmen from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland as 
well as New York, who came with their horses, and some of them 
with their slaves, and others followed in their train and became per- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 939 

manent settlers. Cattle and sheep as well as horses were exhibited, 
and dealers came from a distance to select and buy. The Williamson 
road which made Williamsburg so accessible to the southern people, 
started at Williamsport on the south, extended up the Lycoming, 
touching the Tioga at Blossburg, then called Peter's camp, followed 
the Tioga to the mouth of the Canisteo, thence to Painted Post and 
up thevalley of the Conhocton through Bath, through the present town 
of Wayland, along the head of Springwater valley, about six miles 
south of Hemlock lake, over the hills to the inlet of Conesus lake a 
mile below the site of Scottsburg. westward along the southern base 
of Groveland hill, and on to Williamsburg. Captain Williams had 
much trouble with the colony of German emigrants whom he employed 
to help construct the road. They were ignorant, inefficient and insub- 
ordinate, but, bossed by Benjamin Patterson, who understood their 
language and made them fear him, and stimulated by the example of 
six sturdy and skillful Pennsylvania woodsmen, the road was slowly 
cut through. This was in the winter. In the spring they were all 
conducted to Williamsburg, and here Captain Williamson was so lib- 
eral that he assigned to each family a house and fifty acres of land, 
with cattle and sheep, farming utensils and a stock of provisions. 
But they were shiftless and improvident, and instead of improving 
their opportunities, became destructive and mutinous. Captain 
Williamson was assailed by Berezy, their leading man, with his ill- 
favored rabble behind him, and for an hour and a half in a corner of a 
store between two writing desks, expected, as he afterwards said, 
every instant to be torn in pieces. But he and his friends managed 
to keep them at bay, and Berezy at last was influenced to quell the 
tumult. The mutiny lasted several days, however, and the Germans 
drove away or killed all the cattle on the premises. But the sheriff 
of Ontario county came with a strong posse and subdued them. Some 
of them were convicted at Canandaigua, and finally arrangements 
were made whereby the whole colony went to Canada. They con- 
sisted of eighty families, and had been selected and sent to this country 
through the agency of Sir William Pulteney. He supposed they were 
a superior class of emigrants, but had been completely deceived, for 
it was ascertained that they were vagrants collected from the streets 
of Hamburg and other cities, totally unaccustomed to any rural occu- 
pation. 



940 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

James Rosebru^h, who came to Sonyea in 1~'J5 with a wife and 
child was born in Mansfield, N. J., and was the son of Rev. John Rose- 
brugh, a Scotch Presbyterian minister. Soon after his arrival he 
moved to Groveland hill, and there settled on a farm which he occu- 
pied until his death. There in the wilderness, his family experienced 
the usual privations a;nd dangers of the early settlers, and once Mrs. 
Rosebrugh,. on horseback, was followed by a panther which she only 
escaped by running her horse at the top of his speed. Mr. Rose- 
brugh was elected to the assembly in 1814, and re-elected in 1816 and 
1818. In 1820 he was chosen a delegate to the convention which 
framed the second state constitution. He was an industrious and 
influential member of both bodies. In 1821, when Livingston 
county was formed, he was appcnited the first surrogate, and held the 
office eleven years. ^lany of the early wills of the county were 
proven before him. He was several times chosen supervisor, and his 
neighbors had so much confidence in nim that they frequently made 
him arbitrator of their disputes. In his later years he was a member 
of the Presbyterian church in Groveland. 

Charles H. Carroll, who became a resident of Groveland in 1815, 
was born in 1794, in Maryland, where his parents were wealthy and 
owned many slaves. He was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He graduated at St. 
Mary's college, Baltimore, at the age of eighteen with high honors. 

He served as a volunteer in the war of 1812, and came to the Gene- 
see country in 1814, settling at Williamsburg, where he continued to 
reside until his death. He w-ent to Massachusetts to study law, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1819. He was the selected and successful 
agent of the towns to go to Albany and influence the legislature to 
erect Livingston county. He was appointed the first judge of the 
county in 1823, and held the office six years. He then became state 
senator for one term, when, on account of the illness of himself and 
his wife, he was obliged to retire for a time from public life; but 
later, in ISS^, he was elected to the assembly, and in 1840 and 1842 to 
congress. He w^as a large farmer and hospitable entertainer, and did 
much to advance agriculture and improve breeds of stock. He also 
acted as agent for the sale of large tracts of land in Mt. Morris and 
Nunda. He was an Episcopalian, prominent in the councils of 
that church and contributed liberally to the support of the church 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 941 

and benevolent efforts. He died in 1865. A friend said of him : "I 
remember with great pleasure and profit his eloquence, his geniality, 
his fund of information and humor, his liberality, his quick response 
to all calls of charity and for all public improvements, his noble gifts 
of time as well as money, his unbounded hospitality; but far beyond 
all these, he left on me the unvaried and constant impression that he 
was a Christian." His son Charles became a member of congress 
from the Livingston and Ontario district, and his son William T. a 
clerk of the United States Supreme Court. 

Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh an early and prominent citizen of the town 
met with a serious accident on Monday morning, April 18th, 1881, 
while going to survey some land a few miles from Mt. Morris in the 
direction of Sonyea. He, with Mr. Sutphen of Mt. Morris, occupied 
the back seat of the wagon, and in passing over a bridge a sudden 
movement of the team threw them backward, both striking upon 
their heads and shoulders and receiving severe injuries. From the 
first the most serious apprehensions were entertained, and Dr. Fitz- 
hugh himself expressed the belief that he could not recover. He was 
eighty-seven years old a day or two after the accident, and such a 
shock to a person of that age would of itself be almost certain to prove 
fatal. It aggravated some other difficulties under which he had 
labored, and greatly intensified his sufferings. Hope and fear alter- 
nated until Friday afternoon when it became evident that he could 
not live many hours. He expired at five o'clock on Saturday morning. 

The grandfather of Dr. Fitzhugh, was Col. William Fitzhugh, 
who resided before the Revolution at the mouth of the 
Patuxent river, in the then colony of Maryland, and held 
a colonel's commission in the British army. He was a man of 
extensive influence and owned a large amount of land and a 
number of mills and manufactories. When the trouble between the 
colonies and the mother country broke out, Col. Fitzhugh retired from 
the British army, although he was oft'ered a continuance of his rank 
and half pay if he would remain neutral. This would have assured 
him the quiet possession of the large property, but he refused and left 
his commission upon the Governor's table, encouraged his sons to take 
service in the "rebel" army, and himself accepted a seat in the execu- 
tive council of Maryland, to assist in devising ways and means for the 
defence and deliverance of his country. His fine estate was doomed 



')42 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

to pillage and the torch. In the absence of father and sons a small 
British party landed in the vicinity, but they were resisted by Mrs. 
Fitzhugh who armed and directed the slaves. Carrying cartridges in 
her apron, she went out to meet the invaders and so intimidated 
them that they made a hasty retreat. Disaster, however, was not 
long delayed, as a stronger party followed and executed their mission, 
and caused the family to flee fifty miles up the river. Col. Perigrine 
Fitzhugh was one of the sons of William, and at first was commis- 
sioned in a corps of light horse, but at a later period of the war was 
enrolled in the military family of Washington. In 1790 he emigrated 
to Geneva in this state where he resided three years and then re- 
moved to Sodus. 

Col. William Fitzhugh was another son of Col. William, and also held 
a commission in a division of the cavalry, and after the Revolutionary 
war was a member of the ^laryland legislature. He visited the Gene- 
see valley in ISOO, in company with Col. Nathaniel Rochester, Maj. 
Charles Carroll and others. At that time he secured a third interest 
in the "one hundred acre tract" at the Falls of the Genesee, covering 
the heart of the present city of Rochester, and in company with Maj. 
Carroll purchased 12,000 acres of Col. Williamson, on the Canaseraga 
creek in Groveland and Sparta, paying two dollars per acre. It was 
at the time thought strange that they took upland instead of the Mt. 
Morris flats at three dollars per acre. But the explanation was that 
they came from a region where timber was scarce, and had learned to 
appreciate its value. The purchase embraced the site of Williams- 
burg, the project of Col. Williamson to found a village there having 
been given up after the mutiny and dispersion of his German colonists. 
The property of Messrs. Carroll and Fitzhugh was left in the hands 
of agents, and they did not bring their families until 1816. Col. Fitz- 
hugh died at Hampton, in Groveland, in 183'), aged seventy-eight 
years. He was elected supervisor of the town in 1821. His wife, a 
daughter of Col. Daniel Hughes of Washington county, Maryland, 
died in 1829, aged fifty-seven. The sons of Col. Fitzhugh were all 
men of more than ordinary force. Henry Fitzhugh settled in Oswego 
and was in 1851 elected canal commissioner, and re-elected in 1854. 
Five daughters became the wives respectively of Hon. Gerrit Smith of 
Peterboro, Dr. Frederick J. Backus of Rochester, John T. Tallman of 
Rochester, Lieut. J. W. Swift of the United States Navy, and James 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 943 

G. Birney of Michigan. Colonel Fitzhugh served on the staff of Gen- 
eral Washington in the Revolutionary war, though not of age then. 

Dr. Daniel Hughes Fitzhugh, was a son of Col. William Fitzhugh, 
and was born April 20, 1784, in Maryland, where he lived until he was 
twenty-two years of age. When but eighteen years of age he was 
upon the staff of the General commanding at Washington city when 
it was burned by the British, and, like his father, drew a Government 
pension for military services. In 1816 he came to this valley to sup- 
erintend the erection of suitable buildings for the family residence. 
These he located at the place ever since known as "Hampton," and 
the mansion built under his charge is the one where he breathed his 
last, and from which his remains were taken to the Williamsburg cem- 
etery, at the age of eighty-seven years and four days. 

After his marriage he became the owner of 1700 acres of land at and 
around Sonyea, which he subsequently sold to the Shaker Society for 
$92,000. He was afterwards for a number of years a resident of Gen- 
eseo, but returned to Hampton and occupied it until his death. While 
residing at Sonyea in the town of Groveland he was seven times 
elected supervisor, viz: from 1830 to 1835 inclusive, and again in 
1841. In 1842 he was elected to the assembly but positively de- 
clined a re-election, the position being repugnant to his tastes, and his 
own extensive affairs demanding all his time. He was for two years 
president of the Livingston County Historical Society, and in 1879 
was selected to preside at the Sullivan Centennial, but was 
detained in Michigan by illness. He was the successor of the 
late Gen. James S. Wadsworth as president of the Genesee Valley Na- 
tional Bank, a position he resigned in 1880 when Hon. J. W. Wads- 
worth was elected. 

Dr. Fitzhugh was married to Miss Ann Frisby Dana, who was born 
at Geneva, Dec. 22, 1803. They had thirteen children, nine of whom 
were present at the funeral of Dr. Fitzhugh. Mrs. Fitzhugh was 
a daughter of William Pulteney Dana, and was a lady of great loveli- 
ness of character. A friend to all who were in distress, she lost her 
life in February, 1850, by ship fever contracted in ministering to a 
poor family that came to Sonyea a short time previously. Their mar- 
ried life covered about twenty-five years, and since the decease of the 
mother, thirty years ago, some of the daughters have continued to re- 
side with their father. Dr. Fitzhugh made large and profitable invest- 



944 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ments in real estate in the Saginaw valley, Michigan, especially the 
land on which the flourishing place of Bay City stands, and where some 
of his descendants reside. Dr. Fitzhugh never practiced his profession 
e.xcept as a surgeon in the army, in which capacity he was at the battle 
of Blandensburg. 

The following interesting sketch of Dr. Fitzhugh was added to the 
foregoing, which is from the pen of the late Samuel P. Allen, in ISSO, 
by the late Norman Seymour, Esq., in the same year: 

At the close of the Revolution, followed by the famous Treaty of 
Big Tree (Geneseo), Sept. 1707, by the extinguishment of the Indian 
titles all the lands in the then Genesee country, extending from the 
old pre-emption line one mile east of Geneva west to Lake Erie, came 
into market. Robert Morris, the patriot and financier of Revolution- 
ary memory, had for some years been the most extensive owner. 
In 1792 Charles Williamson, agent for William Pulteney, the 
Scotch baron, who had purchased of Franklin, Robert Morris's 
agent, 1,200,000 of these lands, paying for the same ^35,000, 
laid out and opened a road up the Susquehanna, from Williamsport, 
Pa., to the Genesee river, Williamsburg. He at once made a tour 
through Maryland, soliciting emigration to the beautiful and fertile 
Genesee. This road became famous as the great thoroughfare 
to the golden lands that lay in the lovely Genesee valley. In 1795, 
the Duke de Liancourt, and in 1796, Louis Phillippe, subsequently 
the king of France, and Lord Ashburton (Alexander Baring), came by 
this wild and romantic road to Canandaigua, and then to what is now 
Rochester. In 1800 a trio of noble men (Marylanders) of great pluck 
and energy, Col. William Fitzhugh, Col. Nathaniel Rochester and 
Major Charles Carroll, came into this section. Col. William Fitz- 
hugh's cavalcade, as it wound its way up the Northumberland road, 
consisted of Pennsylvania wagons drawn by twenty-seven horses, the 
party numbering forty persons. It required about forty days to make 
the trip, the entire party camping out in the woods two nights. Col. 
Fitzhugh died at Hampton, Groveland, in 1839, aged seventy-eight 
years, leaving over eighty descendants. His wife was a daughter of 
Daniel Hughes of Maryland, who died in 1829, aged fifty-seven years. 
Col. Fitzhugh's children were W. H. Fitzhugh of Maryland, Dr. 
Daniel H., the subject of this brief sketch, James of Kentucky, Rich- 
ard P. of Groveland, Henry of Oswego, Judge Samuel H. of Mt. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 945 

Morris, and Robert of Groveland, now all deceased. His daughters 
were Mrs. Dr. Backus of Rochester, ]\Irs. James G. Birney of Ken- 
tucky, Mrs. Gerrit vSmith ot Peterboro, Mrs, J. L. Tallman of Roch- 
ester, and jMrs. Lieut. Swift of Geneva. 

Dr. Fitzhugh was born in ALiryland in 1784. In the year 1816 he 
came to Groveland to superintend the erection of the house in which 
he died. His father. Col. ^Villiam Fitzhugh, came into this valley 
in 1800, but, owing to the unhealthy state of the country, did not re- 
move his family until the year 1817. Since his ad\'ent into this sec- 
tion no one has been more extensively identified with the early settle- 
ment and history of the Genesee valley from Rochester south to the 
Canaseraga valley, than Dr. Fitzhugh. He was a man of delightful 
social accomnlishments and highly appreciative of humor. He was 
not a great talker; indeed, rather the reverse. Hospitable in the ex- 
treme, a full house was his delight. Of close business habits, he was 
never deceived by the same person twice. He attended in the mi-' 
nutest detail to the care of his estate to the very last day of his life. 
He was a true friend, a valued neighbor, and a courteous gentleman, 
emphatically of the old school in habits, manners and appearance. 
He had large landed estates in Saginaw, Mich. Dr. Fitzhugh was 
for many years president of the Genesee Valley Bank, and was 
also president, during the first two years of its existence, of the Living- 
ston County Historical Society and since then, up to the time of his 
death, was one of the Board of Councilmen, always taking a deep in- 
terest in the organization. Dr. Fitzhugh was associated as com- 
missioners with Gen. W. Wadsworth and Col. William Markham in 
erecting the first count_y buildings. 

Williamsburg, where Dr. Fitzhugh was buried, one of the oldest 
burying-grounds in Western New York, is in the town of Groveland — 
a place historic and memorable in the history of the Genesee country. 
It is a retired and romantic spot, and can be seen by the traveler on 
our railway. For over half a century it has been the burial place of 
the Fitzhughs and Carrolls, honored names in the early settlement of 
the Genesee valley. In this cemetery a massive marble column marks 
the resting place of that honest man and pioneer in the anti-slavery 
movement, the late James G. Birney. By his side sleeps his son, 
Major Fitzhugh Birney, the A. A. G. of the second army corps, 
army of the Potomac, who died June, 1864, aged twenty-two years. 



946 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

On the north side of the cemetery stands a beautiful monument 
erected to the memory of Judge Charles Holker Carroll, who died July 
22d, 1865, aged seventy-two years. Henry Fitzhugh, late of Oswego, 
has a monument here also that shall perpetuate the memory of one of 
the most worthy and upright state officers New York ever had. Rob- 
ert, Judge Samuel H. and Richard P. Fitzhugh were also buried 
here. Colonel William Fitzhugh the father of those named came into 
the Genesee valley in 1800 and was the compeer and associate at that 
early day of the Messrs. James and William Wadsworth and Major 
Carroll. Colonel Fitzhugh died in 1839 aged seventy-eight years. 

Joseph W. Begole, who was born in Groveland in 1815, moved to 
Flint, Mich., when he was twenty-one years old and there became 
prominent in political and official circles. He was county treeasurer 
eight years was elected state senator in 1871, representative in Con- 
gress in 1872, and governor of Michigan in 1882. At that time he was 
a Greenbacker, and his election was the result of a combination be- 
tween tlie Democratic and Greenback parties. 

In 1800 Major Charles Carroll, Col. William Fitzhugh and Col. 
Nathaniel Rochester purchased the "hundred acre tract" at the falls 
of the Genesee, and called it Rochesterville. From there they came up 
the valley and purchased the site of Williamsburg and the Hermitage 
tract, embracing in all 12,000 acres. At the time of the purchase of 
the site of Hampton by Col. William Fitzhugh it was occupied by a 
squatter named John Hampton, from whom it took its name. It 
was located in sight of and about one-half mile from the site of 
Williamsburg. * * * * Col. Fitzhugh commenced the building of 
Hampton in 1814, and two years were spent in its construction under 
the superintendence of the late Dr. Daniel Fitzhugh, then a young 
man. When completed it was occupied by Col. William Fitzhugh, its 
owner. At the time of its destruction by fire (in 1893) it is believed 
to have been the oldest prominent residence in the county. Standing 
as originally built it was a large three-story frame building with 
piazza, supported by massive pillars around the front and sides, built 
after the old southern colonial style of architecture, and was long an 
attractive landmark on the road from Geneseo to Mt. Morris." 

To give further particulars about Williamsburg we quote from Doty's 
history: "The site of Williamsburg was on the road between Geneseo 
and Mt. Morris, and is now marked by the residence of D. H. Abell. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 947 

It comprised a tavern stand, one or two stores, and a number of dwell- 
ings, the entire village covering about thirty acres. On the flats ad- 
joining the river was also the celebrated race-course, where the first 
' fairs and races ever held in the Genesee country came off. These fairs 
drew together a large concourse of people, some coming hundreds of 
miles to attend them, while from the Niagara frontier came many 
cattle dealers to purchase for the Canadian trade the fat, sleek cattle 
they were sure to find on exhibition. The tavern was a frame build- 
iijg erected for that purpose by Captain Williamson, and stood on the 
southwest part of the town square, which was situated about eighty 
rods east of the river. The main building was about thirty feet 
square, and two stories high, a large wing extending from the rear of 
the principal building. In the second story of the latter was a good 
sized ball-room, in which as early as 1800 was kept a dancing school. 
The first landlord was Captain Elijah Starr, who was succeeded by 
William Lemen. The first town meeting of the town of Sparta was- 
held in this house on the first Tuesday of April, 1796. William 
Ferine succeeded Lemen and kept the tavern two years. Thomas 
Hummer succeeded him and the latter, it would seem, was the first 
tavern keeper who had a license. William Magee purchased the 
tavern, the town square and village lots, amoLinting in all to some 
thirty -acres, of the Geneva land office, and shortly after sold the 
property to Joseph Engle. The latter kept the tavern two years, and 
failing to make the payments, ]\Iagee took the property back in 1806 
and kept the tavern one year. The property soon passed into the 
hands of ]Major Carroll, and the tavern was closed. Not many years 
afterward it took fire and burned down. 

"Another writer says that Williamsburg contained a good hotel build- 
ing, a dry goods store, a distillery, blacksmith shop, grocery, a grain 
warehouse and about forty dwellings. The distillery stood in the ra- 
vine just north of the present farm buildings of the Abell estate, while 
across the way, opposite these farm buildings, stood the old tavern. 
Church services were occasionally held in a portion of the warehouse, 
the Rev. Samuel J. Mills, a Presbyterian, being the minister." 

"But Williamsburg,'' says another writer, "soon passed away. 
Geneseo (then called Big Tree) and Mt. Morris grew apace, and 
other villages sprang up in various places, but Williamsburg's glory 
waned. Its decline seems to have commenced about 1807, and in a 



948 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

few years only a few old buildings remained. To-dav not one remains 
to mark the spot where once Williamson expected would stand a place 
of much trade, whose commercial importance he painted in glowing 
colors." 

In 1837 the Oroveland Society of vShakers purchased of Dr. Daniel 
H. Fitzhugh 1700 acres of land in Groveland, lying on both sides of 
Keshaqua creek, for which they paid $92,000, and removed from 
Sodus, Wayne county, to this spot. They added to their original pur- 
chase afterward. There were about one hundred men and women; and 
at that time the elders were Jeremiah Talcott, John Lockwood, Emery 
C. Brooks, James Goodwin, Peter Long and Ale.xander Mott, and the 
trustees were James Pelham, Lucius Southworth, Emery C. Brooks, 
Malachi Sanford and James Goodwin. The lands are among the most 
fertile in the county, and were thoroughly cultivated by the Shaker 
community. For many years after locating in Groveland they raised 
garden seeds, and sold them throughout western and central New York. 
Later they cultivated much broom corn and made brooms. After sev- 
eral years they put up a large brick building near their frame church 
at a cost of $12,500, and their Sunday services were held in this build- 
ing. Later, Peter Long, who became the business manager of the com- 
munity, built a model barn on the premises, 120 feet long and forty 
feet wide, costing $8,000. On July 5, 1894, these Shakers sold the 
property to the state for $115,000 and merged themselves in the east- 
ern communities, and the state established there a hospital for epilep- 
tics, which has come to be one of the most useful of New York's institu- 
tions for the improvement and cure of unfortunates. Many new 
buildings have been put up for their accommodation, and they are 
looked after by some of the ablest medical specialists. It is called the 
Craig Colony for Epileptics, being named from Oscar Craig of Roch- 
ester, long a member of the State Board of Charities, and in his later 
years, after President Letchworth retired, its president — a man of 
noble imindses and broad intelligence. From the eleventh annual re- 
port of the board of managers, of Craig Colony for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1904, we learn : "The additions to the men's 
and women's infirmaries under construction at the time of our last 
report were finished during the summer, and are now being filled with 
the feeble and infirm. Each infirmary will accommodate about 150 of 
this class. The 300 occupants of the two buildings will ultimately 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 949 

represent about twenty per cent of the entire population. We closed 
the year with a total population of 898, 513 of whom are males, 385 
females. In September of last year nearly 700 dependent epileptics 
were awaiting admission to this institution. We still have accom- 
modations for about 100 more of these whom we expect to take before 
January 1, 1905. * * This is the only institution in a state whose 
epileptic population numbers 14,000 to 15,000, solely for the care of 
the epileptics. In the second place, the state waited years for a place 
for its dependent epileptics. In the meantime an enormous waiting 
list of patients ready to enter its doors as soon as they were opened 
had accumulated. In the third place, as we have previously men- 
tioned, there are now between 600 and 700 patients awaiting admission 
to the colony." 

The- report of the medical superintendent, Dr William P. Spratling, 
says: "The first blow to prepare the old shaker homestead of nearly 
2,000 acres for the purposes of a colony for epileptics, was struck on 
August 25, 1895; the first patient admitted February 26, 1896. Dur- 
ing the eight and a half years the colony has been in operation, fifty- 
seven houses capable of accommodating 1,000 patients and 200 em- 
ployees have been constructed; an electric light plant of 1,800 lights 
capacity installed, approximately two and a half miles of sewer and 
water mains laid, and an abundance of pure water provided for all 
purposes for a colony of 2,500 persons." Many cures have been ef- 
fected, and Dr. Spratling mentions one case where a man had been an 
epileptic sixteen years, and had from 50,000 to 60,000 seizures, and 
was discharged apparently quite cured, in 1898, after two and one-half 
years of treatment. 

At the first town meeting of Groveland, held in Williamsburg, the 
following officers were elected : supervisor, James Rosebrugh ; town 
clerk, Samuel Niblack ; assessors, Hugh iMcNair, John Jones, Christian 
Roup; commissioners of highways, Daniel Ross, John Slaight, Sam- 
uel Begole; overseers of the poor, Abraham Harrison, Aaron Nor- 
cross; constable and collector, Wm. Doty; constable, Davenport 
Alger; fence viewers, John Hampton, Samuel M. Mann, Enoch 
Squibb; overseers of highways, Wm. Doty, Nathan Ogdeii, John 
Oman, Ira Travis, David Cook, John Vance, Wm. R. Begole, Philo 
Mills, Ebenezer McMasters. Benjamin Price, Samuel Henderson, Eli 
Clark, Thomas Young. 



950 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



The following is a list of the supervisors of Groveiand: 



Wm. Fitzluixli 1810-20-21 

Jaine* Ro^ebrugli 18 13- 14 

Samuel Xiblack 1815-16 

Charles H. Carroll 1817-18-22-29-40-48 

David Gamble 1823-24-25-26-45-46 

Daniel Kelly 1827-28-29 

Daniel H. Fitzhugli 

1830-31-32-33-34-35-41 

Walter E. t^uderdale 1836-37 

Ren ben Field 1838 

Daniel Kelly, Jr 1842-43 

Daniel Kelly 1844 

Wni. Ewarl 1847-49-50 

Edward P. Fuller 1851 

Edward Logan 1852-53-59-60-61-62 

Harvey Ewarl 1854-55 

Geo. S. Ewart.. 1869-70-71-72-74-82-83-84 



.Augustus Palmer 1856 

Nailianiel Mann 1S57-58 

John Hartuian 1863-64-65-67-68 

Oriniel Bigelow 1866 

Hugh \V. McNair 1873-75 

Jerome .\. Lake 1876-78-87-89 

Cieorge \V. Kelly 1877 

John \V. .Sicklv - 1878-80-81 

Wm. H. Grav 1885-86 

Wm. G. Wilson 1888 

Edward E. Mann 1890 

R. E. White 1891-92 

George T. Flwart 1893 

Edward M. Magee 1894-95-96-97-9S 

Murray L. Gamble 1899-00-01-02 

L. A. Hiiliard 1903 



The assessed valuation and ta.\ rate per ,S1,(I()0 arc here given: 





Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Assessed 


Tax Rate 




Valuatiou 


on $1000 
7.12 




Valuation 


on $1000 




Valuation 


oil Siooo 


i860 


786,552 


1875 


1,491,367 


7.91 


1890 


1,511,271 


7.66 


I86I 


778,341 


7.66 


1876 


1,427,596 


5-25 


1891 


1,560,738 


6-39 


1862 


741,608 


9.88 


1877 


1,336,559 


5-54 


1892 


1,637,434 


6.95 


1863 


736.915 


10.42 


1888 


1,307,034 


4.60 


1893 


1,611,516 




1864 


736,717 


16.90 


1879 


1,255,883 


5-39 


1894 


1,607,459 


5.52 


186s 


782,094 


47.00 


1880 


1,264,201 


5.31 


1895 


1.506,323 


6.19 


1866 


736,855 


19.60 


1881 


1,260 976 


4.65 


1896 


1,500,864 


6.50 


1867 


' 759,213 


20.35 


1882 


1,275,328 




1897 


I. .507, 641 


6.57 


1868 


760,760 


16.67 


1883 


1,396,071 


5.00 


1898 


1,458,121 


7.02 


1869 


768,984 


15-54 


1884 


1,433,031 


3-93 


1899 


1.456,3.50 


8.69 


1870 


773.386 


17.15 


1885 


1,488,697 


4.52 


1900 


1,454,619 


6.13 


I87I 


793.593 


14.77 


1886 


1,599,758 


6.84 


T901 


i,483.,S3i 


5.40 


1872 


755120 


21.21 


1887 


1,570,670 


6.94 


1902 


1,49b, no 


3-49 


1873 


768,108 


15.83 


1888 


1,603,770 


6.41 


1903 


1,522,020 


6.57 


1874 


1,501,578 


9.80 


1889 


1,590.850 


7.67 


1 


1 





The Civil war record of the town is incomplete. In 1863 §100 was 
voted for the relief of each family of volunteers. Bounties for volun- 
teers and drafted men, "not exceeding 81,000 for each" were voted 
in 1864. In 1865 the town auditor was authorized at a special town 
meeting to issue town bonds "to the amount of S400 to each volun- 
teer to fill the quota of the town" ; and a month later another special 
town meeting voted the sum of §300 for the relief of each needy family 
whose natural supporters were in the military service or had died in 
the service. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 951 

The Presbyterian church of Groveland Corners was organized in 
1795 by the General Assembly through the efiEorts of Rev. Mr. 
Thatcher, according to one authority, and in 1809 by Rev. John 
Lindsley, according to Mr. Lindsley. In the latter year the society 
consisted of sixteen members and three elders. Rev. Silas Pratt 
preached to them for a year in 1818, and the church was taken under 
the care of the Presbytery of Ontario in 1819. A house of ■ worship 
was erected in 1829, the services having previously been held in a 
school house. There has been a frequent succession of pastors. The 
Methodists built a church at East Groveland in 1828. 

The following very interesting particulars of the town of Grove- 
land were prepared by Miss Wilhelmina Mann : 

"Among the surveyors who came with Williamson were John and 
Hugh McNair and John Smith. The deeds of many of the farms of 
the town show that they were surveyed by Smith. He purchased a 
tract of land a mile square, upon which he built a two story frame 
house where the Ozro Clark house now stands. Perhaps a quarter of 
a century ago the old John Smith building was moved a little north- 
east of its original site to make room for the new dwelling; there it 
may still be seen, but much altered in appearance by a coat of paint. 

"1795 witnessed the arrival of Judge James Rosebrugh, one of the 
most prominent of the early settlers. He lived for a year or two at 
Sonyea, afterwards removing to the farm now owned by Chas. A. 
Hendershott. In 1817 he built the house now upon the place; it is 
practically unchanged in appearance. 

"William l\Iagee came from Northumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1796, and settled upon the Hartman farm, now occupied by 
John Cooley. Until a house could be built, he and his family found 
shelter in a tent made of poles and covered with bark. From this 
place his little son Samuel walked several miles, alone, through the 
woods, to school; at night his anxious mother would go far to meet 
him, fearing that he might be devoured by bears. In a few years Mr. 
Magee moved to the farm now occupied by his grandson, Edward 
Magee. 

"Thomas Ward purchased the farm Mr. Magee left. He brought 
with him from Maryland the Lombardy poplar trees which still form 
a distinctive feature of the place. He was almost the only carpenter 
in town and found profitable employment in the making of doors, 



952 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

windows, cradles, bedsteads, etc. He soon erected a frame house of 
two stories and an attic. This old, wood-colored house stood as built 
until a few years ago, when it was incorporated in the new house 
built by Mr. Hartman and where Mr. Cooley now lives. This build- 
ing was of particular interest as the postoffice, called Groveland, was 
kept here for perhaps twenty-five years in the early part of the nine- 
teenth century. 

'"Near the close of the eighteenth century William McXair located 
at Williamsburg and the following persons also entered the town: John 
Harrison, Captain John Vance, the Lattimores, Culbertsons, Robert- 
sons, Stilwells, Barbers, Dotys, Levi Dunn, the Kellys, Ewarts, 
Boyds, Roups and Gambles. 

"In 1798 Benjamin Parker, step-son of John Smith, came on foot 
from Sussex county, Pennsylvania, carrying his gun with him and 
surveying. He built the first log house on the Dansville and Genesee 
road. It stood in front of what is now the yard of James Oilman. 
The many friendly Indians called Mr. Parker "The Big House," 
and he learned to speak their language fluently. Among his friends 
were Mary Jemison, Little Baard, Tall Chief and Red Jacket. 

"In 1803 Thomas Bailey came from New Jersey to Groveland. He 
was a soldier of the Revolution and his son became a soldier of the 
war of 1812. 

"In 1805 came Samuel Mitchell Mann from Horsham, Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania. Returning to Pennsylvania he brought back 
with him his wife, Susan Burrows, taking up land from the Geneva 
oflSce in 1806. The farm upon which he located is now occupied by 
his son, Nathaniel. A log house first sheltered the family, but in 
1816 the present dwelling was built. Mr. Mann was a blacksmith by 
trade and brought his anvil when he moved those many tedious miles 
through the woods. He often said that he would have found it 
very difficult to raise his large family in the wilderness without the 
aid of his trade. On at least one occasion he drew his crop to Geneva 
to market, receiving in exchange a side of sole leather. This was 
converted by the itinerant shoemaker into shoes for the family, a 
needed protection against the winter's snow. 

"Michael Johnson and his wife, Margaret Crossett came from Ire- 
land to Geneseo in 1804. But three years later they removed to fjrove- 
land, bringing with them their little daughter, the late Mrs. Nancy 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 953 

Culbertson. Mr. Johnson had prepared a log house for the reception 
of his family and it was complete, except that it lacked a floor and an 
outside door. A blanket did duty for the latter until something 
better could be made and a f^oor of split boards was soon laid. Mr. 
Johnson's first year proved a discouraging one, for vermin destroyed 
his corn and deer ate the buckwheat. But an energetic wife came 
to his assistance, and one fifty dollar payment on the homestead was 
made from proceeds of linen thread spun by Mrs. Johnson and sold in 
Canandaigua. 

"Before the war of 1812, the Beans, Hendershotts and Gambles had 
become citizens of Groveland. It was in 1812 that Peter Titsworth 
came from New Jersey and took up a farm of seventy-five acres. He 
paid for it in wheat, which he sold in Rochester for twenty-five cents 
a bushel, the markets nearer home offering only ten cents. In 1814 
the Hendershotts came and about the same time the Titsworths and 
Beattys. 

"It was in 1823 that the late John Aten came with his parents from 
Pennsylvania, settling near Groveland Corners. The journey was ac- 
complished in a large covered wagon drawn by four horses and oc- 
cupied five days. There were then but two dwellings at the Corners. 
One still stands, changed in appearance, but with the same old frame; 
it is now the home of Richard Mate. 

"About 1825 Isaac Havens built the grist mill at the south-west 
corner of the town. A few years later this was purchased by Abram 
Zehner. Another grist mill was previously built in the gully which 
came down where Judge Carroll lived. It was erected by a Mr. Shull, 
who lived near the present James Oilman house, but at what date the 
oldest inhabitant is unable to say. It could not have been running as 
late as 1823, for Mr. Aten recorded the fact that his father was obliged 
to go to Dansville for milling. 

"George Bennett brought his family from Pennsylvania in 1824. 
They came in a large covered wagon, reaching the town on April 25, a 
cold time, three inches of snow having covered the ground a few days 
before. He settled upon the farm where his son Samuel recently died. 

"In 1833 Theodore Swan, a lad, alone and a stranger, came to Will- 
iamsburg, then a place of importance, where he chopped wood for 
thirty cents a day and board. The post office was then at Hampton, 
with mail perhaps once a week. 



954 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

"The pioneers found that they had to contest the occupation of 
their farms with the wild inhabitants of the forests. Cows were al- 
lowed to seek pasture in the unfenced woods, but they seem not often 
to have been molested; toward nightfall, the children would be sent to 
find them, often wandering for miles before doing so, their guide being 
the sound of the bell worn by the leader of the herd. It was while 
looking for the cows that two little daughters of James Beatty were 
lost and wandered all night in the dense woods around the inlet of 
Conesus. Lake. Much of the time the older one carried the younger. 
It was not until morning that the children were found. 

"Rattlesnakes were numerous and seem not to have inspired much 
fear in these hardy settlers. One day a farmer, swinging the scythe 
in the laborious haymaking of that time, found himself about to step 
upon a rattlesnake coiled in the grass. Perhaps because of the heat, 
but probably more for the purpose of economy, the farmer was bare- 
footed ; he therefore made a hasty retreat, but the snake was killed 
by a man working with him. A little boy on his way home from 
school encountered and killed a rattler. Proud of his achievement, he 
dragged the dead snake after him to show to his people. Soon its 
mate put in an appearance. He succeeded in killing that also and 
proudly bore both snakes home. 

"A farmer heard one afternoon, the squealing of a pig and found it 
being carried away in the embrace of a bear. Seeing the man she 
dropped the pig and showed her teeth in an ugly manner, and he de- 
cided that discretion was the better part of valor. 

"When Hugh McNair lived in a log cabin at the spring near which 
Mrs. Aiten's house now stands he had his pigs enclosed by a high 
stake and rider fence and one day surprised a bear leaping over this 
fence with one of the pigs. In this case, neighbors collected and fol- 
lowe the thief with guns and axes. After a hard fight, the liear was 
killed on the flats below the Canaseraga. 

"In the pioneer household almost everything necessary was manu- 
factured by the family. Matches were unknown; flint and the tinder- 
bo.\ took their place. Honey and the maple tree supplied sweetening 
so that 'store sugar' was almost unknown; women sometimes stayed 
out a week at a time making maple sugar in the woods. Soap was 
made from lye and grease. Light was furnished by the home-made 
tallow dip. Clothing was made of flax and wool, spun and woven by 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 955 

the busy housewife. Often a little girl wore one woolen dress 
throughout the year; it would be first worn in the fall and would be 
warm and heavy as a protection against the cold of winter; when 
spring came it would be considerably thinner and would not be un- 
comfortable during the heat of summer. But did the little maid 
never tire of the checked linsey woolsey gown ? 

"The cooking was all done at the open fireplace, the baking being 
accomplished either in the old fashioned bake kettle or the 'Dutch' 
or brick oven. This oven was first thoroughly heated by a fire built 
in it ; then the coals were swept out and the bread thrown in upon the 
hot bricks where it was left just one hour and came out lighter and 
sweeter than any bread of to-day. 

"The first tavern was kept at Williamsburg in 1797 by William 
Lemen. The next was that of William Doty, who for many years kept 
an inn on the farm now occupied by Fort Benway. The first license 
to sell intoxicating drinks was granted to him in 1810. John Hunt, 
for whom Hunt's Corners was named, opened a hotel at that place in 
1814. At Groveland Corners Deacon Abram Harrison kept a public 
house in the present Richard Mate dwelling. 

"There is no more interesting building in all Groveland than the 
old 'Gully School-house,' intimately associated with the intellectual 
and the spiritual training of the early days. It stands about a mile 
and a half south of Groveland Center opposite Glenwood Cemetery. 
Two acres of land were given by the land ofifice at Geneva to 
be used for a cemetery and church. The hewed log build- 
ing now standing is the one then erected, but there was no 
door on the south side. It seems almost sacrilege to see 
this ancient land mark, windowless, with almost useless roof, ex- 
posed in this unprotected state to the fury of wind and storm. It is 
rapidly falling into decay and, unless rescued by the town authorities 
or the Livingston County Historical Society, will soon be only a mass 
of ruins. During the week this building was used as a school-house 
to which came many children intent on climbing learning's difficult 
hill. They came for miles, some even from Sonyea, where there was 
then no school. Perhaps William K. Mann is the only person now liv- 
ing who attended this ancient school. It was eighty-five years ago 
when he first went there. Among the pupils were Rosebrughs, 
Lattimores, Stillwells, Roups, Goheens, Hendershotts. Barbers, 



956 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Culbertsons, Eagles, Norcrosses, Lairs, Magees, McNairs and Manns. 
The name of the teacher at this time was Armstead; he was an old 
sea captain, a kindly gentleman. Sometimes, when the pupils grew 
dull and sleepy, he permitted them to study aloud in Chinese fashion; 
needless to say this had the effect of arousing them, and when the 
noise had continued long enough he brought it to a sudden end by 
thumping on the floor with an old splint broom. John Dixon, Dyer 
Cowdrey, and a man named Corson also taught in this house. The 
wooden benches upon which the children sat had no backs and as 
many as possible were placed against the walls of the house, the 
teachers staying in the middle of the room. In the north-east corner 
was a large fire place. 

"On Sunday the same building did duty as a church, the pulpit 
standing on the east side of the room. Here John Linsley, and later 
Silas Pratt, preached. These men were home missionaries. Mr. 
Pratt lived in Dansville and for a time preached in four different 
places, Dansville, South Sparta, Groveland and Lakeville. Conse- 
quently several weeks would intervene between the days when he 
could speak to any one congregation; but when he did come, he made 
up for his absence by preaching two sermons, neither of them short. 
Between the two services, the people ate the lunch they had brought 
with them, visited, and, if the weather permitted, walked across to the 
cemetery or in the surrounding woods. They came to church for miles 
around, those who were fortunate enough to have them coming in 
their large wagons with the children seated on chairs in them. But 
many walked; some women coming from Sonyea, with the laudable 
desire to save shoe leather, came barefooted as far as the Canaseraga, 
where they washed their feet and donned shoes to wear the remaining 
two miles up the hill; returning, the shoes would be removed at the 
same point. Sabbaths when Mr. Pratt was not at the church it was 
the custom for a sermon to be read by one of the officers and that duty 
generally devolved upon Deacon John Jones, called the 'Father of the 
church.' He was a brother-in-law of Daniel Kelly and lived on what 
is now a part of the Isaac Slack farm. For many years Michael Roup 
was the leader of the singing. 

"In 1829 the Groveland Presbyterian church was erected and the 
Methodist Episcopal church at East Groveland was built about the 
same time. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 957 

"It is difficult for us at this late date, to realize the privations 
endured and the perils encountered by the pioneers a century ago; a 
little consideration of their difficulties and dangers can but make us 
more grateful for the privileges of to-day." 



SPENCERPORT. 

READ HKFOKE THE LIVIXdSTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, BY 
DONALD GRANr, ESg. 

.\ paper read befi)re this society at its annual meeting two years 
ago, by one of its mtjst estimable and versatile members, demon- 
strated quite conclusively how much there may be of real interest in 
the past history of mere hamlets, when properly brought out. that 
serves to deeply interest and benefit those of us who live in the pres- 
ent age. The writer closed his excellent paper by suggesting that 
many such localities had existed in the county worthy of attention, 
and that the old abandoned (ieiiesee \'alley Canal could furnish many 
themes for the local historians. 

Attempting to act upon so good a suggestion, permit us to state 
that in the year 1820 the highway commencing at a point on the Avon 
and Geneseo road near Lakeville, and leading directly west to the Gen- 
esee River, was. laid out and opened to travel. A bridge across the 
river was soon afterwards erected, largely by voluntary contributions 
and labor, and the road extended on through Fowlerville, Union Cor- 
ners and South LeRoy to Buffalo. The crossing soon became one of 
considerable importance being the only one between Avon and Gen- 
eseo. The fate of bridges at this point has been somewhat precari- 
ous, the fourth one having been now in use for eleven years past, and 
at one time ferry service was brought into requisition by Asa Phelps 
of Avon. 

William Janes owned and occui)ied the lands on the west side of 
the river and north side of the highway, and conveyed at an early 
day, one acre upon the river bank to Judge Riggs, of Littleville, who 
erected upon it a commodious grain warehouse Avhich continued to be 
used as such until the completion of the Genesee Valley Canal in 1840; 
the last occupant being Thomas Kempshall of Rochester under the 
supervision of Elijah Rust. William Janes also conveyed in 1835 
seventeen and a half acres on the north side of the highway, to Loth- 
rop Gaylord, and he to Wells Fowler in 1836. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 959 

The premises on the south side of the highway were owned and 
improved by Alfred Collins, who conveyed them in the spring of 1833 
to Peter F. McVean, who in 1835 sold to Messrs, Little & Dixon one 
acre upon the river bank for the purpose of building thereon a ware- 
house and ashery. During their construction a sudden and unex- 
pected rise in the river, swept away the material upon the ground, 
along with the bridge spanning the stream and greatly endangered 
the lives of those endeavoring to preserve them. The buildings were 
however duly completed and used for the purpose intended until taken 
down and the timbers of the former utilized in the construction of a 
warehouse at Sackett's Basin, and those of the latter for a blacksmith 
and wagon shop at Spencerport, on the Genesee Valley Canal. Large 
quantities of wheat were for many years brought from either side of 
the river and stored in these warehouses preparatory to shipping by 
flat boats upon the river to the Rochester mills, and many tons of 
merchandise were annually by the same source brought up the river 
and landed at them for merchants on both sides of the river. 

In the year 1834 surveys for the Genesee Valley Canal were author- 
ized and made, and its construction authorized May 6, 1836. The 
letting of contracts for the work occurred at Albany in 1837. At said 
letting the work upon sections 23, 24 and 26 in the town of York, was 
awarded to David, John and Daniel D. Spencer and Alexander Hubbs, 
under the firm and style of John Spencer & Co., who all came from 
Montgomery County, N. Y., bringing with them several families 
among which were those of Ira Averill, Samuel Cutler and Benjamin 
Loucks, and of young men, David Parker, James Gray, Moses Shawl,' 
Horatio Loucks and Andrew Hunter, entering vigorously upon the 
work with a large force on or about November 1, 1837. Section 24 lay 
directly across the aforementioned highway at a distance of some 
fifty rods from the river bridge where the company made their head- 
quarters of operations, Mr. John Spencer and Alexander Hubbs taking 
charge of the work upon sections 23 and 24, and Mr. Daniel D. 
Spencer that upon section 26. The canal being completed and water 
let therein in Sept. 1840, John Spencer purchased from Peter F. Mc- 
\'ean, two acres of land, one upon either side of the canal early in the 
year 1841, and at once commenced upon the berme bank the erection 
of a large building for storage, forwarding and mercantile purposes; 
and on the towpath side, one for the stabling of his own and of canal 



960 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

horses. Also one for the business of blacksmithing, wagon-making 
and cooperage, and one or two tenement houses. On the west side, 
Mr. Spencer and Mr. Hubbs erected their respective residences, 
Casper R. Cook and William H. Plant and other mechanics coming 
from Rochester and performing the work upon the buildings. 

During the same year of 1841, Amos Fowler purchased from his 
father. Wells Fowler, the seventeen and one-half acres on the north 
side of the highway which the latter had previously purchased from 
Lothrop Gaylord, and erected thereon a commodious hotel and barns 
adjacent to the canal, and a convenient grain and freight warehouse 
upon the bank. Alonzo Fowler also built a corresponding warehouse 
adjoining Ihat of jiis brother Amos, u])on a lot purchased from the 
latter, who transferred the balance of the land to Casper R. Cook, who 
having been the master mechanic thus far in the erection of nearly all 
the buildings mentioned, reared a home for himself on the west side of 
the canal as did Benjamin Loucks and others on the east side, and the 
place by common consent took the name ot Spencerport. John Spencer 
opened in his warehouse block a grocery and provision store for the 
accommodation of the canal and other trade, and at once entered upon 
an extensive storage, forwarding and produce business which he ac- 
tively prosecuted for many years. In 1845 he was succeeded in the 
mercantile part by Peter Frazer, and in the other departments in 1848 
by Charles A. and Edward T. Hosmer. In 185U ^Ir. Spencer re- 
sumed the entire business associating with him his son-in-law, John 
VanValkenburg, who conducted it jointly as long as there remained 
any to do. 

. Amos Fowler having completed his hotel and opened it as such in 
the fall of 1842, with a fine assembly room, the young people of the 
vicinity complimented his enterprise at Christmas time with a large 
dancing party at which the music was furnished by Frank McBean 
and John VanValkenburg, and the figures were all of the country 
dance style. Later on in the winter a large cotillion party was given 
at the same place, under the direction of Prof. Kellogg of Spring- 
water, w'ho brought his orchestra with him, and on both occasions 
there were present good delegations of brave men and fair women, 
from Cuylerville and Mt. Morris. From the former place besides 
others, came John Adams and James Gra)'; and from the latter, James 
Bump and Elijah Thatcher. The following winter Prof. Kellogg gave 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 9ol 

instruction in the, same room to a large class in the polite art of danc- 
ing which was well patronized from both sides of the river. 

Mr. Fowler continued the hotel and forwarding business with a fair 
measure of success until ,lS4(i, when he sold out the entire matter to 
James H. Bow. who also proved a pijpular landlord and produce oper- 
ator, continuing actively in both branches until sustaining the great 
loss by death of his excellent wife, and that of his boys, by enlistment 
in the Union army, when he leased his hotel tcj other parties and which 
a few years subsequently became a prey to the devouring element. 

When Alonzo Fowler was overtaken by embarrassment in the pro- 
duce business about the year 1858, his warehouse fell into the hands of 
John P. Casey, who pursued the same line of business for a term of 
years, when his building along with that of J. H. Bow, went up in 
flames. During all these years the amount of produce and manufac- 
tures shipped from here by canal was large, and the receipts of mer- 
chandise were correspondingly extensive. James ^IcPherson had en- 
gaged in a general mercantile business, Samuel R. ilcCullough in 
tailoring, Benjamin Dayton in cabinet making, ^'an Ness in wagon 
making, O'^Ieara, ^lahar and others in black-smithing, and David 
Tyler in cooperage. It was here that Daniel D. Spencer was the first 
superintendent of the canal, established his headquarters and subse- 
quently resided. Many other families generally in the employment ol 
the state, also resided here, among which might be mentioned Owen 
O'Brien, James Brady, Eugene Sullivan. John Donnelly. Ambrose 
Snyder and others. 

In the winter of 1841 and '42 Mrs. A. J. Abbott taught a select 
school in the house of John Spencer, and the same year Rev. George 
Fridd, a local preacher from Sugarberry, occasionally held service in 
Amos Fowler's assembly room, or upon the river bridge, and Gen. A. 
P. Riley of Rochester, delivered one of his characteristic temperance 
addresses from the canal bridge. Spencerport never was without 
some reputation as a sporting place, and here alcoholic stimulants ever 
found an active market. It would perhaps be no exaggeration to say, 
that the quantity here sold and consumed, would easily have floated 
the largest craft that plied the Genesee Valley Canal in its most palmy 
days. The most tragic occurrence here was the murder at the hands of 
Eugene Sullivan, of his wife Betty, in the winter of 1855, for which 
he served the state fifteen years at Auburn. 



962 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The canal being abandoned in 187S, and upon the completion of the 
Rochester & Genesee Valley Canal Railroad, by a company incor- 
porated the following year, Messrs. Vallance and Lloyd erected a large 
warehouse upon a side track almost exactly where those of Bow and 
Casey had formerly stood, and in which they transacted a lucrative 
business until the winter of 1887 and '88, when it, also along 
with valuable contents was destroyed by fire, and at the same time, 
the old and unoccupied one built by John Spencer in 1841 shared the 
same fate — the first business place erected and the last to go down — 
and thus the last landmark of this once busy little mart was wiped 
out and all that remain to mark the place to-day are three most modest 
dwellings and a still more modest passenger depot to the Western 
New York & Pennsylvania railroad, and the point is designated as 
Fowlerville Station. 



GENESEO. 

Geneseo is third in extent of the towns of Livingston county.' It is 
squarish, but of irregular outline, and the four sides face the four car- 
dinal points of the compass. It is bounded north by Avon, east by 
Livonia and Conesus lake, south by Groveland and west by York and 
Leicester, the western dividing line being the Genesee river. The 
area is 29,937 acres and the population in 1900 was 3613. 

The Genesee flats, half a mile wide, are the rich western belt of the 
town, along which the eastern bluffs slope high in terraces. On the 
east along Conesus lake some of the hills rise almost abruptly several 
hundred feet and others slope gradually. Between these eastern and 
western elevations the surface is generally rolling but furrowed by 
creeks and valleys. Conesus outlet flows toward the river through 
the extreme northeastern corner then bending westerly re-enters the 
town describes a half circle and flows northward again and across the 
boundary. Fall Brook rises in the southeastern part of the town, runs 
westerly and empties into the Genesee near Cuylerville bridge. On 
this stream near the highway between Geneseo village and Mt. Mor- 
ris is a perpendicular fall of nearlj' ninety feet. Jaycox creek rises in 
the northern part, flows westerly, and also empties into the Genesee. 
There are several smaller streams running into river and lake. 

The only village in the town is Geneseo, which in 1900 had a popu- 
lation of 2400. It is located high up on the tableland of the eastern 
side of the Genesee valley, and commands an extensive view of the 
wide valley and hills beyond — a landscape of great beauty. The vil- 
lage has a thrifty look along both the business and resident streets, and 
there are abundant indications of much wealth and refinement. It 
is the county seat, and the principal county building is a court house 
nearly new. It is the location of one of the largest of the state nor- 
mal schools, whose spacious buildings are impressive and suggestive. 
There are five churches, attractive residences, a union school build- 
ing, a building for the Wadsworth library, and the palatial mansions 
of the Wadsworths. The station of the Erie railroad is at the 



9f.4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

foot ot the bluffs, half a mile below the center of the village. 
The site of the village and adjoining lands was called Big Tree by 
the early landholders, and the traditional big oak, near which councils 
were held and the Seneca chiefs signed away nearly all their lands by 
the historic Morris treaty, was close by the present corporation limits. 

Two miles northwest of Geneseo was a little settlement, consisting 
of ten or fifteen families, at the time the county was formed, called 
the Seven Nations. They came there from Lewiston and Buffalo when 
those places were burned by the British in the war of 1S12. The lo- 
cality retains the old name. 

In 17SS-9 Lemuel B. Jennings crossed the wide stretch of country be- 
tween Connecticut and the Genesee Valley, and ended his journey on 
the fiats west of the present village of Geneseo, there to herd and look 
after cattle for Oliver Phelps. He built a small hut on the lower table 
land, lived there a while and then went a mile and a half down the 
river and occupied a large farm. He was the first settler. 

Captain Elisha Noble came from the same state about the same 
time and settled near Jennings. He was respected and industrious, 
and this is nearly all that is now known about him. His brother 
came later, and fiddled himself into the good graces of the settlers for 
many miles around. He is known as "the pioneer fiddler.'" The fa- 
mous interpreter, Captain Horatio Jones, settled in the town on the 
border of the river in 1789, and built a log house. 

Jennings and the Nobles made no significant marks in the wilderness, 
but the next two notable pioneers were instrumental in transforming 
and civilizing it beyond almost all others that settled in the Genesee 
Valley before the close of the eighteenth century. They were brothers 
named James and William Wadsworth, and journeyed thither from 
Durham, Conn., in 179<J, arriving June 10. Their uncle. Col. Jere- 
miah Wadsworth of Hartford, Conn., had visited the valley two years 
before and invested in a part of the reserved Phelps and Gorham pur- 
chase, namely, township six, range nine; part of township eleven, 
range seven, and one-tenth of the tract known as Big Tree. The two 
young nephews, William being twenty-four and James twenty-two, 
were to act as their uncle's agents in disposing of and caring for his 
lands. After they arrived, and before the year 1790 closed, they 
bought jointly 2000 acres of the Big Tree tract at the original cost of 
eight cents an acre, the terms accorded to their uncle Jeremiah as co- 





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Old Picture of Gene^eo Villaffe, Looking North on Main St. Court House In Distance, Wadsworth 
Homestead In Foreground. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY %5 

proprietor, they engaging to undertake the care and sale of the re- 
maining lands. 

Their first log house stood on the first table lands belt.iw the present 
Geneseo village. In 1794 they built a large block house there, and 
started apple and locust nurseries. Two or three hired men had come 
with them, and a slave girl named Jenny, and with their help they had 
brought from the j\Iohawk flats a small herd of cattle, which was the 
start of the great business in live stock "and improvement of breeds 
that has been carried on by the Wadsworths ever since. In 1804 a 
more commodious -house was built on the hill. This was of white oak 
plank, which was sawed on the outlet of Silver lake, now in Wyoming- 
county, where then was the nearest saw mill. The plank were rafted 
down the river, and have done good service enough to pay for all the 
difficulties of getting them. The house was moved many years ago, 
and incorporated in the homestead of the William Wadsworth estate, 
where it is now a part of the splendid mansion and grounds. 

Besides the Wadsworths as settlers in 1890 the following heads of 
families had settled in tqwn before the close of the year: Phineas 
Bates, Daniel Ross, Henry Brown, Enoch Noble, Nicholas Rosecranz, 
David Robb and Nathan Fairbanks. Others who came soon after- 
ward were Benjamin Squier, Joseph W. Lawrence, Daniel Kelley, 
Benjamin Wynn, William Crossett, Rodman Clark, Horatio Jones, 
William, David and Samuel Finley. Nearly all of these men quickly 
constructed log houses. 

A notable early building was the town house on the village square, 
for which the town meeting of 17')7 ordered $200 to be collected and 
paid. The building committee were William Wadsworth, Horatio 
Ewing, John Bosley and JoHn M. Miner. In 1798 the town meeting 
voted that "we are well satisfied" with the town house and the doings 
of the building committee. In 1805 this town house was moved upon 
the hill and repaired by vpluntary subscriptions for a Presbyterian 
meeting house. 

John Bosley, w-ho came to the Genesee valley in 1792 and located 
in the northeast corner of the town, on the Conesus outlet, built there 
the first grist mill and saw mill. The former had four runs of stones. 

To go back to the early settlers who have been named, Lemuel B. 
Jennings purchased a farm of about 400 acres a short distance down 
the river, married, raised a large family and finally divided his farm 



%6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

among his children. He was a quiet, industrious man of herculean 
frame and strength — was so strong, it was said, that he could put up 
a log house alone. 

Captain Horatio Jones was famous as a runner, scout and inter- 
preter. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1763, and in that state was 
taken prisoner by the Senecas in 1779, and suffered great hardships. 
They took him to Nunda,and thence to Caneadea, where he was requir- 
ed to run the gauntlet. Twice he tried to escape and failed, and finally 
at their solicitation adopted their customs, entered into their sports, 
and learned their language. But they kept him in the background in 
their raids against the whites, and he was left behind by their warriors 
when Sullivan's army came to the valley. At the close of the Revo- 
lution General Washington appointed him agent and interpreter for the 
Six Nations, and he was the able interpreter of the speeches and 
remarks at the council and treaty of Big Tree. He returned to the 
valley in 1789, and settled on the border of the river in Geneseo, where 
he died in 1836. 

Benjamin Squier, who came to Geneseo in 1793, settled on a farm of 
400 acres ne.xt to that of Lemuel B. Jennings, and like him, raised a 
large family. 

The pioneer Wadsworths, James and William, whose initial doings 
have been indicated, did not have an easy journey from Connecticut. 
James first went to New York to buy furniture and provisions, and 
William and his men went overland with ox team and cart. The 
brothers met in Albany, James having had his purchases transported 
on the river, and proceeded together to Schenectady, when James took 
to the water again — the crooked Mohawk — with the food and furni- 
ture, and William plodded, with his oxen and Mohawk cattle which 
he procured, over the rough forest roads. They met again in Canan- 
daigua, and soon finished their journey. In the fall, after their log 
house was built, and a good start had been made in clearing and culti- 
vating, all except Jenny became sufferers from fever and ague. This 
disheartened the hired men so much that they went back to Connecti- 
cut, and James followed them for a winter's stay, while William and 
the slave girl remained to take care of things. Afterward there was 
no abatement of energy, and the brothers prospered. Their block 
house gave them better quarters, the fruit trees transplanted from 
their nursery began to bear, farming operations were annually ex- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY %7 

tended, their crops and herds increased, and each year they made new 
and large purchases of lands. !Many of these were leased to incoming 
settlers. They were far-sighted and broad-minded men, and their 
enterprise and energy kept pace with their ideas. They improved the 
breeds of their cattle and sheep and varied their crops to accord with 
local and other market conditions. For a time they kept up a large 
dairy. They cultivated hemp, had it made into ropes, and found a 
market for the ropes in the eastern cities. They raised large crops of 
tobacco, and it was made into plugs in Geneseo, and sold to most of 
the dealers west of Seneca lake. 

In February, 1796, James Wadsworth went to Europe as the repre- 
sentative of prominent men and agencies who desired to sell lands, 
and effected large sales, which brought some wealthy Englishmen to 
America as landholders. But serious financial depressions followed 
the Revolutionary War, which interfered with his success, and for a 
time he was considerably embarrassed, as he was again after the war 
of 1S12. But at last he worked clear of his difficulties, 'and continued 
to prosper until he died in 1844. In 1S04, he had married Naomi 
Wolcott of East Wolcott, Conn., a refined and lovely woman, and two 
sons and two daughters were fruits of the marriage. He died in 1844, 
and his wife in 1831. William remained a bachelor, and became 
interested in military affairs. He started the first drills and trainings 
in the Genesee valley and rose to the rank of major general of militia. 
He offered his services in the battle of Queenstown after General 
Van Rensselaer was wounded, and "acquitted himself with honour," 
says Turner. He probably held the office of supervisor longer than 
anyone else in the country — twenty-one years. He died in 1833. 

E. K. Walsworth has written of William and James Wadsworth: 
"They prospered far beyond their wildest expec:tations, and in a few 
years they were owners of thousands of acres of the best land in the 
state. It was said that at one time they could drive from Geneseo to 
Rochester, a distance of thirty miles, on their own land. Their es- 
tate was at that time the largest and finest in the United States. 
They introduced the best breeds of stock and raised the finest vari- 
eties of fruit and grain, and were probably the largest sheep and wool 
growers in the country, ranking with Gen. Wade Hampton as the 
heads of the agricultural pursuits of this country." 

After James Wadsworth died, his two sons, James S. and William, 



968 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

lived on and managed the csiaic. James S., the older, became the 
most distinguished of the Wadsworth family, and his noble career in 
peace and war are familiar to his neighbors and admirers in the Gen- 
esee vallej-, and has become a not insignificant part of the history of 
the state and nation. He was born October 30, 1807, and was edu- 
cated in the schools of Geneseo and eastern colleges, being awhile in 
Harvard and subsequently a law student in Yale. He was for some 
time in the law office of Daniel Webster in Boston. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1833, but the exacting labor of managing his great estate 
prevented his engaging in legal practice, three-fourths of his father's 
estate, or the part belonging to himself and his sisters, devolving 
wholly upon himself. In 1834 he married Mary Craig Wharton of 
Philadelphia, and in 1836 erected the mansion now occupied by his son 
James. He became a progressive agriculturist, looking after the 
farms of his far-reaching lands with laborious and intelligent circum- 
spection, and availing himself of every practical means available to 
improve their stock, crops and methods of cultivation, and at the 
same time benefit his tenants. He was made the first president 
of the New York State Agricultural Society after its re-organization 
in 1842. He imported choice breeds of stock. He sent a shipload 
of corn to the starving people of Ireland in 1847. He was appointed 
regent of the University in 1844. He was twice a presidential elector 
in 1856 and 1860. He was the republican candidate for governor 
against Horatio Seymour in 1862. The legislature appointed him a 
member of the peace congress which met in Washington in February, 
1861, and he opposed the compromises with the South, then advo- 
cated. He was one of the first to offer his services to the government 
when the Rebellion broke out, and furnished two ships with cargoes of 
military supplies, and sent them to Annapolis for the soldiers who had 
been called there to defend Washington. He was appointed aide to 
General McDowell, and took part in the first battle of Bull Run, 
where he had a horse shot under him. In August, 1861, he was com- 
missioned a brigadier general, and assigned to a command in the 
army of the Potomac. In 1862 he was appointed military governor of 
Washington, and was in command there nine months, when, at his re- 
quest, he was called to active service in the field, and assigned to the 
first division of the first corps, commanded by General Reynolds, with 
which he participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 969 

ville and Gettysburg, and in the last took command of that famous 
fighting corps after General Reynolds was killed. Soon afterward he 
was sent on an important tour of inspection to the Mississippi. In 
18f)4 he was appointed commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, 
but was soon afterward assigned to the command of the fourth divi- 
sion of Warren's corps in the battle of the Wilderness, and in that de- 
structive fighting was mortallj- wounded on May 6th and taken pris- 
oner, dying two days afterward in a rebel hospital. There were few 
more distinguished soldiers in the Union army than General Wads- 
worth, and none who performed his duties more intelligently, faith- 
fully and bravely, and from higher motives of patriotism. 

Captain Craig W. Wadsworth,who was present in a part of the action 
in which General Wadsworth was wounded, gives the following ac- 
count of his father's death : 

"My father and his men crossed the Rapidan on the 4th of May. 
On the evening of the 5th his command was engaged for several hours 
and lost heavily. On the morning of the 6th he was ordered to report 
to General Hancock and by him ordered into another position on the 
right of that corps. My father made several charges with his division 
and finally carried quite an important position, but was unable to hold 
it, the enemy coming down in superior numbers. 

"This was about 8 o'clock in the morning, fighting having com- 
menced at daylight. About this time General Hancock sent for my 
father and told him that he had ordered three brigades to report to 
him, and he wished if possible with the six brigades under his charge 
to carry a certain position. Three or four onsets were made but with- 
out success, the fighting being terrific. My father had two horses 
killed from under him. General Hancock then sent word not to make 
any further attempt to dislodge the enemy at present. This was 
about 11 o'clock a. m. The enemy did not show any further disposi- 
tion t" attack. It was Hill's Corps which my father had been fight- 
ing. Everything remained quiet until about 12 o'clock, when Long- 
street precipitated his corps on my father's left and hurled back Wood's 
brigade at that point in some confusion. My father seeing this, im- 
mediately threw the second line, composed of his own division, for- 
ward, and formed it on the plank road at right angle to the original 
line, the ditch at the side of the road affording his men some protec- 
tion. It was in trying to hold this line with his own gallant division, 



970 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

then reduced to about 1,()00 men, that he fell. His third horse was 
killed that morning about the time he was wounded. The enemy was 
charging at the time and got possession of the ground before my father 
could be removed. He was carried back to one of the rebel hospitals. 
That was on Friday afternoon, and on Sunday morning he died." 

During the last two days of the brave general's life, while a pris- 
oner, he received all the kindness and attention that could be bestowed 
upon him at the hands of the enemy. When he died, a Confederate 
(to whom he had shown kindness while Military Governor of Washing- 
ton) obtained his body, purchased a coffin and had him buried with all 
his clothing just as he fell on the battle- field, in his own burial lot near 
New Hope Meeting House, twenty miles from Fredericksburg. Thus 
alone, far from home and kindred, and in the power of that enemy he 
had sought to subdue, perished one of the bravest of men. 

Sergeant John March carried the flag of truce into the enemy's lines 
and negotiated with Colonel ilosby for the recovery of the body of 
General Wadsworth. Dr. DeWitt Crum, March's companion and tent 
mate, gives the following interesting account of the incident: 

"On the third following day, the 9th, Captain Benjamin Bennett 
with about twenty men were detached from the regiment and with an 
officer from the 57th New York Volunteers and a scout, with an ambu- 
lance, were sent by a circuitous route back towards the Rapidan. 
After a forced march of several hours we found ourselves on the road 
to the battlefield of the 6th inst. , when the whistle of a minie re- 
minded us that we were in the presence of the enemy. 

"The little command quickly halted and Sergeant John March volun- 
teered to proceed up the road and across the open field with a flag of 
truce. The picket (perhaps color blind) did not recognize the flag of 
peace but fired away at the sergeant as he advanced towards them, 
until an officer (evidently alarmed by the firing) came up and at once 
ordered the firing to cease and the Sergeant to halt. Then it was 
found that we were confronted by the world-renowned "Mosby" and 
his command. The officer who first met Mr. March was not inclined 
to receive his mission kindly and even threatened to fire upon the 
little squad. Fortunately, at that juncture General Mosby himself 
rode up and the irate Confederate officer retired. !Mr. ilarch was re- 
ceived with great kindness and upon making his mission known it was 
readily granted. We were allowed to remain within the enemy's lines 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 971 

while the ambulance proceeded up the road on its errand of mercy. 
Our mission was successful, as on the following day the ambulance re- 
turned and, as it passed, both friend and foe bowed their heads and 
raised their caps in respect, knowing that within the curtained ambu- 
lance reposed the lifeless body of one of America's noblest and brav- 
est generals, Jarhes S. Wadsworth. In connection with the above, we 
received a call on Thursday of last week from Captain B. W. Topping, 
of Elmira, who at the battle of the Wilderness was captain of Company 
H of the famous Bucktail regiment ot Pennsylvania. He says they 
had charged several times and been driven back by the raking fire from 
two Confederate batteries, between which the enemy would retreat. 
While resting from one of these repulses, an officer rode up to the re^r 
and asked what regiment it was. Upon being informed, he spurred 
his horse through the ranks to the front and shouted, "Bucktails of 
Pennsylvania follow me." Captain Topping says he had ridden but 
a few rods in advance when he was shot from his horse and was left 
in possession of the ejiemy. The officer was General James S. Wads- 
worth." 

General Wadsworth had three sons and three daughters — Charles, 
Craig and James, Harriet, Nancy and Elizabeth. All of the sons did 
service in the war of the Rebellion, and James,the youngest, has since 
made a distinguished record in public life, first as assemblyman, then 
as state comptroller, and lastly as representative in Congress, to which 
he has been elected for several successive terms. 

Major William H. Sp.encer, who came to the Genesee country in 1S03, 
was induced by James Wadsworth to open a store in Geneseo in 1805. 
He was the first merchant there of any prominence, carried a large 
stock of goods, and was patronized by the pioneers of a large terri- 
tory, doing a barter trade mostly. In the earliest years the products 
he received for goods, such as furs, hemp, tobacco, pork, grain and 
maple sugar, were marketed in Baltimore, being taken in wagons to 
Arkport on the Canisteo and thence by water. He did not discon- 
tinue trade till 1837; then he purchased a fine farm in York on the 
flats, and lived on it till his death in 1851. He was the first post- 
master of Geneseo. Another early merchant, commencing trade in 
Geneseo in 1817, was Charles Colt. He was state senator in 1S4S-51. 

Soon after the war of 1812 Philo C. Fuller, a young New England 
lawyer, established himself in Geneseo by invitation of James Wads- 



'J72 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

worth, and became his confidential clerk. He was the first legal prac- 
titioner in the town, and being a young man of fine traits, well equip- 
ped in law and miscellaneous studies, with the additional advantage 
of a varied experience as school' teacher, clerk and soldier, he made his 
way successfully in the new country. He continued in the employ of 
the Wadsworths until the fall of 1828, when he was elected to the as- 
sembly, and afterward was almost continuously in public life. He 
was re-elected assemblyman, was state senator in 1831-32, and then 
representative in Congress for two terms. In ISjf) he moved to 
Adrian, iMich., and in that state became speaker of the state legisla- 
ture, and was the defeated whig candidate for governor. He returned 
to New York to reside on his farm in Conesus, and in 1850 was ap- 
pointed state comptroller by Governor Washington Hunt. He died in 
1855 on his Conesus farm. He was a deserving, able and trusted 
leader of men, and faithful to all his trusts. 

The pioneer physician of the town was Dr. John P. Gill, who went 
to Dansville in 17'J7, from Dansville to Williamsburgh, and moved 
from Williamsburgh to Geneseo in 1798. Dr. Augustus Wolcott suc- 
ceeded him, coming from Connecticut. James Wadsworth was the 
first resident lawyer, but almost his only professional practice was 
looking after the legal questions involved in the management of his 
own estate, aided by his confidential clerk, the first practitioner, Philo 
C. Fuller. 

Probably the most eminent of the other Geneseo lawyers was John 
Young, who became governor of the state and later United States treas- 
urer. Few men have ever occupied a more prominent position in county 
and state politics than Governor Young, and none more than he earned 
a high and honorable position through personal efforts, unaided by fav- 
oring circumstances. John Young was a native of Vermont, where he 
was born in 1802, but while he was yet in his boyhood his father, 
Thomas Young, removed to the town of Conesus, in this county, 
where he was for some years the keeper of a public-house, and after- 
ward a tiller of the soil. Mr. Young was possessed of more than ordi- 
nary good sense and judgment and was enterprising and persevering 
to a remarkable degree. JNIrs. Young was an amiable woman, of great 
intelligence, and of many virtues, and both she and her husband were 
much respected and esteemed in the community in which they lived. 
The circumstances of the family, however, were humble, and although 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 973 

John was their only son, and they were not inclined to deny him any 
advantages, they were not able to give him the liberaPeducation he 
desired. The boy was given the best education the common schools of 
his town afforded, and self reliant and hopeful, he was sent forth into 
the world with his father's blessing, "to carve out a destiny[for himself. " 
The profession which he early chose for himself was that of the law, 
but his humble circumstances seemed to mterpose almost insurmount- 
able obstacles. "Having once determined on his course, however, no 
obstacles were allowed to interfere with, or to prevent, the accom- 
plishment of his desires. Before him was the goal on which his 
thoughts were fixed; all his energies were directed toward the attain- 
ment of his wishes; and the difficulties that occasionally sprung up in 
his path, only sharpened the zest and increased the eagerness with 
which he prosecuted his preliminary studies."' 

In 1S33 Mr. Young commenced the study of law in the office of 
Augustus A. Bennett, of East Avon. No better opportunity could 
have been desired than this. ^Ir. Bennett was one of the ablest mem- 
bers of the bar in the county, and study under him could not fail to 
be of immense advantage to the young student. While pursuing this 
course ilr. Young, unwilling to burden his father, supported himself 
by teaching school and occasional practice in justice's courts. He 
finished his studies with Ambrose Bennett, of Geneseo, a prominent 
lawyer and politician, and was admitted in 1829 to practice in the 
Supreme Court, having previously been recognized as an attorney of 
the Livingston Common Pleas. Having thus successfully attained 
the object for which he had so long labored, ilr. Young opened an 
office at Geneseo, and entered upon a professional career that was 
highly flattering. "Possessing remarkable shrewdness and persever- 
ance, a thorough knowledge of human nature, good common sense, — 
native talents above mediocrity, developed and invigorated by the ex- 
perience to which the character of a self-made man must always be 
subjected — together with integrity, fidelity and industry, he was well 
fitted to encounter the difficulties and embarrassments incident to a 
professional career, and to achieve the triumphs which await desert 
like that which he exhibited. " Mr. Young took a place in the front 
rank of the legal profession, and retained it through life. A few years 

1 Jenkins' Lives of the Governors. 



974 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

before his election to the office of Governor he formed a partnership 
with General James Wood, which continued until ^Ir. Young's death. 
Mr. Young took an active interest in politics early in life and his 
early associations and education inclining that way, he affiliated with 
the Democratic party. He was afterwards identified with the Anti- 
Masonic party, until it merged into the Whig party, when he became 
an ardent and earnest supporter of the principles of that organization. 
He held several minor town offices, and in 1831, was sent to the assem- 
bly by the Anti-Masons. Here he at once took a high position, and 
acquitted himself creditably on all occasions. In 1836 he was chosen 
Representative in Congress, vice PhiloC. Fuller, resigned, and served 
in the session of lS3f>-37. In 1840 he was again chosen to this office by 
a very large majority, which result was attributed "in a good degree, 
to his own personal exertions in supporting and defending the princi- 
ples and the candidates of his party in Livingston county." In the 
House he was distinguished for his labors on committees, his sagacious 
advice in relation to party policy, and his ardent support of Whig 
principles and measures. 

In 1844 Mr. Young was again called from retirement by his political 
friends and sent to the assembly. His brilliant record there has been 
mentioned in previous pages, and the consequent triumph of the Whigs 
in making him Governor, noted. His administration of the duties of 
this office was marked by public welfare, and executive ability of a 
rare type. His cutting rebuke, "I am Governor," to one who sought 
to influence his action, shows the high motive which governed his 
official conduct. 

In July, 1849, Ex-Governor Young entered upon the duties of 
Assistant United States Treasurer at New York, to which position he 
had been appointed by the new Whig administration, and continued there 
until his death, April 23d, 1852. His health for some years had been 
delicate, and the progress of his disease — consumption — was such that 
for some months his friends were prepared for the final issue of the 
struggle against the insidious marches of this dreaded foe of human 
life. Nevertheless he was himself hopeful, and did not seem to realize 
how near death was. Yet when the last hour came, he sank peacefully 
and trustfull}- into the sleep that knows no waking. 

Mr. Young was married in 1833 to Ellen Harris, daughter of Camp- 




* /lAl/u^' byVL4/l 



'^/ 



HISTORY OF LI\'INGSTON COUNTY 975 

bell Harris of York. His wife and tive children survived him, all of 
whom are still living except Campbell H. Young. 

It is risking little in saying that j\Ir. Young died when only entering 
upon the brightest portion of his life, and that, had he lived, other 
and greater honors would have been showered upon him by an admir- 
ing and trusting people. 

Lockwood L. Doty, who wrote the first history of Livingston coun- 
ty over thirty years ago, was born in Groveland in 1827. He read 
law in the office of John Young in Geneseo, but entering into public 
life did not become an active practitioner. Governor Young gave 
him an appointment in the canal appraiser's office in 1847, and he soon 
became deputy state treasurer under Alvah Hunt, and held the posi- 
tion under three successive state treasurers. 

During Governor Morgan's first term he was chief clerk in the ex- 
ecutive department and in 1861 private secretary of the governor. He 
was appointed consul to Nassau N. P., in 1862, but declined the 
position. Later he was deputy collector of customs in New York 
City, private secretary to Governor Morgan while United States sena- 
tor, and assessor of internal revenue for the sixth district of New 
York City. In the late sixties he was appointed secretary an3 treas- 
urer of the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad Company. His health 
failing, he retired from public life to his Geneseo home and engaged 
in newspaper and historical work. In 1871 he was appointed pension 
agent for New York City, and died while holding that office. 

Perhaps the most notable newspaper man of Geneseo was Samuel P. 
Allen. He was born in Smyrna, N. Y., in 1814, came to Geneseo in 
1830, and became an apprentice in the office of the Livingston Regis- 
ter. After various labors in the printing office, on the farm and in 
school, he started the Livingston Republican in 1837. He sold this in 
1846, purchased an interest in the Rochester Democrat, and for a few 
years was its able chief editor. After he left the Democrat he was 
half owner of the Chenango Telegraph for four years and then returned 
to Geneseo bought back his old paper, the Livingston Republican, and 
kept it until he died. 

The district of Geneseo, set of? by the Court of General Ses- 
sions of Ontario county in 1789, embraced all west of the east line of 
Pittsford, Mendon and Richmond, a line nearly corresponding with 
the prolongation of the east line of the present town of Springwater. 



y7f) HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The first town meeting of this district was held at Canawaiigus April 
5, 1791, when the following officers were chosen : Supervisor, John 
Ganson; clerk, David Bullen; assessors, Nathan Perry, Gad Wads- 
worth, Amos Hall, Israel Stone. William Wadsworth; collector, Ed- 
ward Carney; commissioners of highways, Isaiah Thompson. Benja- 
min Gardner, John Liisk; constables, Jasper Marvin. Norris Hum- 
phrey: fence viewers, "William Rice, John Oelman, Elijah Morton, 
Philemon Hall, Phineas Bates: pound keepers. Darling Havens, 
Nicholas Miller, Henry Brown: pathmasters, Gilbert R. Berry, Clark 
Peck, Gideon Pitts, Lemuel B. Jennings, Joseph Morgan, Chauncey 
Hyde, Aaron Beach, Abner Mighells. 

The supervisors from 17')1 to 1800 in the order of service were John 
Ganson, Thomas Lee, Amos Hall, Solomon Hovey and William Wads- 
worth. The town clerks in like order were David Bullen, Theodore 
Shepard, John Davis, Nathaniel Naramor and John M. iliner. 

Some of the proceedings of the early town meetings are suggestive. 
In 1791 it was voted that swine might run at large if sufficiently 
yoked. In 1792 it was voted to allow a bounty of four dollars for 
every wolf killed in the district, and at an adjourned meeting in April 
the bounty was raised to five dollars. In 1793 four tavern licenses and 
thirteen retailer's licenses at two pounds each were granted by the 
commissioners of excise. In those early years the town taxed dogs 
"over one in each family," and the highway overseers were instructed 
to destroy Canada thistles, burdocks and other no.xious weeds. 

Lockwood L. Duty's history says: "In 1813 there were not more 
than thirty houses in the village. Main street. North and South 
streets were located about where they are now. Two considerable 
gullies crossed JIain street; the one nearly opposite Concert hall, the 
other just south of the machine shop. The road leading down the 
hill near the court house, instead of running at right angles with Main 
street, bore to the northwest in the direction of Shackleton's ferry, 
which crossed the river where the bridge now stands. The bridges on 
Main street across the gullies were merely of a temporary character, 
and neither convenient nor safe. When Colonel, afterward General, 
Winfield Scott marched his regiment through the village in 1813, they 
came down South street and through Main street to a lane running 
east, up which they marched to the lot now occupied by Mrs. C. H. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 977 

Bryan's residence, where they encamped. There was then no Center 
or Second street." 

The earliest settlers were mostly from Connecticut, the former home 
of the pioneer Wadsworths. Later many came from Pennsylvania, 
following the road opened by Captain AVilliamson. These were mostly 
Presbyterian families, descendants of the Scotch-Irish, with Calvinism 
ingrained by heredity and education. Hence it was natural that the 
first religious society in the town should be Presbyterian. A Presby- 
terian church was organized as early as 1795, by Rev. Samuel 
Thatcher, and its first elders were Daniel Kelly, James Haynes and 
John Ewart. For a number of years the meetings were held in priv- 
ate houses, and when the first town house was built they were held in 
that. In 1810 a Congregational society was organized. It continued 
until 1834 when it was changed to Presbyterian. The "Geneseo Gos- 
pel Society," identified with the organization of 1795 was 
incorporated in 1815, with the following trustees: Joseph W. Law- 
rence, Samuel Finley, Isaac Smith, 'William H. Spencer, Samuel 
Loomis and Timothy P. Kneeland. The records of these three 
societies are a little mixed, but Duty's history of the last says: "One 
of their [the trustees] first acts was the raising of forty dollars to re- 
pair the town house. In 1816 Mr. Wadsworth deeded to the Geneseo 
Gospel Society the one hundred acres of land they now own, two miles 
southeast of the village. This was in accordance with a promise made 
by several of the large land owners of cessions of land to the first reg- 
ularly incorporated religious societies which should be organized in 
the several towns. The first pastor was the Rev. Abraham Fore- 
man, who was installed July 12. 1817, and a meeting house was partly 
constructed the same year." 

In 1858 there was a division among the Geneseo Presbyterians on 
the old and new school question, and the Central Presbyterian church 
was formed by the old school members. After a separation of twenty- 
one years the two factions reunited in 18811. 

Geneseo Academy was incorporated in 1827, and about 1830 its 
buildings were erected. Norman Seymour of Mt. ]\Iorris wrote: 
"Among the educational institutions that existed in Western New 
York between the years of 1828 and 1870 none took higher rank than 
the one situated, at Temple Hill, Geneseo." The grounds, donated by 
James Wadsworth in 1826, were delightfully situated (jn an elevation 



978 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



overlooking the valley arnJ well shaded with fine forest trees. 
The institution was first called Livingston County High School, 
then Temple Hill Academy, and in 1858 became Geneseo Aca- 
demy, and was placed under the care of the Synod of Buffalo, but not 
made sectarian. Its only religious requirements were that the Bible 
should be read at morning and evening worship, and that the students 
should attend some church on Sundays. Its first principal was one 
of the most eminent Greek scholars and authors of America, C. E. 
Felton, long professor of Greek in and president of Harvard Univer- 




sity. Another principal was Hon. Samuel Treat, who became an emi- 
nent jurist and United States judge. Another was Robinson, whose 
mathematical text books were celebrated and widely adojited. An- 
other was Rev. D. D. McColl, a pulpit orator of note. Another was 
the Rev. James H. Nichols, with his wife as preceptress, distinguished 
educators. These and other principals and assistants constituted a 
succession of educators who have hardly been equaled in any similar 
institution in the state. And many of its numerous pupils became 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 979 

distinguished in different walks of life. The pupils came from more 
than a dozen states, from Canada and the Sand^vich Islands, from Japan 
and from almost every county in New York; as many as four hundred 
pupils were registered in Temple Academy in a single term. Between 
the years 1851-57 inclusive there were 2000 pupils in attendance, 
averaging eighteen years of age. Its prosperity continued until the 
State Normal school was established in Geneseo, in 1871, when so many 
pupils were drawn thither, that they dwindled in the old academy, 
and in 1872 it was abandoned. 

It was a stroke of vigorous local enterprise which brought the State 
Normal and Training School to Geneseo. The men most prominent 
in taking the initiative were William A. Brodic, Col. Craig W. Wads- 
worth and Col. John Rorbach, and among the more active co-oper- 
ators, named by Col. Rorbach in his historical address on the 25th 
anniversary of the institution, were Judge Hubbard, A. J. Abbott, 
Gen. Wood. Col. Strang, Dr. Bissell, Dr. W. E. Lauderdale, L. L. 
Doty, Charles F. and James W. Wadsworth, James S. Orton, Rev. J. 
P. Folsom, J. B. Adams, Nelson Janes, Charles F. Doty, T. F. Olm- 
sted and John O. Vanderbelt. In April, 1866, the leigslature au- 
thorized the establishment of five more normal schools. Leading men 
of Geneseo had begun to see that changing conditions in relation to 
the schools of the state were likely to end the prosperity of their fa- 
mous academy on Temple Hill, and concluded that the desirable sub- 
stitute was one of those state normal schools. The subject was agi- 
tated, and at a special village meeting on August 13, 1866, the trus- 
tees were authorized to offer the Normal School Commissioners 
$45,000 and a suitable site for the location of a normal school in Gen- 
eseo. The offer was afterward increased to $50,000; and at town 
meeting held September 24, 1867, a resolution was adopted bonding 
the town for $45,000. The committee chosen to present the offer to 
the Normal Commissioners were Col. Craig W. Wadsworth, Hon. Lock- 
wood L. Doty, Hon. Wm. H. Kelsey, Hon. John Jacob A. Mead and 
Gen. James Wood. Their strenuous efforts, however, were defeated 
by representatives of Brockport, which, through (Jen. Martindale, 
then Attorney General, had the stronger "pull." Defeated but 
not disheartened, and stimulated by encouraging words from 
Colonel Doty, then in Albany, the citizens made another effort, 
and succeeded in inducing the legislature to pass a special act which 



980 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

gave them the school. By this act of March 2*>, 1867, the electors 
of the town of Geneseo were authorized to vote upon the question of 
contributing a sum not exceeding $100,000 to aid in the erection and 
furnishing of the proposed school. The financial action necessary to 
secure the school was in due time taken by the village and the supervi- 
sors of the town, and John Rorbach, Lockwood L. Doty and Craig W. 
Wadsworth were apppointed a committee to procure the ground and 
erect the bulding. Colonel Doty's removal from (Jeneseo compelled 
him to resign and James S. Orton was selected to fill the vacancy. 
The town of Geneseo contributed the sum of $45,000 and 
the village of Geneseo $15,000 in aid of the enterprise, and 
the Wadsworth family contributed $10,000 more. The name first 
applied to the institution was the Wadsworth Normal and Training 
School, which was afterward changed to the Geneseo Normal and 
Training School. It was opened Sept. 13, 1871, with William J. 
Milne as principal; he was its able head until October, 188"i, when, 
having been chosen principal of the Albany Normal College, he was 
succeeded by his brother, John M. Milne, who was promoted to the 
position from the professorship of Greek and Latin. He proved a 
worthy successor of his brother, and his death in February, 1905, was 
a loss to the school and the cause of education which is widely felt. 
Since the inception of the school, nearly thirty-five years ago, it has 
been aided by several appropriations from the legislature, and its 
buildings and grounds have been much extended and improved. It is 
classed as one of the largest and most successful normal schools of the 
state. 

It was the beneficence of the first James Wadsworth that provided 
Geneseo with its large and excellent library, which now contains about 
15,000 volumes. A brick building was erected in 1843, and lands were 
deeded in trust for the maintenance of the library, some of which are 
village lots, and two are farms containing respectively 153 and 115 
acres. On account of lapses and reversions the Wadsworth heirs re- 
deeded the property to new trustees in 1869. They had previously, 
in 1867, erected a new and larger brick building for the library, at a 
cost of $12,000. The library Is free to all the inhabitants of the county. 
It may be stated in this connection that it was through the strenuous 
efforts and great influence of James Wadsworth with the legislature In 
1S38 that district school libraries were established throughout the state. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 981 

The great elm of Avon was almost matched by the great white oak 
of Geneseo, which stood on the bank of the river a little south of the 
old Wadsworth boarding house. Its trunk was about ten feet in diam- 
eter, and it had a wide-spreading magnificent top. Its age was esti- 
mated to be 700 years. Many years ago it was undermined by water, 
and fell into the river. The gigantic trunk was sawed into sections, 
some of which are still to be seen at the General Wadsworth home-- 
stead, and one was taken by Mr. Letchworth to Glen Iris. 

The village of Geneseo was incorporated April 21, 1832, and the 
first village meeting was held June 4 in that year, when the follow- 
ing officers were elected: Trustees, Allen Ayrault, William H. Spen- 
cer, Calvin H. Bryan, Charles Colt, Owen P. Olmsted; assessors, 
Samuel F. Butler, Gurdon Nowlen, Chauncey Metcalf; clerk, Tru- 
man Hastings; treasurer, William H. Stanley; collector, Joseph W. 
Lawrence; fire wardens, Horace Alpin, Joseph W. Lawrence, Jr., 
Russell Austin, Elias P. Metcalf, John F. Wyman. At a meeting of 
the trustees, Owen P. Olmsted was chosen president; Philo C. Fuller, 
Calvin H. Bryan and Truman Hastings, a board of health ; Dr. Eli 
Hill, health officer; Truman Hastings, attorney. 

A census of Geneseo was taken in 1790 by General Amos Hall, of 
Bloomfield, which gives it eight families with forty-three persons; 
while in 1805 twelve dwellings were reported. In 1810 the population 
of the town was 894, in 148 families, but the village had not developed 
sufficient importance to be mentioned in Spofford's Gazetteer of 1813. 
Yet it was the market town for this section of the country. Allen 
Ayrault writes in 1817 that "roads and bridges are not much between 
Geneseo and Moscow. The ice in winter and a rope in summer are 
the only ways to cross the Genesee river." In 1820 the population of 
the town is given as 1598. There were then "351 farmers, eleven 
traders, seventy mechanics, three foreigners and eight free blacks." 
Ten years before there were six school houses, now there were twelve. 
There were 6,286 acres of improved land, 1,508 cattle, 367 horses, 
3,083 sheep. 

In 1830 the village of Geneseo contained a population of 500. The 
buildings numbered ninety-six, public and private. Upwards of 300,- 
000 bushels of wheat and other grain, 500 barrels of pork and 100,000 
pounds of wool were purchased here annually. The only means, of 



982 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

transport were wagons, or by flat-bottomed boats down llic Genesee 
river to Rochester. 

There were six combined dry goods and grocery stores, one drug 
store, one large grocery store, two saloons, two harness shops, two hat 
shops, two stove shops, one jewelry store, two book stores, two printing 
offices, one hardware store, two millinery shops, two cabinet shops, 
three tailor shops, one wagon shop, one chair factory, one bank, four 
blacksmith shops, four hotels, one livery stable and one meat market. 

There were three churches, the Presbyterian built in 1S17, the 
Methodist built in 1826, and the lipiscopal built in 1828. The clergy- 
men were Rev. Norris Bull, Mr. Byard and Mr. House. 

The professional and business men were as follows: 

Lawyers — H. D. Mason, John Young, Calvin II. Hryan, Truman 
Hastings, Ogden Willey and Ambrose Bennett. 

Physicians— Eli Hill, Cyrus Wells and Elias P. Metcalf. 

Merchants — Andrew Stewart, C. R. Vance, Chauncev Metcalf, E. 
M. Buell, Owen P. Olmsted, R. VanRensselaer and Henry P. North. 

Druggists— Dr. Eli Hill. 

Grocer — John F. Wyman. 

Harness makers — ^Jacob B.Hall and C. Ilealh. 

Hatters — Elijah H. Perkins and Oliver S[jaiding. 

Shoemakers — Horace Alpin and Walter Smith. 

Tailors — Henry Thompson, Andrew Stillwell and Samuel Thom|)son. 

Wagon maker — Cecil Clark. 

Blacksmiths — Chauncey Parsons, Joseph W. Lawrence, Jr., Jos- 
eph P. Sharp and Benjamin Tucker. 

Cabinet makers--vSamuel Gardner and J. F. Butler. 

Chairmaker and painter — Moses Hunt. 

Carpenters — Cyrus L. Warner and Frederick W. Butler. 

Stone Masons — Medad Curtiss, Grandison Curtiss and Calvin 
Church. 

Plough Makers — Colt and Nowlen and Len Goddard. 

Livery — Harry Metcalf. 

Hotel Keeper — Comfort and Hamilton kept the American; John 
Fitz, the Geneseo Hotel, Jesse P. Button, the Eagle, and Chauncey 
Watson, the Farmer's Inn. 

The Livingston County Bank was incorporated in 182':* and its 
officers were Allen Ayrault, President; Watts Sherman, Cashier; 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 983 

Ephraim Cone, Teller. The office was in the upper story of the build- 
ing now occupied by F. W. Hollowell as a saloon on the east side of 
Main street. In the year 1.S31 it was removed to the building erected 
for the [uirpose and now used as the post office. 

In 1835 there were in the village eighty-three families comprising 
736 people. There were then but three streets running north and 
south, viz: Main, Second and Temple Hill; and South, Center and 
North running east and west. 

In the Genesee valley in 1804 grain was often put into the ground 
without plowing, being dragged in by a harrow. Yet this cultivation 
often yielded twenty bushels of wheat to the acre. Many of the inhab- 
itants made from 500 to 1,000 pounds of maple sugar here in a season. 

Deer weighing 500 pounds were shot here; and hunting parties to 
destroy squirrels were formed, which killed as many as 2,000 in one 
day. 

The earliest merchants ot the village were Minor & Hall. Mr. Hall 
died in 1805 at Oneida Castle, while on his way to New York to pur- 
chase goods. The pioneer physician was Dr. [ohn P. Sill, who came 
here in 1798. He died here in 1808. Dr. Chauncey M. Dake, the first 
homeopathist, located here in 1848. 

The first postoffice was established in Geneseo in 1806. Major 
William H. Spencer was the first postmaster. Postal facilities were 
then very few. As far back as 1792 private enterprise had accommo- 
dated the people in some measure. But when mail was received once 
in two weeks it was considered ample. It was not until 1825 that 
Geneseo enjoyed a daily mail. 

The first practicing lawyer of Geneseo was James Wadsworth. 
He was admitted as attorney and counsellor in 1791, by Oliver 
Phelps, the First Judge of Ontario county, "to enable persons to sue 
out writs and bring actions, which, at the present, for want of attor- 
neys, it is impossible to do." The first regular practitioner is said to 
have been Philo C. Fuller. 

An event of the village worthy of record was the purchase by 
W. W. Wadsworth on March 27th, 1845, of the famous stallion 
"Henry Clay." He was bought of G. M. Patchen for $1,050, and as 
his weight was 1,050 pounds he cost one dollar per pound. He was 
paid for in gold. He was sold on January, 13th, 1852, to N. Thompson 
for $550. In 1854 the foundation of a herd of short horn cattle was 



084 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

laid by the Wadswortlis, which became one of the celebrated herds of 
the State. 

Geneseo village has been preserved from many or large fires; partly 
owing to its efficient fire department. Probably the most disastrous 
fire was that of January 6, 1S(A, when the losses amounted to ^13,000 
in the l)usiness part of the village, on Main street, and a score of 
tradesmen and professional men were sufferers. 

The following is a newspaper account of that fire: 

Geneseo, ever noted for e.\emption from the ravages of the devour- 
ing element, since Big Tree held his Indian councils, and the pale face 
entered his dominions, was visited by a destructive conflagration on 
Wednesday evening, 6th, consuming the entire blocks and range of 
wooden buildings, and the Ayrault store, on Main, opposite Centre 
street, comprising the Ayrault store. Arcade offices, Daguerrean block. 
Hunt's block, and the Howard building. ' The Stillweil building was 
also torn down. Mr. N. W. Rose removed his goods, but his fine 
brick store was saved, scorched but without much injury. 

The fire originated about 9:30 p. m., in Mrs. Moody's millinery es- 
tablishment, caused by burning shavings and heating a stove pipe. 
The weather was cold, with a light northwest wind, but the time in 
the evening was favorable for the removal and saving of property. 
The water works were out of order in the vicinity, but the two en- 
gines and their men, were in good condition and worked efficiently. 
Mr. Wagstaff, the architect upon H. L. Johnson, Esq's, new house, 
rendered great assistance. 

The buildings burnt measure about 250 feet front. The streets 
Thursday morning were incumbered with goods. 

The following are the sufferers: — 

Isaac Newton, dry goods, etc., stock removed, with loss estimated 
about $500 — insured. 

Wm. Walker, Banking Office, his safe in the ruins — slight loss. 

Mrs. Bristol, milliner, total loss !)i;400. 

J. R. Park, grocery, loss about $800. 

Win. Champ, daguerrean, loss $300. 

Miss Hardy, milliner, stock mostly saved, loss about $200. 

Shelly, restaurant, $100. 

Hendee & Adams, attorneys, $50. 

G. J. Davis, attorney, $100. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 985 

W. H. Kelsey, attorney, $50. 

Miss Vickers, dress maker. 

Josiah Thatcher, dwelling house, $200. 

J. O. Vanderbelt, harness store, $60. 

Howard & Burt, grocers, stock removed, $500 — insured. 

W. V. Ranger, daguerrean, considerable. 

A. Stillwell, building unoccupied, slight. 

N. W. Rose, at whose brick building the fire was got under control, 
removed his goods with slight loss. 

The buildings destroyed were owned as follows: 

Ayrault estate, $2,500 — not insured. 

J. D. Crank, daguerrean block, $1,500. 

J. Thatcher, Hunt block, $3,000— insured. 

A. Howard. $1,000. 

A. Stillwell $200. 

The lots are the most valuable and eligible in the village. 

It is estimated that the loss of personal property will approximate 
about $3,500. On buildings, $8,200. 

Parties known to be insured we have reported. 

The citizens and firemen worked nobly, doing all in their power to 
subdue the devouring element. The ladies, especially, all honor to 
them, were heroic and worked gallantly at the brakes and in the sav- 
ing of property. About two o'clock, after over four hours of inces- 
sant and exciting labor, the citizens retired, leaving nought but bare 
walls and smoking embers to mark the spot which but yesterday was 
occupied by some of the most successful business men of Geneseo. 

Geneseo was supplied with water between 1845 and 1887 from springs 
in the east part of the village at an altitude of 104 feet above Main 
street. In 1887 a new system was constructed at a cost of about 
$95,000 all told, the original outlay being $70,000. The water was 
brought from Conesus lake, and a reservoir for it, which holds l,50ii,- 
000 gallons was built two miles from the village. Into this the water 
is pumped from the lake through an eight-inch main. The reservoir 
is about 200 feet above the village and gives a pressure of ninety 
pounds to the square inch on Main street. A very thorough system 
of public sewerage has been constructed for the village at a cost of 
about $20,000. 

It is known that Geneseo, apart from the more distinguished sol- 



986 



HISTURY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



diers which she furnished, did her share in the war of 1812 and the 
war of the Rebellion, but the records have not been carefully preserved. 

The list of the supervisors of the town of Geneseo is as follows: 



John Ganson 1791 

Tliouias Lee 1792 

A 111 OS Ha 1 1 1 793 -94-95 

Solomon Hovey '79^ 

Wm. Wads wort h 

1 797-98-99- 1800- 1-2-3-4-6-7-8-9- 10 

ii-i3-i4-i5-i6-i7-:8-i9 

James Sliearer 1805 

Josepli \V. Lawrence 1S12 

Will. l'"iiiley 1820-22-23-24-25-26 

Wm. H. Spencer 1821-27 

Eben N. Buell 1828-29-30 

John Youns 1831 

Russell .\ustin 1832-33 

Chauncev Melcalf < '834-35 

Charles Colt 1836-37 

Gurdon Nowlen 1838 

Frederick W. Butler 1839-40 

Allen Ayranlt 1841-42 

Ambrose Wortliiii.i.cion 1S43-44 



Chauncey R. Bond 1845-46-53-54-55 

Daniel H. Bisst-11 1847-48-52 

Charles R. Vance 1849-50-51 

James T. Hall 1850 

Walter E. Lauderdale 

1857-58-59-60-61-62-63-64 

Amos A. Hendee 1865-66 

C. W. Wadsworth 1867-68 

Nelson Janes 1S69 

Andrew J. Willard 1870-79-80 

Charles F. Doty 1871-72 

James W. Wadsworth 1873-74 75 

John R. Strang 1876-77-85-S6 

Russell A. Kneeland 1878 

Wm. A. Wad-worth 1881-82-83 

Kidder M. ScoU 1S84 

Ricliard A. Riley 1887-88 

(Itto Kelsey 1889-90-91-92-93 

Richard M. Jones 1894-95-90-97-98 

Lockwood R. Doty 1899-00-1- -3-4 



Assessment valuations and tax rates have been as follows: 



i860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 



Assessed 
Valuation 



1,802,713 
1,896,540 

1,813,439 
1,592.410 
1,673-518 
1,676,338 
1,701,213 
1,764,438 
1,696,052 
1,733,326 
1,750,654 
1,559,572 
1,500,156 
1,521,692 
2,770,203 



.Tax Rate 




1 on $1000 




6.27 


187s 


6.47 


1876 


9.40 


1877 


12.12 


1878 


18.20 


1879 


35.30 


1880 


28.60 


1881 


22.18 


1882 


19.07 


1883 


12.73 


1884 


16.60 


1885 


15.27 


1 886 


19.31 


1 887 


16.66 


1888 


10.57 


1889 



Assessed 


Tax Rate 


Valuation 


ou $1000 I 


2.784,586 


10.15 


2,624.478 


8.08 


2,602,280 


11.74 


2, 59". 512 


5.19 


2,499,194 


6.62 


2.487.837 


5.70 


2,635,602 


4.46 


2.793,867 




3,035,594 


5.06 


3,129,360 


4.65 


3,051,424 


4.53 


3.154,158 


5-43 


3,160,973 


5 04 


3.537,983 


4.81 


3,408,160 


6. II 



1890 

I89I 
1892 

1893 
1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 
1899 

1900 
I90I 
1902 

1903 



Assessed 
ValiK^ition 



3,525,271 
3,586,200 
3,469,110 

3.499.219 
3,321,67s 
3.432,879 
3.380,311 
3.481,313 
3.453.438 
3,434,880 
3.521.219 
3,492,709 

3.499.017 
3.512,105 



Tax Rate 
ou $ioco 

6.43 
4.39 
5.63 

4.89 

5-53 
6.06 
5.08 
5-33 
5.71 
5.56 
4.61 
2.99 
3-24 



The original Temple Hill cemetery embraced three acres and four 
perches, and was deeded by James and William Wadsworth on the 9th 
of October, 1807, to the people of the town without charge, the con- 
sideration named being "good will" to the people of Geneseo. Cephas 
Beach, David Kneeland, Daniel Kelly, Joseph W. Lawrence, Simeon 
Sage, Lemuel B. Jennings, Abraham B. Di;ffenbacher and Ariel S. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 'J87 

Lindsley were named as trustees, and they were to enclose it as "a 
burying ground for the inhabitants of Geneseo and for such other 
persons whose friends may request their interments in said burying 
ground, and also, if the said trustees think proper, as a pasture for 
sheep, but for no other animals." The trustees were "to cause a sur- 
vey into small allotments, reserving a space one rod wide to extend 
through the middle of and parallel with the west line, and a space 
twelve feet wide on each side to be used for passage." They were to 
"deliver to each family a certificate or release of one of the allotments 
for its exclusive use," and an allotment made for strangers, and a rec- 
ord of all to be kept. 

There is every appearance that persons were buried upon this 
plot before it was formally deeded to the trustees above named; and 
it is also believed that interments were made in the vicinity and upon 
ground now devoted to other purposes. If so, there are no monuments 
or even mounds by which the locality of graves can be determined. 

The first addition to the original lot was made in 185S, when the late 
Gen. James S. Wadsworth purchased two acres of the Foreman 
estate, for which he paid four hundred dollars. He also incurred an 
expense of $437. (>() for surveying, fencing and grading and from this 
purchase sold lots, the sums realized being credited to the fund. On 
the organization of the association a deed was given to the trus- 
tees by General Wadsworth, they assuming the balance unpaid for the 
sale of lots. 

The next addition was made by the purchase of three and one half 
acres from Mr. W. A. Foreman. Another addition of three acres has 
since been made, and thirty feet added to the west side. The south 
fence has also been moved toward the road, in order to make room for 
a passage on that side without intruding upon thegraves. The whole, 
therefore, must make a lot of a little over twelve acres. A gateway 
and lodge were constructed at the west entrance of the cemetery and 
other improvements made in 1873 at an expense of $6,000. 

In 1866 William McBride was appointed superintendent and under 
his management new walks were made in the old part, where it was 
practicable. The new association was organized December 1, 1865, and 
deeds for all the grounds given from the old to the new trustees. 

On the Wadsworth lot is the grave of Mrs. Esther Wadsworth, who 
died October 6, 1799, aged si.xty-seven years; she was the mother of 



988 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

the pioneers, James and William Wadsworth, and the monument at 
her grave bears record of the death of the father at Durham, Conn., 
in 1787, at the age of fifty-five. Others buried here are: Major 
General William Wadsworth, who died March 8, 1S33, aged seventy- 
two years; James ^Vadsworth, who died June 7, 1844 aged seventy-six 
years; Mrs. Naomi Wadsworth, wife of the last named, who died 
March 1, 1831, aged fifty-four years; William W. Wadsworth, who 
died July 21, 1852, aged forty-two years; Livingston, son of the latter 
who died in 1865, and Mrs. William W. Wadsworth, who died in 1885; 
Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth, who was mortally wounded 
in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 18()4, and died two days later 
in the enemy's hands aged fifty-si.x years; Mrs. General James S. 
Wadsworth, who died in June, 1874; Major Montgomery Ritciiie; 
son-in-law of General James S. Wr\dsworth, who died November 7, 
1864, from disease contracted in the military service of the United 
States; Brevet Brigadier General Craig W. Wadsworth, U. S. Vols, 
who died January 1, 1872, aged thirty-one years; Mrs. Craig W. 
Wadsworth, who died January 27, 1886; and Charles F. Wadsworth, 
Brevet Major U. S. Vols., who died November 13, 18')9. 

Just south of the Wadsworth enclosure is the grave of Hon. (Calvin 
H. Bryan, who died May 27, 1863, and was long identified with the 
courts and bar of this county; and east of the same grounds is the lot 
of Dr. Bissell, w-here himself, his wife and several children are buried. 
A little further south and east is the beautiful monument of 
Governor John Young, who died April 23, 1852, aged forty-eight. 
His wife is buried by his side. His father and mother, who resided 
and died in Conesus, are buried in the same lot, the former having 
died in 1855, and the latter in 1865. Not far from this is the 
grave of Hon. Philo C. Fuller, who died in 1855, aged si.xty-eight. 
Upon the same lot is the grave of Mrs. Fuller and of her father Asa 
Nowlen, who died in 1813, and of her brother. Major Gurdon Nowlen. 

The following is an extract from the journal of Bishop Frederick 
Cammerhoff of 1750, relating to a visit to Geneseo, called by him 
Zonesschio, an Indian village then located south of the present village 
of Geneseo: 

Bishop F'rederick Cammerhoff and David Zeisberger visited 
Onondaga in 1750, and went to the Genesee valley while w-aiting for 
their answer from the grand council. Leaving Honeoye July 1, they 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 989 

said: "We crossed a creek named Nochuta (meaning /irm/oc^^), flow- 
ing from a lake of the same name, surrounded by high mountains. 
After progressing a little farther we crossed another creek and rested. 
* * * Having been refreshed by our rest we made considerable progress 
on our vvay, and reached another lake, named Ohegechrage (Conesus 
lake), going some distance along its shores. We were obliged to ford 
it at its outlet, where it is very deep." 

The next morning they were at Zonesschio, or Geneseo. This name 
was used farther south than now. "The village consists of 40 or 
more large huts and lies in a beautiful and pleasant region. A line 
large plain, several liiiles in length and breadth, stretches out behind 
the village. The river Zonesschio, from which the town derives its 
name, flows through it." 

The Indians were mostly drunk and disorderly, but they found two 
chiefs whom they had met before, and who greeted them warmly. 
One was Garontianechqui, meaning f/ie horse, and the other was 
Hagaskae. Business was out of the question and their lives were in 
peril. The chief's wife placed them in her garret, and gave them a 
guard. It was hot, and Caramerhoff was sick. Zeisberger went to 
get him water from some distance. Twice he was interrupted, but 
tried it again in the evening, when he was attacked by drunken 
women. "Some of them were nude, and others nearly so. In order 
to drive them away he was obliged to use his fists, and deal out blows 
to the right and left. He climbed up a ladder, but when he had 
scarcely reached the top they seized it and tore it from under his feet, 
but he gained our retreat in safety." 

This was their second night there. July 4 they left very early in 
the morning, and got out of the upper story. "David was obliged to 
jump out of the opening, and search for the ladder, which the Indians 
had removed. We then wished to throw out our packs, but David's 
was so large that he found it necessary to open it, and cast down its 
contents singly." All was still. "Even the dogs, numbering nearly 
100 in the whole village, were all quiet, wonderful to relate, and not a 
sound was heard. A dense fog covered the town so that we could not 
see 20 steps before us. A squaw stood at the door of the last hut, but 
she was sober and returned our greeting quietly. * * * Our feelings 
on climbing the hill on which the town lies can be more easily 



990 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

t 

imagined than described. * * * David and I will certainly 
never, as long as we live, forget our sojourn in Zonesschio. " 

They "reached Lake Ohegechrage, went through the creek, and made 
a fire to prepare some food, for we were very hungry. David boiled 
some Cittamun in water, as we had nothing else. With this we re- 
freshed ourselves, and rested ourselves after our trials. * * * At 
noon we reached Lake Nochuta, encamped there on account of the 
great heat, and refreshed ourselves with Cittamun, and cold water 
from a brook."' In the evening they were at Honeoye. 

GENESEO CHURCHES. 

The first religious service? in this town, it is believed, were con- 
ducted by missionaries sent out by the Missionary Society of Connec- 
ticut, the first of whom. Rev. Aaron Kinne, penetrated the wilderness 
of Western New York as tar as the Genesee river in 1794 and preached 
to the scattered settlements in the valley. The first settlers in the 
eastern part of the town were persons of Scotch-Irish descent from 
Pennsylvania, with strong Calvinistic sentiments, and warmly attached 
to the Presbyterian form of Government. Among these principally, 
though its members were drawn from the entire town, was organized 
in the fall of 1795, by Rev. Samuel Thatcher,' a missionary in the 
employment of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, 
"The First Presbyterian Church in Geneseo," which was, with the 
exception of the one organized by the same agency the same year at 
Charlestown (Lima), the first in this county. The organization was 
effected at the house of John Ewart, who, in conjunction with Daniel 
Kelly and James Ilaynes, all from the same neighborhood in Penn- 
sylvania, were the first Elders. 

The Church first met in private houses, at Mr. Ewart's, at a house 
near Bosley's mills, and at what was afterwards known as the I'ield's 
farm, on the lower road to Dansville. "To these widely separated 
places would those settlers walk, men, women and children, through 
the woods and along Indian trails, for the privilege of meeting their 

I. Kev. John Mitchtrll in a Cciitrmii.sl Discourse, conlaininjr the history of the First Presbyterian 
church of C.eiieseo during its first eiKhty-ont- years, and Rev, Georjje P. p'olsom, I). I),, in a Histor- 
ical IJiscotirse on the fiftieth anniversary of the iledicatiou of the -'<1 Presbyterian cluirch of 
fienesco, make this name Samuel Thatcher; while Hotchkiii and other authorities consulted give 
tlie name Daniel Thatcher, 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 991 

neighbors in the worship of God."' After the "town house" was 
erected in 1797, they worshiped occasionally in it. 

The church, says Hotchkin, "was for a number of years in a low 
state, and for most of the time destitute of the preaching of the gos- 
pel and living in the neglect of stated public worship; but it after- 
wards revived, and its circumstances were more prosperous."'- Its 
first pastor, Rev. John Lindsley, was installed by the Presbytery of 
Geneva, Jan. 29, 1806. Soon after its organization other settlers, who 
were Congregationalists, mostly from New England, came in, and 
though they worshiped with the Presbyterians for a few years, they 
could not harmonize, and a separation took place in 1810. The Pres- 
byterians then removed their place of worship to the east part of the 
town, meeting in the school-house in winter, and frequently in sum- 
mer in Benjamin Wynn's barn. In 1843, their first house of worship 
was erected, and the old building is still standing opposite its former 
site, though converted to other uses. In 1855, the present church 
edifice was undertaken, and for convenience of access, was located 
just over the town line, in the village of Lakeville. During the first 
thirty years the progress of the Church was slow, for in 1825 the num- 
ber of communicants on the roll was only thirty-two; in 1836 the 
number had increased to 155, and in 1846, to 180. In IS()4 the num- 
ber was 140. Since that time the number has somewhat decreased 
through deaths and removals, yet there have been some members 
added to the church every year.' The church still retains its 
original name, notwithstanding its removal to the town of Livonia. 

THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GENESEO 
was organized May 5, 1810, by Rev. Daniel Oliver, a missionary of the 
Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, and was composed of twenty- 
one persons, who being mostly Congregationalists, severed their con- 
nection with the First Presbyterian Church in Geneseo, because they 
could not affiliate with them, viz;— Elizabeth Reed, Mary Rew, David 
Skinner, David Kneeland, Mercy Kneeland, Cephas Beach, Dolly R. 

1. Historical Discourse, by Rev, G. P. Folsoiu, D. D. 

2. Hotchkiii's History of Western New York. 

3. A Centennial Discourse, by Rev. John Mitchell, 1S76. 



992 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Beach, Delight Finley, Lucy Finley Abigail Case, Jerusha Skinner, 
Alice Skinner, Betsey Finley, Candice Beach, Sylvia Kneeland, 
Annie Alvord, Russell Lord, Nabby G. Kneeland and Sibbil Law- 
rence. David Skinner was chosen moderator; Samuel Finley, clerk, 
and David Skinner and Cephas Beac:h, deacons. 

Without any settled pastor they enjoyed, for several years, the ser- 
vices of transient ministers and missionaries, among whom were 
Messrs. Daniel Oliver, John Lindsley, Aaron C. Collins, Robert Hub- 
bard, Wheelock, Pratt, Mills, and Bubrick; and in the absence of 
these listened to sermons read by Deacon Beach. In 1814, they 
adopted the Presbyterian confession of faith and united with the 
Geneva Presbytery on what was called the "accomodation plan." In 
1817 they adopted the Presbyterian form of government in full and 
took the name of the "Second Presbyterian Church of Geneseo. " 

The town house, which had been moved to "Temple Hill," came 
under the control of the church, and was arranged with pews and a 
gallery, the former of which were taxed for the support of the church. 
In 1811, a novel method of providing for the support of the gospel was 
inaugurated. It consisted of a fund —denominated the "sheep-fund" 
— to which a certain number of sheep were contributed, the increase 
and wool of which were to be applied to that object. The f^ock began 
with 48 sheep, to which the Wadsworths donated 20; W. H. Spencer, 3; 
Mr. Kneeland, 3; and others 2 and 1. In 1817 it had increased to 324 
sheep and lambs. In 1830 the proceeds of the sheep, as sold, began to 
be invested in landed security, and in 1826 amounted to about $300, 
which was finally used in building the church session-room, located on 
Center street, where the house of Dr. W. E. Lauderdale now stands. 

Sept, 11, 1815, the Society connected with this church was incor- 
porated as the "Geneseo Gospel Society," and Joseph W. Lawrence, 
Samuel Finley, Isaac Smith, Wm. H. Spencer, Samuel Loomis and 
Timothy P. Kneeland were elected trustees. April 13, 1816, the 
society received from Mr. James Wadsworth a deed of 100 acres of 
land. In 1816, the subject of erecting a meeting house was agitated. 
The foundation was laid early in the spring of 1817, the house raised 
in June, 1817, and completed in December of the same year. Its en- 
tire cost was $6,000. It was dedicated Jan. 1, 1818, the sermon being 
preached by Rev. Daniel C. A.xtell, of Geneva. The site was given 
by William and James Wadsworth, opposite the public square near the 



u 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 993 

south end of Main street. This building, known tor two generations 
as the "White Church," was enlarged one-third in 1854, and again 
greatly improved in 1870. The last service within its walls was held 
December 4, 1881, and in 1884 it was taken down. September 3, 
1834, the church, which during the pastorate of Dr. Bull had followed 
the Congregational form of government, formally adopted the-fresby- 
terian form of government, and elected the following Board of Elders: 
—Charles Colt, Cyrus Wells, Jr., Jacob B. Hall, Samuel A. Hubbard, 
Chauncey Parsons, Levi Goddard, Truman Hastings, Wm. H. Stanley 
and Owen P. Olmsted. 

October 31, 1858, during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. F. DeW. Ward, 
a division occurred on the question of "old" and "new school," and 
a large membership separated from this church to form the "Central 
Presbyterian Church of Geneseo," (O. S.). The last report made to 
the Presbytery before the division showed a membership of 234; after 
the division it had on its roll 130 resident members. March 30, 1880, 
after a separate existence of a little more than twenty-one years, the 
churches so desiring were reunited by action of Rochester Presbytery. 
The united membership at that time was about 460. 

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GENESEO VILLAGE. 
Immediately after the reunion funds were raised by subscription to 
build a suitable church auditorium tor these united bodies. This 
formed an addition to the house of the Central Church, the latter of 
which now became the Sabbath School room and church parlors of the 
enlarged building. Work was commenced on the new structure Sep- 
tember 14, ISSO. The corner stone was laid November 8th, that same 
year. December 8th, 1881, the church was dedicated with special ser- 
vices. Rev. Dr. Henry Darling, president of Hamilton College, 
preaching the sermon. It was built from plans furnished by the New 
York architect, Mr. Lawrence B. Valk. 

This edifice was of brick with trimmings of Ohio sandstone, built 
in Roman-Gothic style with tower. The entire structure was 95x98 
feet and its estimated value with site, including its organ, about 
$40,000. In September, 1887, a new and delightful manse on Center 
street was secured at an expense of $6,000. The membership of this 
•church rose to 630 in 1889 and at the present date numbers over 700. 



994 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



Its average annual outlay for congregational purposes is about $4,000 

and its beneficences about $3,000. 

A Sabbath School was established in 1820, but it was permanently 

organized January 22, 1826. Jacob B. Hall, Orlando Hastings. Mr. 

Fairchild, Miss Har- 
riet Wadsworth and 
Miss Mary Lawrence 
were thefirstteachers. 
The fcillowing have 
been the successive 
pastors and stated 
supplies of thechurch: 
Pastors — Rev. Abra- 
ham Foreman, install- 
ed July 12, 1817, dis- 
missed Nov. 17, 1819, 
and died at Geneseo 
August 20,1854. Rev. 
Norris Bull, D. D., 
installed June 1<J, 1822 
dismissed J ii 1 y 3, 
1832, and 'died at 
Lewiston, D e c. 8 , 
1847. Rev. John C. 
Lord, D. D., installed 
July 31, 1834, dismiss- 
ed Oct. 28, 1835, and 
died at Buffalo, Janu- 




ary 



21, 1877. Rev. 



Presbyterian Church. 



John N. Lewis, A.M., 
installed Oct. 3, 1838, 
dismissed April 5, 1841, died at New York, Oct. 5, 1861. Rev. Benja- 
min B. Stockton, installed Nov. 8, 1843, dismissed Sept. 26, 1848, died 
at Brooklyn, N. Y., June 10, 1861. Rev. F. DeW. Ward. D. D. installed 
Sept. 16, 1850, and continued to supply the pulpit until Oct. 31, 1858. 
Became, later, pastor of the Central Church; died in Clarens, Switzer- 
land. Rev. George P. Folsom, D. D., installed Feb. 2, 1850. dis- 
missed September 20, 1868. died at Mt. demons, Mich. November 12, 



«i 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 995 

1894. Rev. Isaac N. Sprague, D. D., installed February 2, 1869. dis- 
missed April 10, 1877, died at Poultney, Vt., September 9, 1896. 
Rev. Josiah E. Kittredge, D. D., the present pastor, who was installed 
April 18, 1877 

Stated Supplies — Rev. Theodore Spencer, in 1836; Rev. Elam H. 
Walker, in 1836; Rev. Henry Snyder, in 1837-8; Rev. Charles Mor- 
gan in 1842-3. 

The Central Presbyterian church of Geneseo, as we have seen, was 
formed by the division of the Second Church, and was organized by a 
commission from the Genesee River Presbytery at Geneseo, Oct. 21, 
1858. Rev. F. DeW. Ward, D. D., who severed his connection as 
pastor with the Second Church, Oct, 21, 1858, was called to the pas- 
torate of this church Nov. 7, 1858, and sustained that relation ten 
years. A large and commodious house was at once erected on the 
corner of Second and Center streets, and was dedicated Jan. 3rd, 
1860. Succeeding the cessation of Dr. Ward's labors, Rev. Henry 
Neil, D. D., supplied the pulpit for about five years; he died at Phila- 
delphia, April 21, 1879. Rev. Charles S. Durfee assumed the pastorate 
September 10, 1874, and continued his labors till the reunion took 
place. He died in East Bloomfield, Dec. 24, 1887. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF GENESEO 
was incorporated February 19, 1825, "at the brick academy in the 
village of Geneseo, where the M. E. Church statedly attend divine 
worship" and adopted the name of The First Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in the town of Geneseo. Stephen Hoyt, Henry P. 
North and other members met for the purpose of electing trustees. 
Stephen Hoyt and Medad Curtis were chosen to preside; and Medad 
Curtis, Stephen Hoyt and Henry P. North, "being discreet persons 
of said congregation," were elected to serve as trustees. 

When the church was organized is not known, as no record of the 
fact has been preserved. But very early Geneseo was a preaching 
station of the Genesee Conference, formed in 1810. 

The Church continued to worship in the "brick academy" until 
1826, when their house of worship, a small brick structure, was erected. 
A new church seems to have been built in 1851 in which year and in 
1852 Rev. Robert Hogaboom was the preacher in charge, for in the 
minutes of the trustees' meetings it is recorded that the annual meet- 



996 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



ing of 1852 was held "at the session-house of the new Methodist 
church," Feb. 13th of that year, and adjourned to the house ot the 
pastor. Previously tlie meetings were held in the "brick chapel." 
At the annual meeting of the trustees in February 1807 the ".St. 
James (M. E.) Church of Geneseo" is first mentioned. 

In 1886 extensive repairs were made in the church edifice, trans- 
forming its general architectural character, at an e.xpense of about 
$7,000. The old Athenaeum library building adjoining had been 
purchased some years previously and converted into a parsonage. 

The preachers who have served this church since 1872 are as follows 
in the order of succession: 

1872—1875 L. F. Congdon, D. D. ; 1875-1878 Rev. Mr. Browndl; 
1878-1881 O. S. Chamberlayne; 1881-18S4 S. Milward; 1884-1887 C. 
E. Millspaugh; 1887-1890 Lorren Stiles; 1890-1895 E. C. Dodge; 
1895-1897 Ira T Walker, D. D. ; 1897-1902; E. M. Snodgrass, D. D. ; 
1902-1904 Benjamin Copeland; Rev. I*". C. Thomi)son, Ph.D. became 
pastor in 1904. 

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, GENESEO. 

The first services of the Episcopal Church in this village were prob- 
ably held by the Rev. Alanson W. Welton, missionary in Ontario 

and adjacent counties, in the sum- 
mer of 1819. In October of that 
year he reports to the Diocesan Con- 
vention, then being held in Albany, 
that he had given half of the day for 
several Sundays "to Geneseo where 
a church to be known by the name 
and style of St. Michael's Church, 
Geneseo, has with excellent prospects 
been recently organized;" and 
among the official records of that 
convention is the following, "certi- 
ficates were produced and read of 
the incorporation," among others, 
"of St. Michael's Church, Geneseo, 
Ontario county." The work thus 
Old Epi«op.i Church, cenes.0. begun was Continued as a mission 




HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



997 



station with occasional visits from the missionary until i^Iay 17, 1823, 
when a parish organization was efifected with a complete vestry and 
the privilege of calling a settled pastor. The original vestry consisted 
of William Fitzhugh and Daniel Warner, wardens; and Samuel W. 
Spencer, Calvin H. Bryan, Eli Hill, David Shepard, Daniel Fitzhugh, 
David A. Miller, Chauncey Morse and Marcenus Willet, vestrymen; 
men of character and influence in the community, and from that day 
to this the parish has commanded the services of the same class of men 
who have devoted themselves loyally to its interests. To these and 
others like Judge Carroll, Philo C. Fuller, Horatio Jones, David Pif- 
fard, Samuel Lewis, H. P. North, Allen Ayrault, Dr. Bissell, Gen. 
W'adsworth, Gov. Young, Lyman Turner, Gurdon Nowlen, Gen. Wood, 
John C. Prout, Edward P. Fuller, Charles Jones, B. F. Angel, J. F. 
Bishop, C. H. Young and John M. Milne it is largely indebted for its 
present efficiency. 

Services were held in the Court 
House until the erection of the 
first church, which was consecrat- 
ed by Bishop Hobart, who was 
bishop of the whole state, where 
now there are five bishops in the 
same territory, and whose certifi- 
cate of consecration, signed by 




Episcopal Church &nd Rectory- 



998 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



himself, hangs in the sacristy as a document highly prized by the 
members of the present generation. This church was of the old type 
of church buildings with vestibule, west galler)' and belfry and served 
its purpose well for nearly forty years. In 1866 the corner stone of 
the new church was laid, and it was consecrated two years later by 
Bishop Coxe, services in the meantime being again held in the Court 
House. This church occupies the same site as the old one, is of brick, 
as was also the first, and is surmounted by a graceful stone spire. 
Thirty years later the Parish House and Chapel were added. The 
corner stone was laid in 1896 and the buildings dedicated on St. 
Michael's Day, 1898, by Bishop Walker, the chapel being a memorial 
to "Rita," daughter of Nannie Wadsworth Rogers, who died April 14, 
1892. Altogether the church, parish house, chapel and rectory, sit- 
uated on the Main street and beautified with vines and shrubs, form 
one of the most attractive groups of buildings in the state. 




Episcopal Parish House and Chapel. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 999 

The parish has been fortunate in its list of rectors. In earlier years 
the rectorships were short, as was generally the case throughout the 
country, but more recently they have been of longer duration, show- 
ing a more settled condition among both clergy and people, the last 
but one ministering here for fifteen years and the present incumbent 
being now in his sixteenth year. The list follows with the date at 
which each assumed the rectorship: — Richard Salmon 1824, L. P. 
Bayard 1827, R. B. Croes 1831, W. P. Page 1834, Lloyd Windsor, 
D. D. 1838, Edward Ingersoll, D. D. 1842, H. B. Bartow 1844, W. J. 
Bakewell 1845, Thomas Mallaby 1850, J. W. Birchmore 1853, R. O. 
Page 1859, W. N. Irish 1863, George S. Teller 1868, Charles DeL. Allen 
1871, William A. Coale 1875, Charles H. Boynton, B. D., Ph. D. 1890. 

As a parish St. Michael's has not confined its elforts to local minis- 
trations but has taken its due part in Archdeaconry and Diocesan 
.affairs and has been represented in the General Convention of the 
■Church. 

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GENESEO was organ- 
ized Dec. 31, 1872, at a meeting held in the vestry room of the Metho- 
dist church in the village of Geneseo. Rev. Walter Holt was chosen 
chairman and H. G. Baker clerk. Rev. Reuben A. Waterbury, a pro- 
fessor in the Geneseo Normal School, visited those in the vicinity who 
held to Baptist doctrines, and awakened a desire among them for the 
formation of such a church. At the .meeting in question. Prof. Water- 
bury read the New Hampshire Confession of Faith, to which the fol- 
lowing persons subscribed and became the constituent members of the 
•church; — R. A. Waterbury, H. G. Baker, Alanson Ranger, N. A. 
■Gearhart, Asahel Norton, Niles L. Norton, Levi Jones, Horace Kelsey, 
Daniel Young, Fanny Ranger, Mary VanMiddlesworth, Mary E. 
Norton, Philena Young, Mary Young, Phebe Dean, Clara L. Curtiss, 
Eunice L. Jones, Amy H. Baker, Rhodilla Kelsey, Sylvia J. Berry 
•and F. A. Waterbury. 

From its organization until Dec. 1, 1875, the church enjoyed the 
ministration, of Prof. Waterbury, who still performed his professional 
•duties in the Normal School. He was succeeded at the latter date 
by Rev. J.J. White, who continued his labors until April, 1877. He 
"was followed by Rev. S. W. Culver, who commenced his labors the 
same month and year. 



1000 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The Church first worshiped for a few weeks in Concert Hall. Ror- 
bach's Hall was soon after secured for that purpose. February 2, 
1878, the Church and Society perfected a legal organization by the 
election of N. A. Gearhart, G. I. Dean and H. G. Baker, trustees. 
The Sabbath-school was organized April 6, 1873 with N. A. Gearhart 
Superintendent. 

At the close of Mr. Culver's pastorate the Rev. Mr. Batson was 
called as his successor. From here on the records of the church for 
a number of years are not to be found. A lot was purchased on the 
southeast corner of Bank and Wadsworth streets and a modern church 
structure, brick veneer, was erected in 1882. For lack of means the 
work was stopped for a time after the building was enclosed. 

In 1885 the church called the Rev. C. B. Parsons of Knowlesville, 
N. Y., as its minister: means were soon furnished by friends both in- 
side and outside the church membership, the church was completed, 
thoroughly furnished and dedicated free of debt July 27, 1886. The 
dedicatory sermon was preached by Dr. S. M. S. Haynes of Bingham- 
ton, N. Y. Rev. Parsons remained with the church seven years, 
closing his work here in 1892. 

Henry Wyse Jones, a recent graduate of the Rochester Theological 
Seminary, was called as pastor early in 1893 and ordained to the work 
of the Gospel ministry. May 16, 1893. For three years Rev. Jones had 
a prosperous pastorate. He resigned April 26, 1896, having accepted 
a call to the Baptist church in Canandaigua, N. Y. 

Three months later, July 12, 1896, the Rev. Howard A. Pease, M. 
D.. of Portageville, N. Y., was unanimously chosen as the next minis- 
ter. Rev. Pease remained three years, when he accepted the call to 
the First Baptist Church of Perry, N. Y. August 6, of the same 
year, the church elected Rev. Mr. Miller of Meridian to be its pastor. 
Rev. Miller remained as pastor but fifteen months, when he was called 
elsewhere. For the next four years the church was supplied by stu- 
dents from the Rochester Theological Seminary. In December, 1903, 
a unanimous call was given to the Rev. J. F. Stilwell of Elba, N. Y., 
and he began his pastorate Jan. 17th 19U4, and closed it July 1st., 1905. 

ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Geneseo. Little 
is known of the history of the Catholic church in Geneseo previous to 
the year 1854. Mass was said at irregular intervals by priests from 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



1001 



the neighboring towns of Lima, Avon and Mount Morris. There was 
no settled meeting place and religious services were held in Concert 
Hall, in the Court House and, at times, in the homes of some of the 
people. The saintly Bishop of Buffalo, the Rt. Rev. John Timon, 
D. D., visited the village occasionally administering Confirmation, 
visiting the people, preaching and encouraging them. 

I n 1851 General 
James S. Wadsworth 
deeded to Bishop Timon 
the land for a church 
edifice. On this the 
first church building 
was erected in 1854 by 
Rev. Father !McGuire, 
who was then minis- 
tering to the parish; 
this building, situated 
on the south side of 
North street, is yet 
standing and belongs 
to the society. In 
1903 it was repaired 
and adapted to use as a 
parish hall. About the 
year 1880 the land on 
which the present 
church stands was pur- 
chased; a further pur- 
chase of land adjoining 
the church property 
and to the east was 
made in 1000, and upon 
this was erected in the fall of that year a suitable number of sheds for 
horses. 

There was no resident priest in Geneseo prior to 1882. There is no 
record of the duration of Father McGuire's pastorate; the following 
priests succeeded him in the order named: Rev. John Ryan; Rev. 
Bernard ^IcCool; Rev. John Vahay; Rev. Richard J. Story; Rev. 




St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church and Rectory. 



1002 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Daniel Moore; Father Edward McGowan ; Rev. David O'Brien ; Rev. 
Michael M. Meagher; Rev. John J. Donnelly. In 1.S82 the Rev. 
Matthias D. Mussmaecher was appointed the first priest to dwell in 
(ieneseo. He lived opposite the old Church on the land which after- 
wards became the site for the new church. Father Mussmaecher 
labored for nearh^ six years, during which time he did very good work 
in building up the parish. When he moved from Geneseo in the 
spring of 1888, he left about $4,000 in the treasury toward the build- 
ing of the new church. He was of a delicate constitution, and after- 
ward went South for his health. He died in St. Mary's Hospital, 
Rochester, September 8, 1890. 

In the Spring of 1888 the Rev. James A. Hickey was promoted from 
the mission of Spencerport to Geneseo. The first work of Father 
Hickey was to prepare for the erection of the beautiful new church. 
This was erected during the year 1889. The corner-stone was laid 
April 21, 1889 and it was dedicated on the 1st of December in the 
same year. The new church is built of brick with Medina stone 
foundation and trimmings. It is about 60x125 feet in size. Its 
architecture is plain Gothic. It is surmounted by a graceful tower 
and steeple on the southwest, while a smaller turret adorns the north- 
west. The building cost $20,000.00. It is located on the Avon road 
on the corner of North Street. It looks out upon the Court House 
square and commands a view of the most beautiful part of the Genesee 
valley. Its location is beyond doubt the finest Church site in the 
town of Geneseo. It is a grand monument to the zeal of Father 
Hickey and the faithful co-operation of the people. When the Church 
was built many non-Catholics contributed generously to its erection. 
Ten years, to the very month, after Father Hickey came to Geneseo, 
the entire debt was liquidated. In April, 1898, the last of the §20,000 
debt was paid. 

In the year 1900, Father Hickey received a well-earned promotion 
to a city parish. The first of August marked the beginning of his 
pastorate in the Holy Apostles' Church, Lyell Ave., Rochester. 

On the 8th of August, 1900, the Rev. Arthur A. Hughes was ap- 
pointed to the Geneseo parish. Father Hughes had been assistant 
in the Cathedral at Rochester for six years. He came to Geneseo at 
tlie age of thirty, to accept the responsible position of Rector of the 
parish. 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1003 

After a resident priest was located in Geneseo, missions were 
established in Fowlerville and Pitfard. Father Mussmaecher opened 
a small church. All Saints, in Fowlerville in the year 1884. The 
Church of St. Raphael's, in Piffard, was dedicated December S, 1887. 
Both of these places were attended from Geneseo. In 1901 the Bishop 
attached Fowlerville to the Caledonia mission, as it was about three 
miles nearer the latter place. There were only f5ve or six families 
there. 

Piffard is still under the care of the Geneseo priest. It consists of 
about sixteen families of Americans and several hundred Italian 
people. 



SPARTA. 

The town of Sparta originally extended from Livonia south to the 
Allegany county line, and west from Naples, Ontario county, to the 
Genesee river, embracing what are now the towns of Sparta, West 
Sparta, Groveland, North Dansville and a portion of Springwater. 
Groveland was formed in 1S12; a part of Springwater w-as cut off from 
Sparta in 1816; a part of Groveland was annexed in 1816. The other 
towns were formed many years later. vSparta is now bounded north 
by Conesus, east by Springwater, south by North Dansville, and west 
by West Sparta. Area 17,423 acres. Population in 1900, 1189. 

Canaseraga creek is the western boundary line, and lofty hills extend 
from its valley eastward, rising in places nearly a thousand feet. On 
the flats the soil is a sandy or gravelly loam with a mixture of clay, 
and it is mostly of a similar character on the hills. High up on the 
hillsides above the valley extends the Lackawanna railroad, which was 
constructed through to Buffalo in the early eighties. The inlet to 
Conesus lake rises near the center of the town, and flows northward 
to the lake. 

Scottsburg is the one small village of Sparta, with between 200 and 
300 inhabitants and mills, stores and churches. It is in the northern 
part of the town, and takes its name from two early settlers, Matthew 
and William Scott. 

The first settler of the present town of Sparta was James Collar, 
who came from Pennsylvania in 1794, and built a log house on the 
site of Scottsburg, which is the later name, the hamlet for many years 
being called Collartown from this first comer. He was soon followed 
by other Pennsylvanians, among whom are recorded Darling Havens, 
John Niblack, Aia Simons, Robert Wilson, Thomas liovey and 
Alexander Fullerton, all of whom came previous to 1796. The last 
wa^ the father of General William S. Fullerton, long and prominently 
identified with the New York State militia. Havens kept the first 
tavern in the town, located at the edge of the valley at the point 
known for many years as Haven's Corners. He afterward had a tavern 
at Scottsburg, Philip Gilman and John Carpenter came from Penn- 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1005 

sylvania about 1802. Both were Revolutionary soldiers. The names 
of other earliest settlers are James McCurdy, 1795; James Scott, wife 
and ten children, 1804 to 1806; and about this time the Hamshers, 
Kuhns, vSamples, Artlips, Steffys, Litchards, McKays, Hammonds 
and Driesbachs. 

James Collar's sufficient distinction among the early settlers is that 
he was the first, and that Scottsburg was long called Collartown, after 
his name. 

James JlcCurdy's arrival was the ne.xt year, 17')5, when he pur- 
chased a farm and worked it with enterprising industry. He raised 
grain, vegetables and stock, and sold them as he could to the settlers, 
and went as far as Bath with products to find a better market. 

Before James Scott's advent he lived in Mt. Bethel and Northum- 
berland, Pennsylvania, having come to that state with his Scotch 
parents from Ireland in 1773. He came to Sparta on horseback with 
his wife — then a difficult journey of five days through the roadless 
forest. Having located lands for a home they returned to Northum- 
berland, and sent two of their sons to build a log house and otherwise 
prepare for the family's permanent settlement, which was effected in 
1806, the parents and ten children making a considerable addition to 
the then sparse population of the region. James »Scott was a respected 
resident of Sparta for thirty-four years, dying in 1840 at the age of 
eighty-four. One of his sons was William Scott, who became promi- 
nent in local affairs. He was sixteen years old when he came with his 
father to Sparta. The next year, 1807, he went to Dansville and 
worked there in Samuel Culbertson's cloth-dressing mill three years. 
In 1811 he became a partner of Carson Rochester in the same business 
in Dansville, and the partnership lasted three years. In 1813 he and 
his brother built a grist mill in Scottsburg, and in 1814 he became 
foreman in Benjamin Hungerford's cloth-dressing mill on the west 
side of the valley. Under him was Millard Fillmore, afterward Presi- 
dent of the United States, and a lasting friendship was formed be- 
tween them. William Scott held the office of justice of the peace in 
his town for twelve j'ears, became justice of sessions, and was twice 
elected member of assembly — in 1836 and 1837. He died in 1876 aged 
eighty-six. 

About the year 1806 the Rev. Andrew Gray moved from Allegany 
•county to Sparta. He had immigrated to America from Ireland in 



1006 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

1757, and at the age of seventeen became a soldier in the war of the- 
Revolution. He was taken prisoner by the Hessians in the battle of 
Long Island, and after much cruel treatment and many severe suffer- 
ings escaped to the American lines. Afterward he participated in 
several battles, and received an honorable discharge at the close of 
the war. Then he studied for the ministry, and preached his first 
sermon in 1793. In 1795 he moved to Allegany county, accompanied 
by Major VanCampen, the famous scout, purchased a large tract of 
land, and moved his family there. He lost his land through a defec- 
tive title, and devoted himself to ministerial work, preaching in An- 
gelica, Almond and Dansviile. After he moved to Sparta he preached 
awhile to congregations in Sparta. In December 1807, by authority 
of the New York Missionary Society, he went to the village of the 
Tuscarora Indians, consulted with their chiefs, was accepted by them 
as a missionary, settled among them, and through his influence many 
of them became Christians. When Lewiston was burned by the Brit- 
ish in 1814 he was obliged to flee, thereby losing his household proper- 
ty and library. Again he made Sparta his home, and lived there 
until his death in 1839, the most of the time as a regular preacher. 
He was much beloved, and his funeral was largely attended. 

Jacob G. Roberts of Tecumseh, Mich., has furnished the Living- 
ston County Historical Society with a sketch, from which are gath- 
ered the following tacts: His father and uncle came from Penn- 
sylvania to the flats near "Squakie Hill" in 1798, bringing with them 
a few tools and a rifle, the object being to prepare the way for their 
father and his family to settle there, which they did the same year in 
August, bringing with them a span of horses, a yoke of oxen and five 
cows. Much of the way they had to chop a passage through the 
woods. Horatio Jones, the government agent then living close by, 
aided them, and they completed a log house the same fall. Soon 
afterward an Indian woman set fire to the flats, out of revenge against 
other Indians, who, for some offense, would not permit her to join in 
one of their powwow^. It was a dry time, and the fire spread rapidly, 
burning up a great deal of hay. Mr. Jones, in trying to save some of 
his stock, barely escaped being burned to death. He afterward held 
back ninety-one dollars of the money for the Indians, and paid it to 
the new settlers to compensate them for the loss of their hay, where- 
upon the Indians tied the offending squaw to a stake and burnt her to 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1007 

death. Winter coming on, and the most of the hay being gone, the 
Roberts family tried to save their stock till spring by browsing them, 
selecting for the purpose a favorable spot in what is now the southeast 
corner of Groveland, but the twigs were inadequate food, and the 
most of the cattle and horses died. In the spring they located on 
Niblack's Hill, as it is now called, in Sparta, and there the father 
died at the age of eighty-four and the mother at the very advanced 
age of 101 years and three months. These were the grandparents of 
Peter G. Roberts. His father, Peter Roberts, was married in 1801 to> 
Elizabeth Gilman, and they had to go from Sparta to Geneseo for a 
legal ceremony, which was performed by James Wadsworth, justice of 
the peace. 

The first post office in Sparta was started in 1814, with Samuel Still- 
well as'postmaster. The first school teacher was Thomas Bohanan. 
The first preacher was a Methodist circuit rider named John B. Hud- 
son, and the first church organization was the small society of Metho- 
dists to which he ministered. One of the first physicians, perhaps the 
first, was Dr. Scholl. The first mill was built by W. D. McXair in 
1810. 

AVilliam Magee says that there was a great deal of liquor drank in 
those early days at the raisings of log houses and log barns and the 
logging bees. It was kept in the house of nearly every family, and 
set forth to visitors as one of the customs of pioneer hospitality. 
Doty's history says, however, that there was very little drunkenness, 
which may be accounted for in part by the purity of the whiskey, 
which was unadulterated by the poisons now more or less in use, in 
part by the strenuous out-of-door labors of the pioneers, and in part 
by the scarcity of bars. The town of Sparta, says Doty, then embrac- 
ing its largest territory, had eight stills in operation — from about 1706 
to 1810. These were owned by William Lemen, William Magee, 
Alexander McDonald, Hector McKay, Nicholas Beach, John Hyland, 
James Rodman and James Scott. 

The Rev. Andrew Gray's residence in Sparta has been mentioned. 
Although he preached to the Spartans before he became a missionary 
among the Tuscaroras he was not regularly connected with the Pres- 
byterian society of the town, which gave him a call in June, 1807, 
stating that "they had changed their situation from under the direc- 
tion of the Dutch Synod, and had cast themselves under the jurisdic- 



1008 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON^ COUNTY 

tion of the General Assembly of Divines, and had chosen themselves 
a body of trustees according to law." Mr. Gray did not accept the 
call, and went to the Indian village as missionary on the following 
December. About the same time the Spartan Presbyterians circu- 
lated subscription papers to raise money for building a church, one of 
the conditions of which was that the building site should be chosen by 
lot. The site was on the land of David McNair, and in 1808 the build- 
ing was erected and enclosed, but could not be finished for lack of 
funds. It is said to have been the second church erected in the state 
west of Cayuga lake. It was roughly finished and furnished the next 
year, and services were soon held in it regularly. In May, 1809, the 
society appealed to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
of America, asking that a missionary be sent to labor in that region, 
and the ne.xt year Rev. T. Markle came and preached in the church. 
The appeal was signed by Samuel Bauer and William McCartney as 
elders, and John !McNair, sr., David McNair and others as trustees. 
The next stated supply was Rev. Silas Pratt. When Rev. Andrew 
Gray returned from Lewiston to remain in Sparta, a controversy arose 
in the society based upon personal preferences regarding a minister, 
some adhering to Mr. Pratt and others desiring Mr. Gray to take his 
place. For some time both of these ministers held services in the 
church at different hours of the day. The division finally became 
complete, and a re-union was not effected until 1829. For a long time 
Mr. Pratt continued to hold services in the church, while Mr. Gray 
preached at Havens' Corners, where the present church building is 
located. The Rev. S. Gaylord took Mr. Pratt's place as pastor after 
the reunion, and a few months later was succeeded by Rev. Amos P. 
Brown, under whose ministry there was a great revival which added 
many communicants to the church roil. A Second Presbyterian 
Church of Sparta was organized in 1848, but after 1855 one pastor has 
served both organizations. 

Two Lutheran churches were organized about 1837, one in the east- 
ern and one in the central part of the town; also a church of the 
Baptists and Evangelists at Reed's Corners in 1842, and a Methodist 
church near the center in 1841. 

Quoting William Scott: "The Sabbath following our arrival in 
Sparta (1806) my father, one of the girls and four of us boys attended 
meeting at the house of George ^Mitchell, a log house standing two 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1009 

and one-half miles south of what is now Scottsburg, and six miles 
south of Conesus lake, where Samuel Emmet, a Methodist minister, 
preached to a congregation of about twenty-five or thirty persons. 
I had heard the good man preach in Pennsylvania, and meeting him 
here renewed agreeable associations to us all." 

The first town meeting, held when Sparta embraced its original ter- 
ritory, was at the house of William Lemen in Williamsburgh, in 
April, 1796. The following officers were elected : Supervisor, William 
Harris; town clerk, William Lemen; assessors, John McNair, James 
Rosebrugh, Henry Magee; commissioners of highways, Matthias 
Lemen, Alexander McDonald ; commissioners of schools, Samuel Mills, 
James Henderson, Robert Erwin; pathmasters, William McCartney, 
Hector McKay; pound keeper, Asahel Simons; fence viewers, Nathan 
Fowler, Jeremiah Gregory; constable and collector, John Ewart. 

The first town meeting attended by the Scotts after their arrival 
in Sparta, was in 1807, in the present town of Groveland, at the log 
house of Christian Roup, and among those present were John Smith, 
Joseph Richardson, Robert Burns, John Hunt, Andrew Culbertson, 
William and Daniel Kelly, Samuel Stillwell, James Rosebrugh, Thomas 
Begole and William Doty. 

The first town meeting after the division of the town was in 1847, 
when P. Woodruff was elected supervisor. 

Reference has been made to the grist mill built by William Scott 
and his brother in 1813. In the fall of that year William Scott went 
from Sparta on horseback through Dansville, Painted Post and New- 
town to Meansville, now Towanda, Pa., to order stones for that 
grist mill. For these he paid sixty dollars, and in the winter a team 
was sent for them, when the transportation charges amounted to 
eighty dollars, or a third more than the cost of the stones. 

Quoting again from Doty's history: "About the middle of June, 
1813, it commenced raining and continued for three or four days, when 
just at evening, on the 19th of that month, the rain began to fall in 
torrents, increasing in volume until the flood threatened to wash 
away ever}' structure on the mountain streams of Sparta. Benjamin 
Hungerford, of West Sparta Hill, had but just completed a new saw- 
mill dam on Duncan's creek, and placed a new set of machinery in the 
old carding shop, when the storm came and swept machines, struc- 
tures and all away. Colonel Rochester's saw-mill dam, on the East 



imo HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Dansville creek, which supplied water for himself and for Scott's card- 
ing mill, was also carried out. But the most notable loss was that of 
William D. McNair's grist mill, which stood on Stony Brook, a few 
rods east of the highway leading from Dansville to Haven's tavern. 
The building was strongly built of stone on a solid foundation, and so 
confident was the proprietor of its security, even on such anight, that, 
becoming alarmed as the storm increased for the safety of the log 
house in which he was living, he moved his household effects into the 
mill, and his family to the miller's house. Scarcely had they reached 
the latter place when a loud crash announced the total destruction of 
the stone-mill, with all its machinery and stores of grain and goods. 
The flood washed mill stones many rods from their place, and buried 
them so deeply in the sand and gravel that only after the washings of 
lesser floods for many years afterward were they discovered." 

The first recorded vote for governor in Sjiarta was in 1801, when 
George Clinton received twenty-nine votes and Stephen VanRenssel- 
aer ten votes. 

Captain Daniel Shays, the famous leader of the famous "Shays Re- 
bellion," spent the last years of his life in Livingston county as a resi- 
dent of Sparta, moving there in 1814 and dying there in 1825, aged 
seventy-eight. The details of that rebellion are properly a part of 
general history, but as Captain Shays was one of the remarkable char- 
acters among the early settlers of the county, a brief statement of the 
stirring episode which e.xcited the whole nation is here appn)[)riate. 
Daniel Shays was born at Hopkinton, Mass., in 1747, and was a resi- 
dent of Pelham at the time the Lexington alarm was sent out, when 
he joined a company of minute men, and was made its ensign. After- 
ward another company was organized in which he served as sergeant. 
He was at the battle of Bunker Hill, the surrender of Burgoyne and 
the storming of Stony Point, and was promoted to the rank of Captain 
in 1779. He was designated by General Washington as captain of the 
guard over Major Andre the night before his execution. In March, 
1781, Captain Shays was chosen a member of the committee of safety 
at Felham, and again in 1782. He was sent as a delegate to several 
of the conventions for the consideration of the grievances which began 
to burden the people before the war closed. These were talked over 
in the bar-room of Conkey's tavern, where the people came to consult 
Captain Shays as their wisest adviser. The mutterings here developed 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1011 

into defiance of the state government, and armed resistance to the 
courts and laws. In 1786 the people of Massachusetts were more 
heavily taxed than those of any other state, and it was said they owed 
an average of $200 each. This tax they were unable to pay, and many 
poor persons were sued and put in jail. Another grievance was, that 
the soldiers of the Revolution remained unpaid. After the people's 
indignation had become intense Captain Shays drilled the farmers in 
front ot the tavern, and soon was called to other parts of the state to 
organize the people into military bands. He finally commanded an 
army of about 2,000 rebels, which surrounded the court houses at 
Worcester and Springfield and stopped the suits for a short time. But 
the state government raised an army of 4,000 men and sent it against 
the rebels, and after various movements and some fighting, in which 
many were killed and wounded, they were obliged to submit. This 
was in 17S7. Captain .Shays' men dispersed gradually, and Shays fled 
to Vermont and New Hampshire. He went thence to eastern New 
York, where he resided some years, and moved from .Schoharie county 
to Livingston. He and some of the other leaders of the rebellion were 
convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but were subsequently pardoned. 
In his later years he was allowed an annual pension of $240 by the na- 
tional government. Colonel Lyman of Moscow, who was well ac- 
quainted with him, has said that "he was not only a patriot and sol- 
dier, but an upright and honorable citizen," and another friend has de- 
scribed him as "a man of noble and commanding figure and fine mar- 
tial appearance." His remains are buried in the Union Cemetery in 
Conesus, and the grave is marked only by a slate slab, a cut of which 
here appears. 

The town furnished a large number of volunteers for the war of the 
rebellion, and bounties were paid ranging from fifty dollars to $1,000. 
In 1864 at a special meeting of the electors it was resolved that Sparta 
would pay to each of the volunteers credited to the town, under Presi- 
dent Lincoln's call for 500,000 men, a bounty of §800 in addition to the 
amount raised by the county for one-year men, and that drafted men 
should receive the same as volunteers. It was also resolved that each 
elector of the town should pay ten dolllars per capita tax, to apply on 
the tax levied to pay volunteers. 

Rev. Thomas Aitken was pastor of the North and South .Sparta 
Presbyterian churches nearly half a centur}^ beginning some time in 



1012 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



1839 and closing with his death. He was born in Scotland in 1799, was 
educated for the ministry in Edinburgh, and began to preach about 
1825, starting as a missionary in the Orkney Islands. 

From the church records in Sparta, which he kept, it appears 



it,. 


. ^ 




m 










1 


HIk^ 


.«i:f'Ji>k.7.;;»L-.uH 


HIH 



Grave of D&nlel Shays and He&dstone, Union Cemetery, Conesus. 



that the number of his baptisms had been 231, and the number of his 
marriages 254. 

A German Lutheran and Reformed church was organized in 
Sparta in 1837, and is now extinct. vSt. John's Lutheran church was 
organized in 1837; it built a house of worship in 1840. There was 



HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1013 

a Church of the Evangelists and Baptists at Reed's Corners at an early 
day, about which little is known. The Methodist church of vScotts- 
burgh was organized in 1840. 

The prominence of William Scott in Livingston County pioneer 
history justifies the editor in appending the following sketch of him 
by Dr. M. H. Mills before the Livingston County Historical Society 
read at the 1877 meeting: 

Mr. President:— A link which binds the present generation to the 
past, is broken — the Hon. William Scott, of Scottsburgh, N. Y., and 
vice-president of the Livingston County Historical Society, is no more. 

From a long acquaintance with the deceased, coupled with the fact 
that he was an early associate of my father in the Genesee Valley, it 
affords me the pleasing, though sad, duty at this first meeting of our 
society, to pay, as far as I am competent, a slight tribute of respect to 
his memory. 

Mr. Scott died in Rochester on Saturday, the 24th day of June last. 
He sufifered much during his last illness of eight weeks, yet he bore 
it with patience and Christian fortitude. 

His remains were conveyed to his native place on Monday the 26tlv 
The funeral services took place on Tuesday at two o'clock, p. m., and 
were largely attended. The services were unusually solemn and im- 
pressive. The remains were interred in the family private burial 
grounds, resting by the side of his beloved wife and only child, in a 
romantic and lovely spot, about one mile from the village of Scotts- 
burgh. 

Mr. Scott was born in Bethel, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, 
on the 18th dayof July, 1790. Had he lived twenty-four days longer he 
would have been just eighty-six years of age. He received a scanty 
i^ommon school education. He came with his father's family into 
what is now Livingston county in 1806. The family located four 
miles east of the present village of Scottsburgh, when the country was 
an unbroken wHderness and frequented by tribes of Indians, wavering 
betwixt war and peace, through the influence of British allies on the 
frontiers and at Fort Niagara. The same year of the arrival of young 
Scott into the country he husked corn for Gen. Wm. A. Mills on the 
Genesee flats at Allen's Hill, now Mt. Morris. From one acre of 
ground, measured off, he husked 226 bushels of ears of corn, receiving 
two bushels of ears, worth forty cents, for a day's work. 



1014 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

In 1807, at seventeen years of age, he went to Dansville to learn the 
trade of wool and cloth dressing with Samuel Culbertson. He subse- 
quently worked in Bioomfield and Livonia at his trade, and saved 
money enough to pay for one-half of a carding machine which he pur- 
chased. With it, together with his knowledge of the business, he be- 
came a partner in 1811 with Col. Rochester from Hagerstown, Md. , 
in the wool and carding business, and the manufacture of cloth fabrics. 
In 181.1 young Scott and Rochester sold out their business and 
dissolved. The former entered the military service of his country, 
and served as a common soldier in the second American war of inde- 
pendence in 1812 and 1815, on the frontiers at Niagara and Buffalo, 
whilst the latter moved to the mouth of tha Genesee river and there 
founded the city which to-day bears his name. 

In 1814 young Scott returned, and built, in company with his 
brother older, the pioneer grist mill in that section on the inlet to 
Conesus lake. After completing this mill, his brother took charge of 
it, and he returned to Dansville and engaged to work for Mr. Hunger- 
ford at his trade. The same year Millard Fillmore (then fourteen 
years of age, and subsequently President of the United States) came 
to Mr. Hungerford to learn the trade of wool carding and dressing. 
Whilst thus employed young Fillmore and Scott formed a friend- 
ship which continued through life, without change. 

At a later period Mr. Scott engaged in the employ of Judge Hurl- 
but of Arkport, taking charge of his woolen factory. While there he 
learned from the pioneer settlers that Col. Butler of the British ser- 
vice and Joseph Brandt, fitted out at that place their memorable ex- 
pedition against Wyoming and Cherry Valley in 1778. 

In 1819 he founded the village of Scottsburgh and erected a hotel. 
The same year he married a daughter of Isaac Woodruff of Livonia, 
and commenced housekeeping in the tavern, where he resided for six 
or seven years. In 1827 he sold his hotel property and erected near 
by a stately mansion for those times, in which he resided with his 
family. From this time up to 1856, although holding public otTice. 
he was engaged in farming and buying and selling lands. He acquir- 
ed a handsome property, which consisted mainly of 400 or 500 acres 
of improved lands and farms in the vicinity of Scottsburgh. 

In 1835 he was elected Justice of the Peace and held the office si.\'- 
teen years. He was elected in 1835 a Member of Assembly, and re- 



HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1015 

elected the following year against his wishes, and declined a nomina- 
tion for a third term. 

He had but one child, a promising young man, who died in 1840, at 
about twenty years of age. The losing of his scin, and then his wife 
in 1856, seemed to be the forerunner and commencement of his busi- 
ness reverses, which resulted finally in the entire loss of his handsome 
estate. He never re-married. 

His intimacy and social relations with Millard Fillmore endured. 
He was invited to visit the "White House" on several occasions dur- 
ing its occupancy by President Fillmore, which invitations he always 
accepted and responded to, yet sought no office within the gift of his 
distinguished friend. These occasions, he informed the writer, were 
among the most pleasing events of his whole life, attended as they 
were with sincere and true friendship, which had sprouted and grown 
up between them when apprentice boys, and continued until they 
were separated by death. 

Mr. Scott was modest, unassuming and charitable; a man of integ- 
rity and honor. He retained in an eminent degree the esteem and 
confidence of his neighbors and all who knew him to the end of life. 
He was a worthy Christian gentleman of the old school, genial, kind- 
hearted, and ever ready if necessary to make personal sacrifices to aid a 
friend. It is said that to this cause, and without that discernment and 
discrimination of men in his dealings and intercourse with them nec- 
essary to guard and protect this interest, is attributable more than to 
any other the reverses and loss of property in the closing 
years of his long and eventful life. He led the life of an honest man, 
and died without leaving the record of an unkind act, or a personal 
enemy to speak ill of his memory. He was a constant student, and 
improved his mind by reading and study. He was the author of nu- 
merous historical sketches, both in prose and poetry, of local interest, 
as well as communications of a general and pleasing character, from 
time to time, to the public press. 



1016 



HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 



The supervisors of Sparta liave been as follows: 



Wni. McCartney 

1821-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30 

James McCurdy 1831-32-33-34 

Jesse Stevens 1835 

Morgan Hamnionil 1836-46 

Roswell Wilcox 1837 

James Fanlkner 1838-40 

Justin Hall 1S39 

Nicholas Kysor 1841-42-43-44 

James Brewer 1845 

Philip Woodruff 1847-48 

John (iilnian 1849-50-51 

David McNair 1852-56-57-61 

John Shepard 1853-63-64-65-66-67 

68-69-70-71-72-73-74 

Hugh McCartney 1854-55 



Harvey G. Baker 1858-60 

George Sliafer 1859 

Alonzo T. Slaight 1862 

Jolin Logan 1875 

John Galhraith 1876-77 

E. L. McFetridge 1878-79-So 

Cliarles Swartz... 1881-82 

John Gilman 1883-84 

Jesse Roberts 1885-87 

George Weidman 1886 

Henian A. Miller 1888-89 

Wni. R. Wilbur 1890-91-92 

John Flory 1893-94-95 

Ralph J. Craiimer 1S96-97 

W. D. Rickard i898-9o-cxj 

C. A. Batenian 1901-2 

Charles Swartz 1903 



The assessed valuations and tax rate per $1,000 from 18tiO were: 





Assessed 


Tai Rate 




Assessed 


Tai Rate 




A«»es»*e(! 


Tax Rate 




VBluBtion 


on (lOOO 


1875 


Tsluntion 


ontlOOO 


1890 


Vahmtion 

774,717 


on $1000 


i860 


435,314 


6.77 


834,573 


7.53 


7-72 


I86I 


427,664 


6.96 


1876 


798,588 


5 -58 


1891 


898,325 


4.62 


1862 


417,855 


8.56 


1877 


763,313 


6.12 


1892 


1,023,769 


8. II 


1863 


409,666 


8.52 


1878 


749,827 


6.76 


1893 


996,089 




1864 


461,749 


26.50 


1879 


739,364 


6.68 


1894 


963,007 


8.70 


1865 


492,081 


36.60 


1880 


750,258 


5-48 


1895 


971,376 


9-65 


1866 


442,754 


16.40 


1881 


744.806 


4.62 


1896 


969,325 


8-99 


1867 


486,049 


19-56 


1882 


725,565 




1897 


993,467 


7.19 


1868 


486,640 


16.16 


1883 


806,149 


5.67 


1898 


996,053 


6.86 


1869 


463-789 


10.07 


1884 


815,539 


4.22 


1899 


992,268 


9-31 


1870 


459,118 


12.48 


i88s 


813,604 


4-94 


1900 


995,290 


7.88 


I87I 


462,759 


11-37 


1886 


886,680 


6.60 


1901 


994,836 


7.15 


1872 


424,305 


15-41 


1887 


872,859 


6 67 


1902 


955,220 


5-44 


1873 


422,693 


11-93 


1888 


869,734 


6.84 


1903 


931,774 


5-64 


1874 


842,391 


7-75 


1889 


796,780 


10.15 









Indian Land§ 



FOR SALE. 



m>jDm) A^is^i 



'i' -i 



THE )tabicri(»-n htiiDft Jmt nBtTh«»rd part of Ihi- fTnnft™! ttrnrrnlvm, rf»)cm1iBa '•" ">''= "" >'••' Genoer ftiirrj fimrnnnlv nnod (tr "W*!!!- TTamw^ 
lABd.~Boa oUri tu*iJt. Id *t««J teilkrv il"- »»J laluublcU-jiiof lANt) in iha fan tJ the Suif. I.ttlU am:. . J" ifcii Ijnil a iiiiutnlniiilimu udrni iheCeaon^ 
Ibn( IB (kr town (4 Mmail-MrnTn. 1j»«cU«i loonly. j«J lhiiiuah'"^>ch iherPUt Ihrrr pind n*l*. onoil "bsfc u Ibr ^ule nuil !■• ^noT■Jk»— ifiWJ «ioa Ibc ■»■ 
Mc <^lhe Rivrf. u> lit cwiniy n( Gcor«i-, Tbu l*»il '• no m^lo rtiuo idt vUbm of Pefrt. w.m mild fn«n Muwv, Ami Icn miW fnu Cnnm, *Ilof aha are 
rrn roprOaWc %ilUBa; iLt laUrf n ifcc oouoty lo»ii. and in racrr^iDdlr liwralmos moL< "lib ibc nxM mprcul-lc ml isparUar vithgc. m ibv ■nicTB part of lUa 
Suit wdkfcnLa c™ <"■"* muirl. W nil frjoant at lix ynu. f-it tl« mfpluj prurfuccoHliaipirCudbc roonin.— Wr-uo^.Si/i, :Mr<'m [Wl«ir> pa acn^ noc dolLit 
pci t)^ on IW >!jjnJ ule. awl tic lialuoc |«>iibte ta ua »aoo»1 MntatooiU. -iii umuJ mlerot 

n. B. GIBSON, Cnmndaigiia, 
MICAH BKGtOKS, JlloamJUld, 
JELLIS CLUTE. Moscmc. 

ALSO—Sor aalc bv tbe Eubacribcr, a Inict of 2,»0ft ncrcs of cfwd LAND. «ltgil>Iv silnatedfor 

Z!rin"«.t-'kcu,""fN'"«li Viic«:^.y™...,."..i'hr^-'..'^l"-"^-«T"i.MVs".'"^ Ar«. TV™ Dofcn |« .cr^ U^y <«* c-t « lud. 
1 (be G^BCC payaUc w Hi unnitJ ii»UJi»eoUu •■lb »uuual mitol. 

ALSO-^TUe, rcraaiiiiim unsold lot* of a tnirt of 1. UO acres of toperior Mheat L.VNT)^ in 

VZ^Jil™, . I . .««, „„niv uw.i«l ..U„a !!.■« milr. ,.f ibr ..llajr "f M«c».. u-l n.Bf. nitr, fraa Ik .dbn of Cc«a,-u. tW »ltf prirtrgc* fot 
"Tili^l^ll^ ir^lT!« -^^ 1* .«^^ t.« ^kHitt.. suit iW^ fm. S.» W Sc™. D<3l« po -T. -™i>t.» c-» f-T «r. 



^ak, aad lie takoie p*r>bk •■ led *um1 
•, ^Mjn- 10. iva. 



H. B. GIBSON. 



Notice of S&le of G&Tdeau Lands. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX NO. I. 

RED JACKET'S STATUS'AND AN ACCOUNT BY GENERAI, PARKER OF POWTICAL AND 
SOCIAL RELATIONS IN THE TRIBES OR CLANS CONSTITUTING THE LEAGUE. 

New York, November 26, 1884. 

William C. Bryant, E>q. , Buffalo, N. V.: 

Dear Sir — I owe you main- apologies for not before answering j-ours of Octo- 
ber 25th, which was duly receiveil, but I have had so man}- other things to attend 
to that your letter was temporarily laid aside. I will now, however, respond as 
briefly as I can to your queries respecting Red Jacket. You say you "have 
always been led to believe that Red Jacket did not belong to any of the noble or 
aristocratic families in which the title or distinction was hereditary." Also, 
"was his mother of noble birth," etc., etc. Let me disabuse your mind of one 
matter in the outset. Such a thing as aristocracy, nobility, class caste or social 
grades was unknown among the Iroquois. A political superiority was, perhaps, 
given by the founders of the League to the Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas, 
w'ho were styled "brothers," and were addressed as "fathers" by the Oneidas and 
Cayugas, who also were "brothers" and yet "children." Nor were the Turtle, 
Bear and Wolf clans invested with the first attribute of nobility or aristocracy 
because they were also the elder brothers and cousins to the other clans. I am of 
the opinion that no purer and truer democracy, or a more perfect equality of social 
and political rights, ever existed among any people than prevailed among the 
Iroquois at the time of their discovery by the whites. Often at that time and since 
persons attained positions of prominence and power by their superior intellectual 
abilities or their extraordinary prowess and success on the warpath. (Conspicuous 
examples of this fact are Joseph Brant and Red Jacket.) Successes of this kind, 
however, brought only temporary and ephemeral distinction to him, his family, 
his relations, his clan, and, perhaps, reflected some honor on his tribe. But this 
accidental or fatuitous distinction was not transmissible as a rightful or heredi- 
tary one, and was retained only so long as the intellectual superiority, military 
prowess or personal bravery could be maintained by the person or family. 

When declining years broke one's intellectual and physical powers some younger 
person immediately dropped in to fill the gap, and tlie old warrior or councilor 
fell away into obscurity. Thus it is easiU- seen how the hand of power and dis- 
tinction could be constantly shifted from one person or family to another, and 
could never remain settled longer than he or they were able to uphold the quali- 
ties entitling them to the supremacy. The founders of the League may or may 
not have considered this question in the organization they made. They perfected 
a confederacy of tribes, officered by forty-eight hereditary sachems or peace men 
and two hereditary militar\- sachems or chieftains. They ignored the individual- 
ity of persons (except Tododaho) and families and brought the several tribes into 
the closest relationship by the establishment of common clans or toteniships, to 
whom was confided the hereditability of the League officers. It was a purel5- 
accidental circumstance that some of the clans in some of the tribes were not en- 



iv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

dowed with sachenisliips and that others got more than one. But V)ecanfe some of 
the clans got more than one sachem, and that a family in that clan was temporar- 
ily intrusted with the care of it, the clan or family were not in consequence there- 
of ennobled or made aristocratic. Bear in mind this fact, a sachemship belongs to 
a clan and is the property of no one family. Honorary distinctions are onl3' as- 
sumed by the tribes or clans from the fact that the League makers gave them the 
rank of the elder or jounger, and the family government and gradation of kinship 
was introduced to bring the same more readily to their comprehension, under- 
standing and remembrance. 

This idea of Indian social grades with titles is all a vain and foolish fancy of 
the early imaginative writers, who were educated to believe in such things ; and 
the idea is retained, used and still disseminated by our modem susceptibles who 
love and adore rank and quality, and who give and place them where none is 
claimed. I do not deny that Royaner in the Mohawk means Lord or Master, but 
the same word, when applied to terrestrial or political subjects, only means Coun- 
cilor. The Seneca word is Hoyarna, Councilor — Hoyaruagowar, Great Councilor. 
These names are applied to the League officers only, aud the tenu "great" was 
added to designate them more conspicuously and distinguish them from a great 
body of lesser men who had forced themselves into the deliberations of the League 
Councilors. The tenn Hasanowanch (great name) is given to this last great body 
of men, a body known as chiefs. They were never provided for and, as I believe, 
were never contemplated by the League originators, but tliey subsequently came 
to the surface, as I have hereinbefore set forth, ami forced a recognition of their 
existence upon the "Great Councilors," and, on account of their following and 
abilit)-, were provided with seats at the council board. 

Red Jacket was one of these "chiefs." He was supremely and exclusively in- 
tellectual. He was a walking encjclopedia of the affairs of the Iroquois. His 
logical powers were nearly incontrovertible, at least to the untutored Indian gen- 
erally. In his day, and to the times I am referring, the "Great Councilor's" 
word was his bond; it was of more weight and consequence than the word of a 
chief. Red Jacket knew this well and, while he could not be made a League 
officer, he used every means whicli his wisilom aud cunning could devise to make 
himself appear not only the foremost man of his tribe but of the League. He was 
ever the chosen spokesman of the matrons of tribes. He was spokesman of visit- 
ing delegations of Indians to the seat of government, whether state or federal. 
In the signing of treaties, though unsuccessfully opposing them in open council, 
he would secretly intrigue for a blank space at or near the head of the list of 
signers, with a views as the Indians asserted, of pointing to it as evidence that he 
was among its early advocates, and also that he was among the first and leading 
men of his tribe. He was even charged with being double-faced and sometimes 
speaking with a forked tongue. These and many other traits, both good aud bad, 
which he possessed worked against liim in the minds of his people, and inter- 
posed an insurmountable bar to his becoming a League officer. 

After the war of 1812, whenever Red Jacket visited the Tonawanda Reservation, 
he made my father's house his principal home, on account of his tribal relation- 



APPENDIX V 

ship to my mother, who was of the Wolf clan. M^- father and hi= brother Samuel 
were both intelligent men, and knew and understood the Indians well, anil were 
also fairly versed in Indian politics. During my early youtli I have heard them 
discuss with other Indians the matters above referred to and, while they always 
agreed as to the main facts, they geueralh' differed only as to the underlying 
motives and intentions of Red Jacket in his various schemes. 

White men visiting Indians for information usually ask specific questions, to 
which direct and monosj-llabic answers are generally given. Seldom will an In- 
dian go beyond a direct answer and give a general or extended reply; hence, I 
am not surprised that you had never heard anything respecting my statement, for, 
as such a thing had never occurred to you, you have never thought to ask con- 
cerning it. The fact, however, remains the same, and I do not consider it derog- 
atory of or a belittling of Red Jacket's general character. Men of mind are nearly 
always courageous and ambitious. Red Jacket was not an exception. 

You suggest the performance on my part of an act which is simply impossible. 
The words sachem, sagamore, chief, king, prince, cazique, queen, princess, etc., 
have been promiscuously and interchangeably used by every writer on Indians 
ever since their discovery. I have seen three of the above terras used in one article 
with reference to one and the same person, showing great looseness and want of 
discrimination in the writer. Yourself, let me say. mentions John Mt. Pleasant 
as the "principal hereditary sachem of the Tuscaroras." Now, my classification 
of Iroquois officers would be to rank the fifty original councilors as sachems, be- 
cause the)- are the highest officers of the I^eague. I would not use the term 
sagamore, because its use is almost wholly New England, and has been applied 
promiscuously to the heads of bands, large and small, and sometimes to mere 
heads of families. To use other terms, such as king, prince, or princess (see 
King Philip, King Powhattan and Princess Pocahontas), is preposterous and pre- 
sumptuous, considering the total absence among these people of the paraphernalia, 
belongings and dignity of royalt}-. My classification is: League officers, fiftj- iu 
numbers, "Sachenis," all other "Chiefs." The Tuscaroras, for certain reasons, 
were not admitted to perfect equalit}- iu the League. They were not granted 
sacliemships. Hence, Mt. Pleasant is not a sachem, only a chief. His talent and 
character might, indeed, constitute him the head chief of his tribe, but I doubt if 
his successor in name would take the same rank or exercise the same influence 
over the tribe that he does. Besides, the sachems alone can exercise a general 
authority in the League, while the chiefs' authority is confined to their respective 
tribes or bands. To invent a new name now for our fifty League officers would 
produce endless confusion in papers and books relating to them and their affairs. 
The task is too herculean to uuilertake. Pardon me for having been so prolix. 
I may also have failed to make myself umlerstood, for I have been compelled for 
waul of time to leave out a great deal of explanatory matter. But you are such a 
good ludianologist that I feel certain of your ability to comprehend me. I am, 

with respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

Elv S. Parker. 



vi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

APPENDIX NO. II. 

AX ACCOrXT OF PR"ESEXT CONDITIONS AMONG THE SENEGAS. 

The census of 1890 showed that the membership in the^Leagne of the Iroquois 
in the United States was 7,387. In Canada, in tlie same year, the membership 
T\as 8,483, making a total of 15,870. The number included in the Six Nations of 
New York was 5,239, and there were in addition 98 Senecas and Onondagas in 
Warren county, Pennsylvania, upon the Cornplauter reservation ; of these 87 were 
Senecas and 11 Onondagas, tlms making a total in New York and Pennsylvania of 
8,337. There were then at the Quapaw Agency, Indian Territory, 255 Senecas and 
Cayugas; there were residing in Connecticut, Massachusetts and elsewhere in 
New York 79 members of the League, and there were 1716 Oneidas in the State 
of Wisconsin. The immigration to Canada of a considerable portion of the 
League members took place during and prior to 1790. 

The total acreage of the reservations of the Six Nations in the State of New 
York in 1890 was 87,327 73-100, the value of which was estimated at fl, 810, 699. 

Of the census given of the Six Nations in New York in 1890 there were on the 
Onondaga reservation 494, of which six were Senecas; on the Tonawanda reser- 
vation 561, of which 517 were Senecas; on the Allegany reservation 880, of which 
792 were Senecas; on the Cattaraugus reservation 1,582 of,which 1,355 were Sene- 
cas; on the Tuscarora reservation 459 of which 10 were Senecas, and on the St. 
Regis reservation 1,157, of which none were Senecas, and tliere were 106 Oneidas 
off *he Reservations. 

The Allegany, Cattaraugus and Tonawanda reservations only will be referred to, 
inasmuch as they contain practically all of the Seneca Indians within the State. 
There were in the State, in 1903, 2,724 Seneca Indians of all ages, about 2,300 of 
whom resided on the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, the remainder resid- 
ing on the Tonawanda reservation. Those residing on the two reservations first 
mentioned are organized, pursu.int to a law of the State of New York under the 
title of "The Seneca Nation of Indians;" those residing on the Tonawanda Reser- 
vation are known as "The Tonawanda Band of Senecas." 

The Allegany reservation is in Cattaraugus county and lies along the Allegany 
River for a distance of thirty-five miles, from one to two and a half miles in width, 
the line havinj^ been so run as to take in the bottom lands along the river. 
There are 30,469 acres in this reservation, of which about 11,000 are tillable, but 
of this not one-half is cultivated or in pasture. Nearly all the valuable timber 
has been cut off and sold. The Indians on this reservation, as a rule, pay but 
little attention to farming. There are a few good farmers among them, but the 
majority farm just enough to get a scanty subsistence, and the most of that is 
obtained from labor among their white neighbors. 

There are six villages on this reservation, namely Vandalia, 240 acres; Carrol- 
ton, 2,200 acres; Great Valley 260 acres; Salamanca. 200 acres; West Salamanca 
750 acres, and Red House, 40 acres. These villages were laid out under an act 
of Congress, passed February 19th, 1875, which authorized leases to be made by 
the council of the Seneca Nation to white occupants, for periods not exceeding 



APPENDIX vii 

twelve years. In 1S90 this act was amended, authorizing leases to be made for 
periods not exceeding 99 years. The twelve year leases within these villages 
expired in 1892, and were renewed for 99 years. The rentals from these 
lands amount to 16,785 and in addition revenues are derived from leases to rail- 
roads, telegraph lines, farm lands on the Oil Spring reservation, and an oil and 
gas lease of the Cattaraugus and a part of the Alleganj- Reser\'ations, making 
the total income f7,5So per j-ear. The Nation also receives a royalt)- — one-eighth 
of the production — from the oil wells mentioned, which are operated under a lease 
given to the Seneca Oil Company, and now owned and operated by the South 
Pann Oil Company. The production is steadily declining. The amount received 
in 1902 and up to June, 1903, from these royalties, amounted to $4,530. These 
rentals were formerly paid to the Treasurer of the Seneca Nation, but yreat 
improvidence was shown in the management of its financial affairs^, and in 1901 
the Ryan act, so called, was passed, which put into the hands of the Indian agent 
the collection of these rentals. 

The schools on the reservations of which there are about thirty are supported by 
the State. The State builds and maintains tlie schoolhouses, pays the salaries of 
the teachers and in some instances buys fuel. The Indians do not seem to properly 
appreciate the school advantages furnished, and do not require such regularity of 
attendance as is needed to produce good results. Lately the better class of Indians 
have manifested a desire to have those Indian children who have already received 
a common school education given opportunity for higher education. 

The expense of school maintenance on these reservations by the State in 1897 
was — 

Allegany, ^2,003.30 Teachers, 6 — Children of School age 200. 

Daily av. attendance, 79. 
Cattaraugus, ^3,772.85 Teachers 10— Children of School age, 325. 

Daily av. attendance, 136. 
Tonawanda, $1,302.25 Teachers, 3 — Children of school age, 137. 

Daily av. attendance, 53. 
An Indian school for Indian children is supported near Tunesassa, on the Alle- 
gany reservation, by the yearly meeting of Friends in Philadelphia. The school 
gives instruction in all the substantial branches of education. The annual cost of 
maintenance is $3,200 in addition to the income of the farm of 464 acres upon 
which the school is located. The attendance is limited to forty-five. 

The Thomas Asj-lum for orphan and indigent Indian children is supported by 
the State. The institution is beautifully situated on a farm of 100 acres in the 
valley of the Cattaraugus Creek at Iroquois on the Cattaraugus reservation. It costs 
the State about $100 per capita annuallj' for the support and education of one 
hundred aud thirty Indian children at this Institution, in addition to the income 
of tlie farm. The whites prosecute mission work upon the several reservations 
with a fair degree of success. 

On the .\llegany reservation, there are two Presbyterian churches with a regular 
membership of about 124. There is also a Baptist church with a membership of 
about 40. 



viii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

On the Cattaraugus reservation, the Presbyterians support a resident missionary 
with a membership of over loo. Services are regularly maintained at the com- 
modious church and at several outside stations. There is upon this reservation a 
Baptist church in charge of a native preacher -nith a membership of over 125. 

On the Tonawanda reser\'ation there are a Baptist, Methodist and a Presbyterian 
church. A native preacher has charge of the Baptist church which has a member- 
ship of 60. The Methodist church has a verv- small membership : the Presby- 
terian church has a membership of 60 and the services are conducted by the 
Presbyterian pastor at Akron. 

The United States holds in trust ^238, 050 for the Senecas and 586,950 for the 
Tonawanda Band of Senecas. The interest on these funds, amounting to 111,902.50 
and 14,349.50 respectively is disbursed per capita by the United States agent. 
The per capita amount from the first fund for 1897 w'as ^4.25. Each of the Tona- 
wandas received from their fund ^8.40 and fi.37 for gypsum mined on the reserva- 
tion, in addition to the general Seneca annuity, making a total to the Tonawandas 
of fi4.02 per capita. The State of New York also pays to the Senecas an annuity 
of f 500. In addition the Federal agent distributes each year 54,500 worth of sheet- 
ing and gingham among the Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas and Tuscaroras, 
in pursuance of a treaty made with the Six Nations of New York, November 17th, 
1794- 

Cattaraugus Reservation is in Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqtia counties. It lies 
on both sides of the Cattaraugus creek beginning at a point near Gowanda, and 
running to Lake Erie. It embraces 21,680 acres. Many of the Cattaraugus Indians 
are good farmers, and have well-tilled farms, good stock and comfortable build- 
ings. The majority, however, cultivate only small patches of land. A large 
portion of the land on this reservation is valuable, and lies within the grape lielt 
and fruit growing section of Western New York, but much of it has been allowed 
to grow up to brush and such other vegetable growths as are indigenous to the 
locality. If these lands were properly cultivated and improved, every Indian on 
the reservation would be independent and have all the comfort of a civilized life; 
this is also true of the other reservations. 

Tonawanda Reservation is located in the counties of Genesee, Erie and Niagara. 
It lies above the Tonawanda creek on eaph side of that stream, and contains, 6,495 
acres. This reservation is a fertile tract, and there are a few good farmers among 
the Indian residents upon it. A large part of the 2,000 acres under cultivation is 
tilled b}- whites under leases authorized by the laws of the State. The govern- 
ment of the Tonawanda Band is by chiefs, who are elected for life, according to 
the Indian custom. There are elected by popular vote each j-ear, a presiilent, 
treasurer, a marsliall and three peacemakers. 

The Senecas on the .\llegany and Cattaraugus reservations have a common inter- 
est in the lands of both of these reservations. They have a constitution for their 
government. Tlie president is the executive officer of the Nation, and si.xteen 
councillors, chosen in equal numbers from each reservation, compose the legislative 
branch of the government. There is a clerk and treasurer of the Nation, and on 
each reservation a surrogate, three peacemakers, a marsliall and an overseer of the 



APPENDIX ix 

poor. All the officers are elected for one year, except the surrogate and peace- 
makers. The surrogate Iiolds office for two years, and the peacemakers are elected 
for a term of three years, expiring in alternate years. The peacemakers are judi- 
cial officers, and their court is one of general jurisdiction as to all controversies 
between Indians, including those pertaining to real estate. This jurisdiction of 
the peacemakers is exclusive; an appeal lies from their decision to the council, 
and the decision of the concil is conclusive. The system, it is claimed, has 
resulted in great oppression and injustice. Indeed, it cannot be said with truth 
that the Senecas have displaj-ed much aptitude for the successful administration 
of their affairs. Gross al^uses made necessary the Ryan act, of which mention has 
been made, and it is probable that legislation will soon be enacted having for its 
object the allotment of the lamls of the several reservations in severalty among 
the Indians, the uprooting of the whole tribal system, the extension of the laws 
of the State over them, and their adoption into citizenship. 

James Wadsworth, who had an unusual opportunity to judge of the Seneca's 
capacity for improvement, under proper conditions, "entertained a confident 
opinion that the red man is as susceptible of civilization as the v/hite man." 
His plan was to deal with the native individually and not by tribes, and the 
following letter written by him to Daniel \\'ebster in December, 1827, on the sub- 
ject of tlie colonization of the Indians, might well be penned in these earh- years 
of the new century by one of our most progressive law makers having in view the 
ultimate good of these unfortunate people: 

Geneseo, 3d December, 1827. 
Sir--I read many years since, in a number of the North American Review, an 
article on the situation of the Indians dispersed over the reservations in the State 
of Massachusetts. I cannot now lay my hand on the number: I believe it was 
in 1812 or '13. The writer takes a rapid view of the Indians from the time of 
Cotton Matlier, when, if I recollect, there were thirty or fortj' regular churches. 
From that period to the present, the State has supported one or two clergj'uien, 
and several schoolmasters, on each reservation. But notwithstanding the labors 
prompted bj' the pious zeal and benevolence of our forefathers, the Indians have 
been gradually, but regularly, sinking in moral character; and the reviewer 
describes them, in 1812, as a miserable race — part negro, part white and part 
Indian — too degraded to be described. This I believe, is a faithful picture of the 
Indians in Connecticut and Rhode Island ; and I have no hesitation in s.iying, th.it 
the luilians on the reservations in this State, are rapidly approximating to the same 
degraded condition.' 

The writer, if I recollect, considers the case a remediless one, and advises the 
application of the funds given for the support of the Indians to other objects. The 
article referred to, drew my attention to the state of the Indians many years since, 
and I still entertain a confident opinion that the red man is as susceptible of 
civilization as the white man. The fault is not the Indian's. It is forwantof an 
intelligent course of treatment on the part of the white man. There has been 
zeal, honest zeal, enough expended, but it has been zeal without thouglit or 
intelligenfce, and the experiment, it must be confessed, has liitherto totally failed. 



X HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

We have been training; the Indians on the reservations in New England for loo 
years, and they have fallen to a pitch of degradation too painful to be described. 
The Indians in this State have been under the same course of treatment for forty 
or fiftj- years ; and in half a century more, they will well compare with their 
brethren in New Etigland. Are we then to abandon our red brethren, and consider 
their civilization as a hopeless cause? By no means. Let us rather. examine and 
ascertain what are the elements of civilization. By what process has the white 
man of England been raised from his semi-barbarous state at the time of the 
Roman invasion, to his present comparatively improved ami refined state? I am 
sensible that the discussion of this subject cannot be comprised in a letter. If 
Caesar, when he invaded England, liad introduced, instead of a military govern- 
ment, monitorial schools, a free press, the constitution and laws of England 
modified to the then state of society, and the benign principles of Christianity, 
how soon would these all controlling causes have changed the character of our 
savage ancestors? Man, whether red or white, is the creature of laws and eiluca- 
tion. To show that our training of the Indians has not been judicious, let us take 
one or two single cases. Suppose, immediately after the extinction of the Indian 
title, and on the first settlement of Oneida county, N. Y., a respectable Indian 
family had been allowed by law to retain and hold in fee simple, a lot of lOO 
acres. Suppose the a<ljoining lots purchased and occupied by respectable New 
England farmers. My object is to ascertain whether an Indian family, placed in 
this situation, which at first view will be considered highly favorable to its improve- 
ment, would become refined and elevated in their moral habits? E.xamine, if you 
please, the early progress of the New England farmers and the Indian family. 
Sa}' the children of each are about the same age. I will allow that the Indian 
children will copy after, and attain tolerable proficiency in the operations on the 
farms and in tlie liouses of their New Englaml neighbors. Suppose the children 
of the Indian and New England families of an age to go into society, will the 
children of each mingle in societj- on equal terms? A step further — will the New- 
England farmers give their daughters to the Indian sons in marriage? In this 
stage, and indeed in every stage of this experiment, will not the Indian family 
perceive, and be made to feel that they belong to a degraded cast in society? and 
will not moral debasement immediately follow? I need not follow up this experi- 
ment to the inevitable degradation of the daughters and sons of the Indian family, 
when thej- will become hewers of wood and drawers of water to their neighbors. 
In this case I have considered what I believe is essential to the civilization of 
man, the holding of land in severalt}- ; but which, of itself, though an essential, 
is not sufficient to produce the greater result. From this view' of a single family 
we will pass to an Indian reservation, surrounded by farms inhabited bj- a white 
population. The Indians are at once deprived of hunting, the great resource for 
subsistence i:i a savage state. They hold their lands in common, and not in 
severalty. They are sensible, and realize that the educated white man can at anj- 
time purchase their lands antl improvements by direct or indirect means of their 
chiefs. The Indian is a tenant at sufferance. He is cut off from the great stimuli 
of exertion to the white man, the enjoyment of comforts arising from protected 



APPENDIX xi 

industry, antl the accumulatiou of property — the distinctions arising from personal 
consideration- and the possession of property, and the desire so powerful in the 
white man, but not felt by the red man, in his savage state, of transmitting his 
inheritance to his children. The Indians find themselves a unit in a vast com- 
munity and a degraded race, despised by that community. Would not the white 
man, in the same situation, imniediatel5' sink into abasement? Would not the 
white man, equallj- deprived of incentives to exertion, seek solace and forgetful- 
ness of his wretchedness in intoxication? Here, I ask, is it not perfectly idle to 
expect persevering labor — a regard for the right of property, while he possesses no 
rights himself, enlightened moral or religious views, or an elevated tone of 
character to grow out of this state of society? 

I will not submit for your consideration an outline of a system, which, if 
carried into honest and thorough execution, will, it appears evident to me, raise 
the Indian to the dignit}' of a civilized man. Set apart a tract of country, say 
forty or fiftj- miles square, at Green Bay, on the west shore of Lake Michigan. 
Grant this tract in fee simple to the Indians who still linger with the white popu- 
lation in the eastern and middle states. This is certainly but a small pittance for 
the mighty empire which the white man has obtained possession of, by what means 
this is not the place to inquire. Divide this territory into townships, and sub- 
divide the townships into lots of lOO acres each. Give to every family of Indians 
which remain with us, a modified or regulated title to one or two hundred acres; 
the land to be jnalienable in trust, or in any other manner, to the white man, but 
inheritable at once, and alienable, after a certain number of years, to Indians. 
Give this people a territorial government, and a code of laws adapted to the first 
stages of civilization. Give them the power of making their own laws after a cer- 
tain period. Give them the right of sending immediately a delegate to congress 
— I beg you not to be startled at this proposition— there are many Indian chiefs 
who would not disgrace the floor of congress. I need not go further into the 
details of the form of government and code of laws suited to the rude character of 
an Indian population — a commissioner vested with ample powers would be 
necessar}- for many j-ears. Provision ought to be made for monitorial schools and 
clergymen; the latter would no doubt be supported for many years by our chari- 
table societies. If it be asked, what more does your plan' contemplate than what 
is done already for the Indians of the reservations? I answer, it removes the 
insuperable obstacle to improvement, the degradation of caste. It gives to the 
Indian the same incentives to exertion which lead the white man to incessant toil 
and effort, both bodily and mental. A taste of the comforts arising from industry 
and the possession of property, will lead the Indian, step by step, to the same 
exertions as are made by the white man." I have not spoken, perhaps, sufficiently 
of the effects of eilncation and knowledge on the human mind, and of the new 
sources of intellectual, moral, social, and religious enjoyment, which a new and 

* "The pursuit of wealtli, that is, tlie endeavor to accumulate the means of future subsistence 
and enjoyment, is to the mass of maukiud thegrcat source of moral improvement; when does a 
laborer become sober and industrious, attentive to his health and to his character? as soon as he 
begins to save," etc.— See Westminster Review, No. 15, for July, 1S27, p. 186. 



xii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

improved state of society will gradually open to the Indian's mind. The desier 
of giving to his children the fruits of his industry, so intense in the white man, 
will immediately follow the power of accomplishing its object. May I beg of 
}-ou to give j'our mind for a few hours to this subject. What we are doing now, 
and what our pious forefathers have been doing for two hundred J'ears, is literallj' 
a waste of time and money. To persevere in this course is unbefitting to the 
intelligence of the age we live in. After examining this subject, it is impossible 
to doubt that the Indian can be civilized, possessing, as he does, native faculties 
of mind and body fully equal to the white man. Tlie intellectual endowments of 
the human mind are not impaired in the savage state. I do not speak of the 
mongrel state of society on the reservations. 

The outline which I have suggested maj- be very imperfect and defective ; but if 
gentlemen at the seat of government will give their hearts and minds to tliis sub- 
ject, I feel a perfect confidence in their conviction, that a grant in fee simple of 
a moderate tract of country, a territorial government, and a code of laws judicially 
framed, will lead immediately to an amelioration, and, in thirty or forty years, 
to the civilization of the red men of America. 

I need not ask whether this return, so perfectly within our means, so insig- 
nificant to us, so all-important to the Indian, is not due from the white man? 

I will add but a single remark. Imagine a territory, populated Ijy Indians in 
the enjoyment of the riglits and privileges of American citizens — speaking, writ- 
ing, antl thinking in the English language — where will you look as readily as at 
this territory, for your future Homers, Miltons, and Shakespeares? 

I am, sir, etc., J. \V. 

Hon. D. Webster. 

Whatever niav betide the experiments of the age for civilizing these interesting 
people, the dutj- which history owes them remains unfulfilled. In common with 
the other aboriginal nations, the Senecas have been belied. Neither they nor 
other tribes were the natural enemies of the whites. In this the early navigators 
and writers all concur. Before the era of systematic wrongs, they were hospitable 
and kind, and disposed to preserve the friendliest relations with the pale faces. 
Indeed history records how, during a hundred and fifty years, the Iroquois scrup- 
ulously observed their engagements with the Dutch and English. But the Ameri- 
can people have permitted the Indian to be grossly defrauded. Not content to 
divide with him his ancient patrimony of a continent, pioneer tr.iders have been 
allowed to wrest awaj- his hunting-grounds and invade his btirial-places ; and, to 
crown injustice, a horde of subtle knaves, in the official guise of commissioners, 
superintendents and agents, have pursued the Indian into his far-western retreats, 
to cajole from him his paltry annuities and to wheedle away his newer reservations. 
No skilled advocate has appeared for him, no medium has offered through which 
he could present in array to niankin<l the merciless imjiosilions practiced upon 
him ; and for many a dark year, no friendly voice, save that of the orators of his 
own race, whose heathen speech fell upon deaf ears, was raised in his defence. 

It was a dictate of policy, during the Revolution, to paint the Indian as black 
as possible in crimes and cruelty, and to hold him often responsible for deeds of 



APPENDIX xiii 

which it might easily be shown the British were alone guilty. Since then the 
prejudice has been adroitlj' fostered, by those whose seliish ends it subserved. 
That the ludian committed excesses and barbarities, it would be vain either to 
Vleny or to palliate. But how far he was justified in waging the only system of 
warfare known to his race, as a measure of retaliation, it is for the moralist to say. 
If the whole story were told, if the Indian could tell his side, how then would 
stand the record? The lion in the fable disputes with tlie man as to which was 
the braver and stronger of the two. The latter exultingly points to a marble 
statue of a man strangling a lion, in proof of the superiority of his kind. "That," 
answered the lion, "is your version of the story ; let us be the sculptors, and w'e 
will reverse the positions; the liou will then stand over the man." Is not the 
moral applicable here? 

APPENDIX NO III. 

THE VARIED ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "GENESEE" .A.XD .\N EARLY .\CCOUN'T OF 
THE GEN'ESEE RIVER AND CANASER.\GA CREEK. 

This is only one of a number of names b5' which the place was at various times 
known. It is also given Cenosio, Chinossia and Jenesio in Colonial Documents 
of New York; Zon-ness-chi-o, Je-nis-hi-yuh, Jo-nis-hi-yuh, Jen-ess-hi-o, Chen- 
nu-as-si-o, Gen-ish-a-u, Gen-ne-se-o, Gen-ne-see, Chin-ne-see, Chen-ne-s"i-co, 
Cnhi-nos-hi-yooh and Gen-nis-he-yo were others. The name was varied according 
to the pronunciation of individuals or difference in tribal dialects, but the 
signification of all variations was substantially the same, namely " Beautiful 
Valley," "Shining clear opening," or "Pleasant open vallej-. " When the 
Moravian missionaries visited the Senecas in 1850, it was Oh-ha-di, which means 
"Trees burn." The Senecas were sometimes called Chenessios, Tsinusios, Tsinon- 
touans, or Sinnodowanc. 

In discussing the etj'mology of the word "Genesee," it may be observed that 
the name as applied to the river is a derivation from the original name of the 
valley. During the French dominion in Canada, their voyageurs were often upon 
the Genesee and its connecting trails. The first description of the river ever 
published was that of good Father Charlevoix, who passed along the south shore 
of Lake Ontario in 1721. Writing from Fort Niagara, he sa3-s: "There is a little 
river which I would have visited, if I had been sooner informed of its singularity, 
and of what I have just now learnt on nn' arrival here. They call this river 
Gasconchiagon. It is very narrow, and of little depth at its entrance into the lake 
— Ontario. A little higher it is one hundred and forty yards wide and they say 
it is deep enough for the largest vessels. Two leagues (six miles) from the month 
■we are stopped by a fall which appears to be sixty feet high, and one hundred and 
forty yards wide. A musket shot higher we find a second of the same width, but 
not so high by two-thirds. Half a league farther a third fall, one hundred feet 
high, good measure, and two hundred yards wide. After this we meet several 
torrents ; and after having sailed fifty leagues farther, we perceive a fourth fall, 



xiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

every way equal to the third. The course of thi> river ii; one hundred leagues; 
and when we have gone up it al)Out >ixty leagues, we have but ten to go l)y, land 
taking to the right, to arrive at the Ohio, called la hfllc rii't'rc. Tlie place where 
we meet with it is called Ganos; where an officer worth}- of credit, and the same 
from whom I learned what I have just now mentioned, assured me that he had 
seen a fountain the water of which is like oil, and the taste like iron. He said 
also that a little farther there is another fountain exactly like it, and the savages 
make use of the waters to appease all manner of pains." 

This was the first reliable account of the Genesee given by the old writers, and 
errs only in the exaggerated distances. The fountains mentioned were tlie petro- 
leum oil spring near Cuba, New York and another in Venango county, Pennsyl- 
vania. The wonder expressed by Father Charlevoix, over one hundreil and eight}- 
years ago, is still felt by all who have a personal knowledge of the Genesee River. 
It is different from all other streams in New York in the particulars that, having 
its source in another state, it crosses New York from south to north ; and from its 
fountain head oxi the grand plateau up to its entrance into Lake Ontario at Char- 
lotte, its entire course is marked with wondrous changes wrought by the hand of 
nature. The river was known by several names, each applicable toa certain section 
of the stream. The native name first mentioned by Father Charlevoix is Gas-con- 
chagon. The name by which the Mohawks and Onondagas distinguished the lower 
Genesee is Gas-con-sago, and means "At the fall." It is derived from Gasco, 
"something alive in the kettle ;" as if the waters were agitated by some living 
animal, and referred to a peculiar feature of the water in the basin at the foot of 
the lower fall in Rochester. The Seneca name of the lower Genesee is Gas-ko- 
sa-go. Angelica, the head of canoe navigation on the upper Genesee, was to the 
Indians literally "the head of the stream," hence the name Ga-ne-o-weh-ga-yat. 
What voyager up the lonely channel near Niinda could fail to notice the magnificent 
mural escarpment facing the former home of Mary Jemison! What l)elter descrip- 
tion could be given of the abode of "The White Woman of the Genesee" tlian 
Ga-da-o, signifying "Bank in front;" anglicized into plain Gardow 1 

The confluence of the Canaseraga Creek and Genesee River was one of the most 
important geographical centers of the aboriginal Genesee country. It was the 
converging point of many ancient roads. The main Indian ttails from the Hud- 
son, Lake Ontario Niagara River, Lake Erie, the .Allegheny and Mississippi 
Rivers, the Atlantic coast and Virginia, all centered on the Genesee at, or near 
the Canaseraga. So well established were the natural routes leading to and from 
this point, that the Indian tribes successively owning the land had one or more of 
their towns located in the neighborhood of the two streams, until the last remnant 
of the red men resigned the ground to the whites. It is a difficult matter to fix 
upon the true aboriginal name of the Canaseraga. The orthography of the word 
is varied and authorities differ greatly regarding its meaning. One hundred 
years ago it was spelled Shan-a-has-gwai-ko-ree-ki, and was thus pronounced in 
council. By the first Dermanent white settlers of the creek-valley it was termed 
Can-as-cra-ga. The established name is Canaseraga; and French says its significa- 
tion is "among the slippery elms;' yet he applies the name Canaseraga to a 



APPENDIX XV 

stream in Madison county and interprets it "Big Elkhorn." Seaver spells the 
word Ka-na-so-wa-ga, and explains its meaning as "several strings of beads with 
a string lying across." Dr. Morgan applies this same signification to the Madison 
connty Canaseraga, but tells us that the identical word, as connected with the 
Livingston county creek, signifies "among the milkweed," Ga-nus-ga-go ; and 
also makes the signification applicable to the site of Dansville where a small 
Indian village was once located. Hosmer renders the word Ga-nose-ga-go, 
and makes it the Seneca name of the Canaseraga creek and village. Ga-nose-ga-go, 
"among the milkweed," may have referred to a special feature of the forest 
ground where fair Dansville guards the passage through the hills, but it certainly 
was not applicable, in a descriptive sense, to Canaseraga creek as a stream. Other 
names have been applied to the creek, but none that express the former conse- 
quence of the stream, or that refer to the fact of its convergence with our beauti- 
ful river of the Genesee. 



APPENDIX NO, IV. 

COPIES OF TRE.\TIES OF jrXE 30,1802 ; SEPTEMBER 3, 1823, AND AlGfST 3I, 1826. 

At a treaty held under the authoritv' of the United States, at Buffalo Creek, in 
the county of Ontario, and State of New York, between the sachems, chiefs and 
warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians, on behalf of said nation, and Oliver 
Phelps, esquire, of the county of Ontario, Isaac Bronson, esquire, of the city of 
New York, and Horatio Jones, of the said county of Ontario, in the presence of 
John Taylor, esquire, commissioner appointed by the President of the United 
States, for holding said treaty. 

Know all men by these presents, that the said sachems, chiefs, and warriors, for 
and in consideration of the sum ot twelve hundred dollars, lawful money of the 
United States, unto them in hand paid by the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, 
and Horatio Jones, at or immediately before the sealing and delivery hereof, the 
receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have and by these presents do grant, 
remise, release, and forever quit claim and confirm unto tlie said Oliver Phelps, 
Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, and to their heirs and assigns, all that trqct of 
land commonly called and known by the name of Little Beard's reservation, 
situate, lying and being, in the said county of Ontario, bounded on the east by 
the Genesee river and Little Beard's creek, on the south and west by other landsof 
said parties of the second part, and on the north by Big Tree reservation ; contain- 
ing two square miles, or twelve hundred and eighty acres, together with all and 
singular the hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging, or 
in anywise appertaining, to hold to them the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, 
and Horatio Jones, their heirs and assigns forever. 

In testimony whereof, the said commissioner and the said parties have hereunto, 
and to two other instruments of the sani^: tenor and date, one to remain with the 
United Sta'tes, one to remain with the Seneka nation of Indians, and one to remain 



xvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

with the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, interchangeably 
set their hands and seals. Dated the 30th day of June, in the year ol our Lord 
one thousand eight and two. 

Conneatiu, his x mark. L. S. 

Koeenlwhka, or Corn Planter, " " " 

Wondongoohkta, " " " 

Tekonnondu, " " " 

Tekiaindau, " " 

Sagoojes, " " 

Ton3-ocauna, or Blue Sky, " " 

Koyingquautah, or Young King, 

Soogooyawautan, or Red Jacket, " " " 

Onayawos, or Farmer's Brother, " " " 

Kaoundoowand, or Pollard, " " " 

Auwennausa, " " " 

Sealed and delivered in the presence of 

John Thomson, Israel Chapin, 

James \V. Stevens, 

Jasper Parish, Interpreter. 

At a treaty held under the authority of the Unite<l States at Moscow, in tlie 
county of Livingston, in the State of New York, between the Sachems, chiefs and 
warriors of the Seneka nation of Indians in behalf of said nation, and John Greig 
and Henry B. Gibson of Canandaigua in the coimty of Ontario; in the presence of 
Charles Carroll, esquire, commissioner appointed by the United States for holding 
said treaty, and of Nathaniel Gorham, esiiuire, superintendent, in behalf of the 
State of Massachusetts. 

Know all men by these presents, that the said sachems, chiefs ami warriors, for 
and in consiileration of the sum of four thousand two hundred and eighty-six 
dollars, lawful money of the United States, to them in hand paid by the said 
John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, at or immediately before the ensealing and 
delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have 
granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released, quit claimed, and confirmed into the 
said John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, and by these presents do grant, bargain, 
sell, alien, release, quit claim, and confirm, unto the said John Greig and Henry 
B. Gibson, their heirs and assigns forever, all that tract, piece or parcel of land 
common!}' called and known by the name of the Gardeau reservation, situate, 
Ij-ing and being in the counties of Livingston and Genesee, in the State of New 
York, bounded as follows, that is to say: Beginning at the mouth of Steep Hill 
creek, theuce due east, until it strikes the Old Path, thence south until a due 
west line will intersect with certain steep rocks on the west side of the Genesee 
river.thence extending due west, due north, and due east, until it strikes the first 
mentioned bound, enclosing as much land on the west side as on the east side of 
the river, and containing according to the survey and measurement made of the 
same bj' Augustus Porter, surveyor, seventeen thousand nine hundred and twenty- 
seven 137-160 acres, be the same more or less, excepting nevertheless, and always 
reserving out of this grant and conveyance twelve hundred and eighty acres of 



APPENDIX xvii 

land, bounded as follows, that is to say : on the east by Genesee river, on the 
south by a line running due west from the center of the Big .Slide so called, on 
the north b}- a line parallel to the soutli line and two miles distant therefrom, 
and on the west by a line running due north and south, and at such a distance 
from the river as to include the said quantity of twelve hundred and eighty acres 
and no more ; which said twelve hundred and eighty acres are fully and clearly 
understood, to remain the property of the said parties of the first part, and their 
nation, in .as full and ample a manner, as if these presents had not been executed; 
together with all and singular the rights, privileges, hereditaments, and appur- 
tenances, to the said hereljy granted premises belonging or in anywise appertaining, 
and all the estate, right, title, and interest, whatsoever of them the said parties of 
the first part, and of their nation, of in, and to the said tract of land above des- 
cribed, except as is above excepted. To have and to hold all and singular the 
above granted premises with the appurtenances, unto the said John Greig and 
Henry B. Gibson, their heirs of the said assigns, to the sole and only proper use, 
benefit, and behoof, of the said John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, their heirs and 
assigns forever. 

In testimony wliereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto, and to three 
other instruments of the same tenor and date, one to remain with the United 
States, one to remain with the State of JIassachusetts, one to remain with the 
Seneka nation of Indians, and one to remain with the said John Greig and Henry 
B. Gibson, interchangeably set their hands and seals the third dav of September 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three. 

Saquiungarhichta, or Young King, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Karlundawana, or Pollard, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Sagouata, or Red Jacket, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Tishkaaga, or Little Biily, his .x mark, (L. S.) 

Tywaueash, or Black Snake, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Kalialsta, or Strong, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Chequinduclique, or Little Beard, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Tuyougo, or Seneka White, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Onondaki, or Destroy Town, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Lunuchshewa, or War Chief, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Genuchsckada, or Stevenson, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Mary Jamieson, her x mark, (L. S.) 

Talwinaha, or Little Johnson, his x mark, (X. S.) 

Atachsagu, or John Big Tree, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Teskaiy, or John Pierce, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Teaslaegee, or Charles Cornplanter, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Teoncukaweh, or Bob Stevens, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Checanadughtwo, or Little Beard, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Canada, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Sealed and delivered in the presence of 

Nat. W. Howell, Jasper Parrish, 

Ch. Carroll Horatio Jones. 



xviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Done at a treaty lieUl with the «icheiiis, chiefs ami warrior-; of the St-iicka 
nation of Imliaus at Mot^cow, in the County of Livingston ami State of New York, 
on the third day of September, one thousand and eif;ht hundred and twenty-three, 
under the authority of the United States. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 
set my haml and seal, the day and year aforesaid, by virtue of a commission 
issued under the seal of the commonwealtli of Massachusetts, bearing date the 31st 
day of August, A. D., 1S15, pursuant to a resolution of the legislature of llie said 
commonwealth, passed the eleventh day of March one thousand seven hundred 
and ninety-one. N. Gorham, Superintendent. 

I have attended a treaty of the Seueka nation of Indians held at Moscow in the 
County of Livingston and State of New York, on the third day of September, m 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, wlien the 
within instrument was duly executed in ray presence, by the sachems, chiefs and 
warriors of the said nation being fairly and properly iinderstood and transacted by 
all the parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to their full satis- 
faction. I do therefore certify and approve the same. 

Ch. Carroll, Commissioner. 

The Treaty of August 31, 1826 at Buffalo Creek appears at the end of these ap- 
pendices. 



APPENDIX NO. Y. 

GENERAL CLARK'S DKSCRIPTIOX OF FOUR E.\RLY SEXECA VILLAGES DlvSTROVED BY 

nK XONVILLE 

When the Senecas were first known to the whites and from that time up to the 
French Expedition of DeNonville in 16S7 they had four principal towns. In 1669 
according to Galinee they were living in five villages two, of which contained one 
hundred cabins each, the others from twenty to thirty. At this time certainly two 
and probably three of the largest were enclosed by palisades. In 1677 wlien visited by 
Greenhalgh, an .A.lbany trader, they were occupying four villages, none of which 
were palisaded. Frequent changes of location with the large towns was a 
necessity. Abbe Belmont, who accompanied DeNonville in 1687, says: "They 
change their location every ten years, in order to bring themselves near the 
woods." This was probably true of the larger villages, but the smaller ones 
might continue for twenty years or more. 

During the time of the Jesuit Missions among the Senecas, and up to 1687 the 
four principal villages were : Gandagaro ; Gandongare ; Sonnontonan ; and Gand- 
achioragon. Of Gandagaro it is known certainly that in 1677 and 1687 it was on 
the great hill, known as Boughton Hill, a mile south of the village of Yictor, in 
Ontario county. Greenhalgh says it contained one hundred and fiftj- houses lo- 
cated on the top of a great hill, and was not "stockaded." In 1669 Galinee des- 
cribes it as in a large plain about two leagues in circumference, on the edge of a 
small hill and surrounded with palisades. No indications of a palis.ided work 
of this character have been found on or in the vicinity of Boughton Hill. 
DeNonville found some kind of a work on the hill north of Yictor, and some 
evidences of a minor Indian village have been found there, but the preponderance 



APPENDIX xix 

of evidence goes to -^liow tliat Gandagaii was south of the great hill ou the farm 
of Mr. Chapiii. In this vicinity in different locations have been found pipes, 
beads, iron Iiatchets, brass kettles numerous skeletons and all the usual accom- 
paniments of important Indian villages. This nandagan. alias Gandagaro, was 
the "St. James" of the missionaries, the capital and residence of the cliief sachem 
who presided over the grand councils of tlie trilie. 

Gandongare, the "St. Michael" of the missionaries, peopled principally by 
captives from the Huron and other conquered tribes, was located at different 
dates, from one ami one-half to four miles soutli of the capital town. A site on 
the east side of Mud Creek on the line between the towns of Canandaigua and 
East Bloomfield, about five miles southea-t of Victor, appears to have been one site 
of this village. Other sites were probablj- on or in the vicinity of tlie Chapin 
farm directly south of Boughton Hill. 

The two eastern villages after their destruction in 16S7 graduall}- drifted east- 
ward, and were found one hundred 3ears later by Sullivan near present Geneva. 
In 1720 the}' were two miles east of the foot of Canan<laigua Lake ; in 1750 on the 
White Springs farm two miles southwest, and on Bnrrell's Creek four miles south- 
west of Geneva ; in 1756 at the Old Castle two miles northwest ot Geneva. 

Sonnontouan, alias Totiacton, the ■"' Conception" of the missionaries, was lo- 
cated one and one-half miles northwest of Honeoye Falls in the town of Mendon, 
Monroe County. It is imlicated in Galinees' map as "Father Fremin's Village." 
It was about ten miles directh- west of Gandagaro on Boughton Hill, in a bend 
of Honeoye Creek, which at this point sweeps around abruptly to the west, form- 
ing a right angle ou the east and north sides of the town. A second location, 
and probabh- the one occupied in 1687 wlien destroj'ed by lire, was on the Ball 
farm, a mile west of Hotieoye Falls village. Here on a space of about twenty 
acres, a great abundance of relics have been found of copper, glass, iron, brass 
crosses, medals and rings, and hundreds of iron hatchets bearing evidence ot 
having passed tlirough fire. This great village was the western door of the Long 
House and the residence of Tegaronhies, hence sometimes called Tegarouhies 
town. 

Gandachioragon, the western small town, was probably on the site of the 
present village of Lima, four miles south of tlie great town, when located near 
Honeoye Falls. The relics found here are abundant, and indicate an important, 
but not a large town. 

These western villages, after 1687, drifted south and then west, occupying sev- 
eral different locations, and probably reached the Genesee River about 1740. 
Sullivan found them in 1779 in two villages, one east and one west of the river, 
and a third small one near the head of Conesus Lake. (General John S. Clark's 
note to Dr. Charles Hawley's "Early Chapters of Seneca History.") 



XX HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 



APPENDIX NO. VI. 

COPV OF GRANT OF G.\RnK.\U RESERV.^TIOX TO .M.\RV JKMISON" .\N'D OTHKR 
M.\TTERS RKL.\TIXG TO THE G.\RnE.\r L.^xns. 

The following is the text of the treat}' executed at the time of the treaty of Big 
Tree, bj- which the Gardeau Reservation was set apart to Mary Jeuiison: 

Know all lien by these Presents that we the Chief Warriors and Chief Sachems 
of the Seneca Nation for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar to iis in 
hand paid b}- Mary Jeniison the receipt whereof we do herein- acknowledge and 
are fully satisfied and contented and paid, have given, gr.inted, bargained, 
aliened, released, conveyed and confirmed unto her the said Mary Jeniison her 
heirs and assigns forever one certain parcel or tract of laud being and lying on 
the Genesee River beginning at the nioutli of the steep hill creek and running a 
due east line till it strikes the old path ; thence south till a due west line will 
intersect with certain steep rocks ou the west side Genesee River, then extending 
due west, due north, and due east, till it strikes the first mentioneil bounds in- 
closing as much land upon the west side of the river as it does on the east side of 
said river. To have and to hold the aljove granted and bargained premises with 
all the appurtenances and privileges thereunto belonging to her the said Mary 
Jemoson her heirs and assigns forever and furthermore, we the said Chief Sachems 
and Warriors for ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators do by these 
presents covenant, engage and promise to defend the above granted premises with 
all the appurtenances unto her the said Mary Jemoson her heirs and assigns for- 
ever will Warrant and Defend the above granted premises against all the claims 
and demands of all persons whatsoever; in confirmation whereof, we have hereunto 
set our hands and seals this in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and ninety-seven. 

Farmers liis x mark Brother 

Little his x mark Billy 

Pollard his x mark 

Hanow his x mark Shawen 

Kayyea his x mark Neglique 

Tommy bis x mark Jimmisson 

Corn his x mark Planter 

Howana his x mark Zee 

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Horatio Jones, William Johnston, 
C. Wiuny, Cbas. Williamson. Thomas Morris. 

Be it remembered that on the thirtieth day of October in the year one thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-eight personally came before me, Moses Atwater, one 
of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Ontario, Thomas 
Morris, who being duly sworn declared he saw the grantors of the within instru- 
ment affix their signatures to the same as an execution thereof. And that he the 
deponent with Charles Williamson in the presence of each other subscribed their 
names as witnesses to the same, I being i)ersonally acquainted with Thomas Mor- 



APPENDIX xxi 

ris and upon inspection of the said instrument finding no material erasures or in- 
terlineations do allow the same to be recorded. 

Moses Atwater. 

I certify tlie foregoing to be a true copy of tlie original instrument examined, 
conipareil and recorded this thirtieth day of October, A. D. , 1798. 

G. B. Porter, Clk. 

In 1816 Micah Brooks, of Bloomfield, and Jellis Clute, of Leicester, proposed 
to buy the Gardeavi lands which lay in an unproductive state. The consummation 
of this plan was postponed for substantial reasons until 1823. It was found that a 
special act of the Legislature was necessary to vest Mary Jemisou with the legal 
title, on account of her alienage, and that such sale would have to be approved 
by a formal council of the Senecas, under the superintendence of a commission 
appointed by the President. Such an act was passed by the Legislature in 1817, 
in form confirming the title in Mary Jemison. A council was held at Moscow, 
September 3rd, 1S23, Major Carroll, Judge Howell and Nathaniel Gorham being 
the Commissioners, Jasper Parrisli, the Indian agent, and Horatio Jones, the in- 
terpreter. The treaty here effected is set out at appendix No. IV. All of 
the Gardeau lands in the County of Livingston had been conveyed by her to 
Micah Brooks on the 23rd day of .\pril, 1817, for an expressed consideration of 
13,000, and she took from him a mortgage to secure |4,2S6 and annual interest. 
It also appears that at the date of the Moscow treaty, at which time she also made 
her will, a mortgage was given by Jellis Clute and Micah Brooks to Mary Jemi- 
son on other lands than the Giirdeau lands, in Livingston Count}', to secure the 
paymeut of the sum of 54,286 and annual interest. The Moscow treaty released to 
John Greig and Henry B. Gibson, for a consideration of 54,286 all of the Gardeau 
Reservation of 17,927 acres, except two square miles, or 1,280 acres, situated in 
Genesee County. According to Mar}- Jemison's narrative, Henry B. Gibson was 
associated vvitli Brooks and Clute in the purchase, and among other considerations, 
they bound themselves to pay her and her heirs and successors 5300 a year forever. 
In November, 1S18, Thomas Morris had conveyed to John Greig the preemptive 
title to 9,759 acres of the Gardeau Reservation ; in June, 1823, Joseph Higbee, as 
trustee for the creditors of Robert Morris, had conveyed from a tract of 58,570 
acres, held by him as such trustee, 6,974 52-100 acres of the Gardeau Reservation 
in Livingston County, to Henry B. Gibson ; in October, 1823, the latter conveyed 
to Micah Brooks and Jellis Clute 3,000 acres of the same reserved lands in the 
County of Livingston, for a consideration of 53.800. 

The following letter, written by Micah Brooks to Senator Rufus King, is inter- 
esting as sliowing the necessity of procuring a ratification of the sale by Mary 
Jeniison to him, of tlie Gardeau lands, by formal treaty: 

East Bloomfield, Ontario County, 
Nov. 30th, 1823. 

Dear Sir: — 

Yon will probal)ly recollect that when in the State Convention I sug- 
gested to you that I had an interest in one of the small Imlian Reservations in 
this part of the State and intended to make an attempt to extinguish the Indian 



xxii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

title to the >ame and niight need \-our assistance in getting a Coniiiiissiouer ap- 
pointed to hold a Treaty. I wonld now state to yon some of the circumstances 
attending this business and would solicit some aid from you if it would be con- 
sistent with your pnljlic duties. 

A Mr. Clute and myself had purchased the pre-emption title of about 4000 acres 
of the Gardeau Reservation. Mr. Gregg and Mr. Gibson of Canandaigua were 
the other proprietors of the Reservation and held the fee of Clutes and my share 
under a contract to convej- to us when we required it. Mr. Clute and myself 
undertook to negotiate with the Indians and to be at the whole expense attending 
the same for a stipulated sum. which sum is not payable or any part thereof until 
the conveyance of the land by the Indians is confirmed by the President and 
Senate. Pursuant to our arrangements a Treaty was held with the Seneca Nation 
of Indians under the authority of the United States at Moscow on the 3d of Sep- 
tember, last when about 1600 acres of land was conveyed to Mr. Gregg and Mr. 
Gibson. Mr. Carroll the Comr. on the part of the United States is now dead, Mr. 
Gregg and Mr. Gibson considering that they maj- now go into possession of the 
lands and as they pay vis nothing until the signature of the President to the 
Treaty is obtained, have no interest in calling this subject before them. 

Now Sir as we have been at much expense and trouble aside from the consid- 
eration mentioned in the Treaty, we feel an anxiety thai this subject may re- 
ceive the notice and attention of the President and Senate a^ soon as is conven- 
ient, on that account I have addressed this letter to you soliciting yonraid as far 
as would be consistent, in getting this subject before the President and Senate. 
Any information that would be important to me would be gratefully rec'd. 

In relation to this Treaty with the Indians Judge of Canandaigua 

was their Council, and I can assure you the Indians are all perfectly satisfied with 
the result of the Treaty. I am with much esteem 

Your humlile-Servant, 

Micah Brooks. 



APPENDIX NO. VII. 

M.VJdR V.VX C.\XIPEN'S I-ETT1:RS, to JIDGE TRH.\T COXCERXIN'G THK Sll.I.n AX 

C.\MPAIGX. 

Dansville, August 9th, :S4i. 
Dear Sir: — 

Yours of the 7th instant I have received. The subject on which you address 
me I have a deep Interest in, and should be happy to wait on you at any time 
you should make uie a visit. I was acquainted with Lieut. Boyd and his family, 
his mother was a widow & Lived in the village of Northumberland, Northumber- 
land County, State of Pennsylvania. She had three sons, John, William, & 
Thomas. She was a Woman of Strong Mind a Member of the Presl)yterian Church 
of that place. When the war had spread fire & sword over our Land, When the 
repose of our Defenceless Iidiabitants on our frontier Settlements was disturl)ed 



APPENDIX xxiii 

by the War whoop of the Savage, the Toniehake and the Sculping knife hail 
began the work of death, without any distinction for age or Sex then Mr~. Boyd 
gave her three Son-; to God and her Country with this Injunction Never to dis- 
honor or disgrace their Swords with any spot or .Stain of Cowartlice, which was 
fulfilled. Lieut. William Boyd fell in Sept. 1777 in the Battle of Brandewine 
Lieut. Thomas Boyd Sullivan Campaign. Capt. John Boj-d in April 17S7 fell into 
the hands of a Large part3- of Indians after a Severe Battle his men was nearly 
all killed. Capt. Horatio Jones was a Volunteer belonged to his Command & 
made a prisoner. In Aprile 17S2 I fell nijself a Second time into their hands 
and met with Capt. Boyd a prisoner in Lower Canada. 

I am With great Respects 

Vours & C, 

Moses Van Campeii. 

Saml. Treat Esquire, 

Dansville, Aug. i6th, 1S41. 
Dear Sir: — 
Mr. .Smith informed me this morning that you Wished to know of me i£ our 
whole Army Crossed the Genesee river to little Beards town. When our Army 
arrived at the Genesee river, it had reached its point of destination & was theu 
Under allowance of provisions we had a great work to do, to destroj'' their Corn- 
fields lor Several miles along the Valley of the Genesee river if my memory is 
Correct I think about two thousand Crossed over to Little Beards Town, they 
destroyed all the Cornfields in the Neighborhood Morris & I while the remainder 
of the army was destroying their Crops about the Genesee fiats & downwards I 
think it was a work of about three days. 

I am with great respects 

Vour obedient Servant 

Moses Van Campen. 

Saml. Treat E-quire. 

Dansville, August 17th, 1841. 
Dear Sir:— 

Yours of the i6th I did not receive till late last Evening respecting Sulli- 
vans Campaign. Written history is not Correct or my memory is very Treacherous 
which I presume it is. It does not give a correct account of the numljer of men 
• we lost, it gives no account of a Large Indian Village we destroyed on the waters 
of Shemung, Nor the battle we fought at a place Called Hogbackliile which was 
before the general battles fought below Newtown, and before Gen. Clinton 
joined Sullivan at Tioga point From the Valley of Honeoye on the march of our 
Army to the Head of Couesus lake their was no Stand made bj- the Indians. to 
give a battle. Maj. James Parr with his rifle men was on the advance & flanks of 
our army they discovered once in a while Indians Hanging on our flanks and was 
thought they would give battle at the head of Conesus Lake, at Hendersons flats 
was a Small Village & a Corn field which \Yas destroyed. The army halted to 
through a bridge across the swamp & Inlet of the lake it being deep mud. Lieut. 



xxiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Boyd was sent to recoiioiter the Coiiiitrv from that to a place now called Willianis- 
bnrgli. Boyd was aljsent one night, Sullivan first learned the fate of Boyd by 
the escape of Murphy & two others. Genl. Hands brigade Immediately ascend 
the hill on the west side of the Lake on his march to the place where Boyd fell, 
he fell in with a large quantity of Indian baggage, and no doubt the^' tnent to 
give battle when makeing the bridge. Hand I think did not Immediately March 
to Genesee, .\fter finishing the bridge the whole army moved on & Incaniped 
at fall brook. Intelligence was received, how I cannot tell that all their Villages 
was deserted, a Disposiscion of the .\rmy was made to destroy their Cornfields, 
& C. Little beards town was on the west Side of the river. I think Genl. & 
Hand was sent with about two thousand men to Little beards town they Crossed 
and recrossed the river tmtill Every Vistage of their fields was Destroyed to Mount 
Morris2& Canaseraga flats while generals Maxwell & Poor went down the river 
destroyed a Village below fall brook & their Cornfields. Indian Cabbins was 
found every place along the Valley of the Genesee. 

I have given you a Statement as near as my Memory Serves me. It may be 
that I may have Errod in some of the Statements, as 62 years have passed away 
since they took place. I am Respectfully 

Yours &C 

Moses Van Campen. 



APPENDIX NO. VIII. 

SPEECHES OF RED JACKET, CORXPLANTER AND OTHERS RESPECTING THE TREATY 

OF JULV 8, I7S8. 

In a speech l)y Reil Jacket delivered before Timothy Pickering at Tioga Point, 
two years after the treaty of Jul}' 8, 1788, the Seneca, after recounting the in- 
cidents of the negotiation, which was protracted through the night and till sun- 
rise the next morning, said: "And last Summer a Year ago, we came to Canan- 
daigua expecting to receive ten thousand Dollars, but then we found but five 
thousand to receive. When we discovered the Fraud, we had a Mind to apply to 
Congress, to see if the Matter could not be rectified, for, when we took the 
Money and shared it, every one here knows, that we had but about a Dollar apiece 
for all that Country. Mr. Street ! You very well know, that all our Lands conie-t 
to was but the Price of a few Hogsheads of Tobacco ! Gentlemen who stand by 
(looking around and addressing himself to the White People who were present), 
do not think hard of what has been said, .^t the Time of the Treaty, twenty 
Broaches would not buy half a Loaf of Bread, so that when we returned Home 
there was not a l)riglit Spot of Silver about us. The last Spring again, General 
Chapin stretched out his Hand to us to open a little Fire at Big Tree Flats; and 
then I had a little Talk with him ; and finding we had but a Shilling apiece to 
receive we desired him to shut up his Hand again. This is all we have to say 
at this Time. Mr. Street knows how hard it was for us to part with our Land. 



APPENDIX XXV 

And this we said, because we wish llie President to know how we have been 
treated." 

The Rev. Mr. Kirkland for his services at this Treaty, received 2,000 acres of 
land in the seventh township seventh range. 

In December, 1790, a large deputation of Senecas attended upon President 
Washington at Philadelphia, to state their grievances concerning this treat}-. The 
following speeches, interesting from their points of brilliant eloquence, and as 
mirrors of the feeling professed by the parlies, will further illustrate this 
Subject.* 

The Speech of the Corn Planter, Half Town, and Great Tree, Chiefs and 
Councillors of the Seneca Nation to the Great Council of the Thirteen Fires: 

Father. The voice of the Seneca Nations speaks to you the great Councillor, in 
whose Heart the wise Men of all the thirteen Fires have placed their Wisdom. 
It may be very small in your Ears and we therefore entreat you to hearken with 
Attention ; for we are about to speak of Things which are to us verj' great. When 
j'our Army entered the Country of the Six Nations we called you the Town De- 
stroyer; and to this Day wheii that Name is heard our Women look behind them 
and turn Pale, and our Children cling close to the Necks of their Mothers. Our 
Councillors and Warriors are Men, and cannot be afraid ; but their Hearts are 
grieved with the Fears of our Women and Children, and desire it may lie buried 
so deep as to be heard no more. 

When j'ou gave us Peace, we called you Father, because you promised to secure 
us in the Possession of our Lands. Do this, and so long as the Lauds shall re- 
main that beloved Name will live in the Heart of every Seneca. 

Fatlier. We mean to open our Hearts before you, and we earnestly desire that 
you will let us clearly understand what you resolve to do. When our Chiefs re- 
turned from the Treaty of Fort Stanwix and laid before our Council what had 
been done there, our Nation was surprised to liear how great a Country 3'ou had 
compelled them to give up to you, without your paying us an^-thing for it. 
Everyone said that your Hearts were yet swelled with Resentment against us for 
what happened during the War, but that one Day you would reconsider it with 
more Kindness. We asked each other, what have we done to deserve such severe 
Chastisement? 

Father. When 3-ou kindled your thirteen Fires separately, the wise Men that 
assembled at them tohl us that you were all Brothers, the children of one great 
Father who regarded also the Red People as his Children. They called us Broth- 
ers and invited us to his Protection : they told us that he resided bej'oud the 
Great Water, where the Sun first rises ; that he was a King whose Power no Peo- 
ple could resist, and that his Goodness was as bright as that Sun. What they 
said went to our Hearts; we accepted tlie Invitation, and promised to obey him. 
What the Seneca Nation promise they faithfully perform ; and when you refused 
obedience to that King, he commanded us to assist his beloved Men in making 
you Sober. In obeying him we di<l no more than yourselves had led us to promise. 
The men who claimed this Promise told us that you were Children ami had no 

♦Hough's Incliau Treaties. 



xxvi HISTORY OF LIVrXGSTOX COUNTY 

Guns ; that when the}- had sh^iken you, you would submit. We hearkened to 
them aud were deceived, until your Army approached our Towns. We were de- 
ceived ; but your People in teaching us to confide in that King had helped to <le- 
ceive, and we now appeal to your Heart — Is the Blame all ours? 

Father. When we saw that we were deceived and heard the Invitation which 
you gave us to draw near to the Fire which you kindled, and talk with you con- 
cerning Peace, we made haste towards it. You then told us that we were in your 
Hand, and that by closing it you could crush us to nothing, and you demanded 
of us a great Country as the Price of that Peace which you hail offered us, as if 
our Want of Strength had destroyed our Rights. Our Chiefs had felt your Power 
and were unable to contend against you, and they therefore gave up that Country. 
What they agreed to has bound our Nation; but your .-Vnger against us must by 
this Time be cooled, ami although our Strength has not increased nor your Power 
become less, we ask you to consider calmly. Were the Terms dictated to us Dy 
your Commissioners reasonable and just? 

Father. Your Commissiouers, when they drew the Line which separated the 
Land given up to you from that which you agreed should remain to lie ours, did 
most solemly promise that we shimld be secured in the peaceable Possession of the 
Lands which we inhabited East and North of that Line. Does this Promise bind 
you ? 

Hear now, we beseech you. what has since happened concerning that Land? 
On the Day in which we finished the Treaty at Fort Stanwix, Commissioners of 
Pennsylvania told our Cliiefs that they had come there to purchase from us all the 
Lands belonging to us, within the Limits of their State; and they tolil us their 
Line would strike the River Susqueliannah below the Tioga Branch. They then 
left us to consider of the Bargain till the next Day; on the next Day we let them 
know- we were unwilling to sell all the Lands within their State, and proposed to 
let them have a Part of it, which we pointed out to tlietn on their Map. They 
told us that they must have the whole ; that it was already ceded to them by the 
great King at the Time of making Peace with 3-0U, and was their own ; but they 
said that they would not take Advantage of that, and were willing to paj- us for it 
after the Manner of their Ancestors. Our Chiefs were unable to contend at that 
Time, and therefore they sold the Lands up to the Line which was then shown 
them as the Line of that State. Wliat the Commissioners liail said about the Land 
having been ceded to them at the Peace our Chiefs considered as intended only to 
lessen the price, and thej- passed it by with verj- little Notice; but since that 
Time we have heard so much from others about the Right to our Lands which the 
King gave when you made Peace with him tliat it is our earnest Desire that you 
tell us what it means. 

Father. Our Nation empowered John Livingston to let Part of our Lands on 
Rent to be paid to us. He told us that he was sent by Congress to do this for us, 
anil we fear he has deceived us in the Writing he obtained from us. F'or since 
the Time of our giving that Power a man by the Name of Phelps lias come among 
ut and claimed our whole Country Northward of the Line of Pennsylvania, under 
Purchase from that Livingston, to whom he said he had paid J2o,ooo for it. He 



APPENDIX xxvii 

said al>o that lie hail boiis<lit likewise troiii tlie Council of tlie Tliirteen Fire<, and 
paid them J20.000 for the same. 

And he said also that it did not belong to u^, for that the great King had ceded 
the whole of it when you made Peace witli him. Thus he claimed the whole 
Country North of Pennsylvania and West of the Lands belonging to the Cayuga. 
He demanded it ; he insisted on his demand and declared that he would have it 
all. It was impossible for us to grant him this and we immediately refused it. 
After some Days he proposed to run a Line at a small Distance Eastward of our 
Western Boundary, which we also refused to agree to. He then threatened us with 
immediate War if we did not conipU". 

Upon this Threat our Chiefs held a Council, and they a.greed that no Event of 
War could be worse than to be driven with their Wives and Children from the 
only Country- whicli they had a Right to, and, therefore, weak as our Nation was, 
they determined to take the Chance of War, rather than to submit to such unjust 
Demands, which seemed to have no Bounds. Street, the great Trader to Niagara, 
was then with us, having come at the Request of Phelps, and as he always pro- 
fessed to be our good Friend, we consulted him upon the Subject. He also told 
us that our Lauds had been ceded by the King, and that we must give them up. 

Astonished at what we heard from ever}- Quarter, with Hearts aching with Com- 
passion for our Women and Children, we were thus compelled to give up all our 
Country North of Pennsylvania and East of Genesee River up to the Fork, and 
East of a Line drawn from that Fork to the Pennsylvania Line. 

For this Land Phelps agreed to pay us Sio,ooo in Hand, and fi^ooo a Year for- 
ever. 

He paid us ^2,500 in Hand, Part of the |io.ooo, and he sent us to come last 
Spring to receive our Monej- : but instead of paying us the Remainder of the 
*io,ooo and the *i,ooo due for the first Year, he offered us no more than 5500. and 
insisted that he agreed with us for that sum to be paid yearly. We debated with 
him for six Days, during all of which Time he persisted in refusing to pay us our 
just Demand, and he insisted that we should receive the ;f5oo ; and Street from 
Niagara also insisted ou our receiving the Money as it was offered to us. The 
last Reason he assi.gned for continuing to refuse paying us, was, that the King 
had ceded the Lands to the Thirteen Fires and that he had bought them from you 
and paid you for them. We could bear this Confusion no lon.ger, and determined 
to press through every Difficulty and lift up our Voice that you might hear us, 
and to claim that Security in the Possession of our Lands which \our Com- 
missioners so solemnly promised us. Aud we now entreat you to enquire into our 
Complaints and redress our Wrongs. 

Father. Our Writings were lodged in the Hands of Street of Niagara, as we 
supposed him to be our Friend : but wlien we saw Phelps consulting with Street 
on every Occasion, we doubted of his Honesty towards us, and we have since heard 
that he was to receive for his Endeavors to deceive us, a Piece of Land ten Miles 
in width West of tlie Genesee River and nearly forty Miles in length, extending 
to Lake Ontario, and tlie Lines of this Tract have been run accordingly, altliougli 



xxviii HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

no I'arl of it is within tlie Bonnds -niiich limit his I'nrchase. No doubt he meant 
to deceive us. 

Father. You have said we are in your Hand and that liy closing it you would 
crush us to nothing. Are you determined to crush us? If so tell us so, that those 
of our Nation who have become your Children and Iiave determined to die so may 
know what to do. 

In this Case, one Chief has said, he would ask you to put liini out of I'ain. 
.\nother, who will not think of dying Ijy the Hand of his Father or of his Brother, 
has said he will retire to the Chateaugay, eat of the fatal Root and sleep with hi> 
Fathers, in Peace. 

Before you determine on a Measure so unjust, look up to God who made us as 
well as you. We hope he will not permit you to destroy the whole of our Nation. 

Father. Hear our Case : Many Nations inhabited this Country, but they had no 
Wisdom, and, therefore, they warred together. The Six Nations were powerful, 
and compelled them to Peace ; the Lands, for a great Extent, were given up to 
them : but the Nations which were not destroyed, all continued on those Lands, 
and claimed the Protection of tlie Six Nations'as the Urothers of their Fathers. 
They were Men, and when at Peace had a Right to live upon the Earth. The 
French came among us and built Niagara; they became our Fathers and took 
Care of us. Sir Wm. Johnson came and took that Fort from the French; he 
became our Father, and promised to take Care of us, and did so until you were 
too strong for his King. To him we gave four Miles around Niagara as a Place 
of Trade. We have already said how we came to join against you ; we saw that 
we were wrong; we wished for Peace; you demanded a great Country to be given 
up to \ou ; it was surrendered to you as the Price of Peace, and we ought to have 
Peace and Possession of the little Land which you then left us. 

Father. When that great Country was given up. there were but few Chiefs 
present, and they were compelled to give it up, and it is not the Six Nations only 
that reproach those Chiefs that have given up that Country. The Chippewas and 
all those Nations who live on those Lands Westward, call to us and ask us, Brothers 
of our Fathers, where is the Place you have reserved for us to lie down upon? 

Father. You have compelled us to do that which has made us ashamed. We 
have nothing to answer to the Children of the Brothers of our Fathers. When last 
Spring they called upon us to go to War to secure them a Bed to lie upon, the 
Senecas entreated thoui to be Quiet till we had spoken to you. But on our Way 
down we heard that your Army had gone towards the Country which those Nations 
inhabit, and if they meet together the best Blood on both Sides will stain the 
Ground. 

Father. We will not conceal from you that the Great God and not Men has 
preserved the Corn Planter from the Hands of his own Nation. For they ask con- 
tinually. Where is the Land which our Children and their Children after tliem are 
to lie down upon? You told us, say they, that the Line drawn from Pennsylvania 
to Lake Ontario wouUl mark it forever on the East, and the Line running from 
Beaver Creek to Pennsylvania would mark it on the West, and we see that it is 
not so, for first one and then another come and take it away by Order of that 



APPENDIX xxix 

People which you tell u> promised to secure it to us. He is silent, for he has 
nothing to answer. 

When the Sun goes down, he opens his Heart before God, and earlier tliaii that 
Sun appears again upon the Hills, he gives Thanks for his Protection during the 
Night; for he feels, that among Men, become desperate by their Danger, it is God 
only that can preserve him. He loves Peace, and all he had in Store he has 
given to those who have been robbed by your People, lest thej- sliould plunder 
the Innocent to repay themselves. The whole Season which others have employed 
in providing for their Families, he has spent in his endeavors to preserve Peace, 
and at this Moment his Wife and Children are U'ing on the Ground and in Want 
of Food; his heart is in Pain for them, but he perceives that the Great God will 
try his Firmness in doing what is right. 

Father. The Game which the Great Spirit sent into our Country for us to eat is 
going from among us. We thought that he intended that we should till the 
Ground with the Plow, as the White People do, and we talked to one another 
about it. But before we speak to )-ou concerning this, we must know from you 
whether 3-ou mean to leave us and our Children an}- Land to till. Speak plainly 
to us concerning this great Business. 

All the Lands we have been speaking of belong to the Six Nations. No Part of 
it ever belonged to the King of England, and he could not give it to vou. The 
Laud we live on our Fathers received from God and they transmitted it to ii~ for 
our Children, and we cannot part with it. 

Father. We told you we would open our Hearts to you. Hear us once more. 

At Fort Stanwix we agreed to deliver up those of our People who should do you 
any Wrong, that you might try them and punish them according to \-our Law. 
We delivered up two Men accordingly, but instead of trying them according to 
3-our Law, the lowest of your People took them from 3'our Magistrate and put 
them immediately to Death. It is just to punish Murder with Death, but the 
Senecas will not deliver up their People to Men who disregard the Treaties of 
their own Nation. 

Father. Innocent Men of our Nation are killed one after another, and of our 
best Families; but none of your People who have committed the Murder have 
been punished. 

We recollect that j-ou did not promise to punish those who killed our People, 
and we now ask : Was it intended that your People should kill the Senecas, and 
not only remain unpunished by you but be protected against the Revenge of the 
next of Kin? 

Father. These are to us verj' great Things. We know that ^-ou are very Strong, 
and we have heard that you are Wise, and we wait to hear j'our Answer to what 
we have said, that we ma}- know that you are Just. 

Signed at Philadelphia, Dec. 1 CORN PLANTER, 

I, 1790, in Presence of ( HALF Tt)WN, 

Joseph Nicholson, Inteqareter. GREAT TREE. 
Ty. MATLACK. 



XXX HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON' COUNTY 

The Replj- of the President of the rniteil Stales to the Speech of Corn Planter, 
Half Town ami (ireat Tree, Chiefs ami Councillors of the Seneca Nation of Imlians, 

I, the President of the United States, by uiy own Mouth, an<l by a written 
Speech signed by niy own Hand and sealed with the Seal of the United Slates, 
speak to the Seneca Nation and desire their Attention, and that they would keep 
this Speech in Remembrance of the Friendship of the United States. 

I have receiveil your .Speech with Satisfaction, as a Proof of your Confidence in 
the Justice of the United States and I have attentively examined the several 
Objects you have laid betore me, whether delivered bj' jour own Chiefs at Tioga 
Point in the last Month to Colonel Pickering, or laid before me in the present 
Month by the Corn Planter and other Seneca Chiefs now in this City. 

In the first Place I observe to you, and request it may sink deep into your 
Minds, that it is my Desire anil the Desire of the United States, that all the 
Miseries of the late War shouhl be forgotten and buried forever. That in future, 
the United States and the Six'Nations shoulil be truly Brothers, promoting each 
other's Prosperity by Act.i of mutual Friendship and Justice. 

I am not uninformed that the Six Nations have been led into some Difficulties 
with respect to the sale of their Lands since the Peace. But I must inform you 
that these Evils arose before the present Government of the United States was 
established, and when the separate States and Imiividuals under their Authority, 
undertook to treat with the Indian Tribes respecting tlie Sale of their Lands. 
But the Case is now entirely altereil. The General Government only has the Power 
to treat with the Indian Nations, and any Treaty formed and hehl without its 
Authorit)- will not be binding. 

Here, then, is the Security for the Remainder of 5-our. Lands. No State, nor 
Person, can purchase jour Lands, unless at a general Treatj-, held under the 
.Authority of the United States. The General Government will never consent to 
your being defrauded, but it will protect jou in all your just Rights. 

Hear well, and let it be lieanl well bj' everj- Person in your Nation, that the 
President of the United Stales declares that the General Government considers 
itself bound to protect j'ou in all the Lands secured to you by the Treaty of Fort 
Stanwix, the 22d of October, 17S4, excepting such Parts as jou maj- since fairly 
have sold to Persons properly authorized to purchase of j'OU. You complain that 
John Livingston and Oliver Phelps, assisted by Mr. Street of Niagara, have 
obtained j'our Lands, and that thej- have not complied with their .-Vgreement. It 
appears upon Inquirj- of the Governor of New York that John Livingston was not 
legallj' authorized to treat with von, and that everjthing that he did with j-ou 
has been declared Null and Void, so' that jou may rest Easv on that .\ccount. 
But it does not appear from any Proofs yet in possession of Government that Oliver 
Phelps has defrauded j-ou. If however j'on have any Cause of Complaint against 
him, and can make satisfactory Proof thereof, the Federal Courts will be open to 
you for Redress as to all other Persons. But your great Object se^nis to be the 
Securitj- of j'onr remaining Lands; that, therefore, the Sale of your Lands in 
future will depend entirelj' upon yourselves. But that when you niaj' find it your 
Interest to sell any Part of jour Lands, the Uniteil States must be present bj- their 



APPENDIX xxxi 

Agent and will be your Security that you shall not be ilefiaudeil in the Bargain 
you may make. 

It will however be important that before you make any further Sales of your. 
Lands yoii should determine among yourselves who are the Persons among jou 
who shall give such Conveyances thereof as shall be binding upon your Nation, 
and forever prevent all Disputes relative to the Validity of the Sale. 

That besides the before mentioned Security' tor your Land, you will perceive by 
the Law of Congress for regulating Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, 
the fatherlj- Care the United States intend to take of the Indians. For the par- 
ticular Meaning of this Law, I refer you to the Explanations given thereof by 
Col. Timothy Pickering at Tioga, which with the Law are herewith delivered to 
you. 

You have said in \"our Speech that the Game is going away from among you, 
and that you thought it the Design of the Great Spirit that j-ou should till the 
Ground, but before you speak on that Subject you want to know whether the 
Union means to leave you any Land to till. You now know that all the Lands 
secured to you by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, excepting such Parts as you may 
since have fairly sold, are yours, and that only your own Acts can convey them 
away. Speak, therefore, your Wishes on the Subject of tilling the Ground. The 
United States will be happj- in affording you Assistance in the only Business 
which will add to your Numbers and Happiness. The Murders that have been 
committed upon some of your People Ijy the bad White Men I sincerely lament 
and reprobate, and I earnestly hope that the real Murderers will be secured and 
punished as tliej- deserve. This Business has been sufficiently explained to you 
here, by the Governor of Pennsylvania, and by Colonel Pickering on Behalf of the 
United States at Tioga. The Senecas may be assured that the Rewards offered for 
apprehending the Murderers will be continued until they are secured tor trial, 
and that when they shall be apprehended they will be tried and piuiished as if 
they had killed White Men. 

Having answered the most material Parts of your Speech, I shall inform j-ou 
that some bad Indians and the Outcasts of several Tribes who reside at the Miami 
Village, have long continued their Murders and Depredations along the Frontiers 
lying along the Ohio. That they have not only refused to listen to my V'oice 
inviting them to Peace, but that upon receiving it they renewed their Incursions 
and Murders with greater Violence than ever. I have therefore been obliged to 
strike these bad People in order to make them sensible of their Madness. I hope 
they will hearken to Reason and not require to be further chastised. The United 
States desire to be the Friends of the Indians upon Terms of Justice and 
Humanity; but they will not suffer the Depredations of the bad Indians to go 
unpunished. My desire is that you would caution all the Senecas and Six Nations 
to prevent their young Men from joining these Miami Indians, for the United 
Stales cannot distinguish the Tribes to which bad Indians belong, and every Tribe 
must take care of their own People. The Merits of the Corn Planter, and his 
Friendship of the United States, are well known to me, and shall not be forgotten ; 
and as a Mark of the Esteem of the United States, I have directed the Secretary of 



xxxii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

War to make liim a Present of Dollars either iu Money or Goods as the 

Corn Planter shall like best; and he niaj- depend upon the future Care and Kind- 
ness of the United States; and I have also directed the Secretary of War to make 
suitable Presents to the other Chiefs in Philadelphia, and also that some further 
Tokens of Friendship be forwarded to the other Chiefs now in their Nation. 

Remember my Words, Senecas! Continue to be strong in your Friendship for 
the United Slates as the only rational Ground of your future Happiness, and you 
may rely upon their future kindness and Protection. An Agent shall soon be 
appointed to reside in some Place convenient to the Senecas and the Six Nations. 
He will represent the United States. Apply to him on all Occasions. If any 
Man bring you evil Reports of the Intentions of the United States, mark that Man 
as your enemy ; for he will mean to deceive you and lead you into Trouble. The 
United States will be True and Faithful to their Engagemeuls. 

Given under nu' Hand and the Seal of the United States this 
(L. S. ) 29th day of December, 1790 and in the ijtli Year of the 

Sovereignty and Independence of the United States. 

Geo. Washington. 
By the President. 

Th. Jefferson. 
By Command of the President of the United Stales. 
H. Knox, Sec. for the Dep. War. ' 



APPENDIX NO. IX. • 

AX .\CCOUNT OF THE SfRVEY M.\DE BV M.\JOR HOOPS OF THE MORRIS l"fRCH.\SE. 

Soon after :\Ir. Morris maile his purchase of Phelps and Gorliam he employed 
Major Hoops who, it will be remembered, accompanied General Sullivan in his 
Expedition to the Genesee country, to conduct a survey of the tract. .\n agree- 
ment was made between him and Phelps aud Gorham contemporaneously with the 
convej-ance, by which he was obligated to paj- them for the quantity of land the 
tract should be found to contain in excess of one million acres, and Morris in his 
deed stipulated with the English association for an accurate survey of the purchase. 
Major Hoops early discovered, what had been suspected, a substantial error in 
running the pre-emption line. The cession to Massachusetts included all the 
territory in the State of New York west of a line due north and south from the 
eighty-second mile stone on the Pennsylvania border. A line had been run by 
surveyors representing Phelps and Gorham and the grantees of a patent from the 
State of New York, Colonel Ma.xwell lieing selected by Plielps and Gorham, the 
result of which had been disappointing to the latter as it placeil the line a con- 
siderable distance west of Seneca lake; the line thus established is known as the 
"Old Pre-emption Line." The survey under the supervision of Hoops was made 
by Mr. Ellicolt and Judge Porter, with such care that the location of the true 
pre-emption line by them was never questioned. "In examining the old survey, 

I. From Hough's ludiau Treaties. 



APPENDIX xxxiii 

Major Hoop> had discovered the precise points of deviation to the westward. It 
had commenced soon after leaving the Pennsj-lvania line, gradually bearing off 
until it crossed the outlet of Crooked lake, where an aljrupt offset was made, and 
then an inclination for a few miles, almost in a northwest course ; then as if fear- 
ful that it was running west farther than was necessary to secure a given object the 
line was made to incline to the east until it passed the foot of Seneca lake, when 
it was run nearly north and south to Lake Ontario three miles west of Sodus Bay. 
The new line terminated very near the center of the Bay. The strip of land 
between the two lines was called the 'Gore!' Judge Porter's explanation of the 
palpable fraud was as follows: ' Geneva was then a small settlement beautifully 
situated on Seneca lake, rendered quite attractive by its lying beside an old Indian 
settlement in which there was an orchard.' "* The land included in the "Gore" 
was discovered by the survey to contain nearly 85,000 acres. This actually belonged 
to Charles Williamson, the representative of the Pulteney associates. 

The following is a copy of the "Return of Survey" of the whole Phelps and 
Gorham purchase made by Major Hoops, together with an acknonledgment bv 
Phelps and Gorham of the adjustment by Morris for the excess of land: 

Contents of sundry survej-s made in the years 1791 and 1792, in the County of 
Ontario and State of New York. 

First, Contents of a tract of land westward of the Genesee river, begitming on 
the west bank of said river at a stake bearing north twenty-four degrees, thirty 
minutes west, and distant eight links from a white maple blazed and having three 
notches on the sides next the stake, being in a parallel of latitude two miles north 
of Kanawageras village and bounded as follows: Eastward by that part of the river 
which is between the place of lieginning above mentioned and the river's mouth; 
Northward In- part of the south shore of Lake Ontario; Northwestward by a line 
parallel to the general course of the river, where the river is the boundary to the 
eastward, and south b> a line extending from the river twelve miles west on the 
first mentioned parallel of latitude excepting certain tracts sold by Messrs. Gor- 
ham and Phelps, previous to their sale to Robert Morris, Esq. , viz : the tract 
marked in a former survey A No. i, sold to Israel Chapin and Samuel Street; 
the tract marked in a former survey C No. I, sold to Ebenezer Hunt and others, 
and five equal undivided eighth parts of the tract marked in said former survey C 
No. 2, on the shore of Lake Ontario, sold to Smith Jones and others. 



Contents 

Deduct an arm of Braddoc's Bav. 



Acres. 


R. 


P. 


114,857 ' 


' 2 ' 


' 38 


57 ' 


' ' 


' 37 



Contents of the township marked in a former 114,800 " 2 " 1 

survey C No. 2 — 25,156 "2 " 262^' 

Deduct Bradiloc's Bay 936 " 2" 23" 

" 4 ponds east of said Bay 1620 "o"o. 2,556 " 2 " 23 



2,8250 "o "0x3= 8,475 " o " o 
Contents of a tract south of Ch,ipin and Street's Township 399 " i " 2 



Total 123,674" 3" 3 

•Turner's Phelps aud Gorham Purchase, p. 247. 



xxxiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

The general survey of the above tract was made by Frederick Saxton. Adam 
Hoops, John Adluni and Augustus Porter, and calculated by Frederick Saxton and 
Adam Hoops. It did not close, probably from the difference of the magnetic 
variation between the observations, which the obscurity of the weather prevented 
being made so frequently as could have been wished on the traverse of the river 
and lake. The error that might have resulted was about thirty-tliree acres (not 
more) and probably not near so much. It was therefore rejected, being inconsid- 
erable with regard to the number of courses and extent of the survey. 

A. The field notes are contained in the enclosure marked No. i. West Genesee. 

B. 2d, Contents of sundry townships surveyed by Augustus 

Porter as per his returns in the enclosure marked No. 2 

Augustus Porter's return 131,499 " 2 " 29 

Note, the field notes of township No. 12, 7th range are in 
No. I West Genesee. 

C. 3d, Contents of sundry townships surveyed by Frederick 
Saxton as per his general statement in an enclosure marked 

No. 3, Contents, &c 202,956" 3" 31 

D. 4th, Contents of sundrj- townships surveyed by Thomas Davis 

and Robert James as per their field books 722,499 " o " 26 

5th Contents of sundry tracts between a line formerly run as 
the Massachusetts pre-emption line and the true pre-emption 
line run by Messrs. Armstrong, EIHcott, and Saxton as per 
enclosure marked No. 4, 

E. Contents, &c 84,896 " 3 " 5 

Note. The offsets were made bj- Morgan Jones, Augustus 
Porter, and Frederick Saxton. 

6th, Contents of township No. i : ist range, eastern bound- 
ary, part of the line formerh' run for the pre-emption line; 
North boundary re-surveyed by Morgan Jones and calculated 

by Adam Hoops, and Frederick Saxton 25,288 "2 '" 26 

See Morgan Jones' notes in an enclosure marked No. 4. — 



o 



Contents of West Genesee 123,1174 

Contents of Augustus Porter's survey 131,499 " 2 " 29 

Contents of Frederick Saxton's survey 202,956 " 3 " 3: 

Contents of Thomas Davis and Robert James' survey 722,499 " o " 26 

Contents of sundry tracts bounding on pre-emption line 84,896 " 3 " 5 

Contents of township No. i, ist range 25,288 " 2 " 26 



Total 1,290,816 

Deduct. 

From township No. 6, 4th range sold to John 
Stone and others 8,720 

From township No. 12, 7th range, sold to 
Ezel Scott 900 " 

From township No. 7, 7th range, sold to S. 
Kirkland 2,000 ' 

From the 6th range, sold to E. H. Robins, Esq. 12,500 ' 

Mr. Porter, who surveyed township No. 13, 
2d range, having been misled by the mistake of 
a former survey- inchuled part of No. 12 of the 
same range, but having noted the northeast 



60 ' 


' 


' ' 


' 


' 


' 



APPENDIX XXXV 

corner of No. I2 lias furnished the means of 

calculating the error which is i.SSi " 2 " 30 

From township No. 3, 3cl range, i lake anil 
part of another 245" o" o 

26,246 " 2 " 30 
Total 1.264,569 " I •• 10 

The above are the contents of sundry townships and tracts of land in the County 
of Ontario and State of New York, sold by Messrs. Gorham and Phelps to the 
Honorable Robert Morris, Esq. 

The several surveys were made by the persons whose names are hereinbefore 
mentioned, and their field books and notes, reference being had thereto as directed 
in the margin at A, B, C, D, E, will show the surveys of the particular townships 
and tracts. 

Returned at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania this 4th daj- of February, 
Anno Domini, 1793. 

The contents being as above written in figures one million, two hundred and 
sixty-four thousand, five hundred, and sixtj--nine acres, one rod, and ten perches. 

A true copy singed A. Hoops, surve3-or. 

Compared with the original ) 
Philadelphia, i6tli Feb., 1793. )' 

Robert Morris having liy the articles of agreement between him and Messrs. 
Phelps and Gorham of the i8th of November, 1790, agreed to pay them for the 
surplus which the lands they had then conveyed to him should be found to con- 
tain bej'ond one million of acres, and it appearing from the surveys withia speci- 
fied, that the ;aid surplus doth amount to two hundreil and ninety thousand, 
eight hundred and sixteen acres, from which the deductions within specified, 
amounting to twent3--six thousand, two hundred and forty-six acres, two roods, 
and thirty perches being made, leaves a residue of two hundred and sixty-four 
thousand, five hundred and sixty-nine acres, one rood and ten perches to which 
being added three thousand acres as the amount finally agreed on, between the 
parties of a tract on the west side of Sodus Bay and not included in the within 
surveys, the said surplus quantity of land to be paid for by the said Robert Morris 
will be two hundred and sixty-seven thousand, five hundred and si.xt3--nine acres, 
two roods and thirty perches, which at eight pence half penny Massacliusetts cur- 
rency per acre amounts to nine thousand, four hundred and seventy-six pounds, 
eight shillings, and which said sum of ^'9,476 " S " o, Messrs. Gorham and 
Phelps do acknoweldge to have received from Mr. Morris, and the articles of 
agreement between them have been accordingly' cancelled by the consent of the 
parties, and also with the consent of Mr. Chas. Williamson to whom Mr. Morris 
hath since conveyed the lands, and who to show his privity to these matters, hath 
together with the said parties hereunto subscribed his name. 

Dated at Philadelphia the lotli day of February, 1793. 

(Signed) Robt. Morris, Chas. Williamson, 

(Copy.) Oliver Phelps, Natli. Gorham. 



xxxvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

APPENDIX NO. X. 

THOMAS MORRIS'S NARRATIVE. 

The Country called the Genesee Country, wa> originally claimed both bv the 
States of New York and Massachusetts. Connnissiouers having l)een appointed, in 
17S6, by both these State>, to settle their claims, as well to the jurisdiction as to 
the right of soil, on the sixteenth of December, in that year, the latter was ceded 
to Massachusetts and the former to New York. 

In 1787 or '88, Messrs. Gorham and Plielps purchased from the Stale of Massa- 
chusetts, the pre-emptive right to the territory that had been thus ceded to her. 

I am possessed of no eviilence showing the amount of consideration money paid 
or contracted to be paid, for this territory; but m}' rceoUection is, that it was 
seventy thousand pounds. 

Subsequent to this purchase, Messrs. Gorham and I'help-- prevailed on the 
Legislature of Massachusetts to take back the four millions of acres. West of the 
Genesee river, and to reduce the amount of their purchase money to thirtv-one 
thousand pounds. 

On the eightli of July, 17S8. Messrs. Gorliam and Phelps extinguished the native 
Tight to these lands. The amount paid to the Indians, including presents, for the 
lands thus sold by them, appears, from the accompanying Account Ciirreiil, to 
have been a principal of four thousand, three hundred, and nine pounds and au 
annuity of five hundred dollars. 

On the eighteenth of November, 1790, my father, the late Robert Morris, of 
Philadelphia, bought of Messrs. Gorham and Phelps, twelve hundred thousand 
acres oj the lands to which the native title had been extinguished. I have no 
Document showing the amount i)aid for this purchase; 'but my recollection is, 
that it was seventy thousand pounds. 

In the year 1791, ray father sold, through his Agent, William Temple Franklin, 
a grandson of Doctor Franklin, to Sir William Pulteney and Governor Hornby, 
the lands he had bought from Messrs. Gorham and Phelps. I have no Document 
showing the amount of consideration mone}' paid by these gentlemen; but my 
recollection is, that it was seventy thousand pounds sterling. The property pur- 
chased was conveyed to Captain Charles Williamson, who was appointed liy the 
purchasers, their .-\gent and Attorney to manage the same. 

You will perceive, from my father's letters and his Instructions to Colonel 
Samuel Ogdeu, that, when he sent that gentleman to Boston, as his Agent, in 
January, 1791, to purchase from the Government of Massachusetts, the four millions 
of acres which tlie3' had received back from Messrs. Gorham and Phelps, he con- 
templated that those gentlemen would be concerned with him to the extent of 
one-half, and that they had the option of becoming so; but they having declined^ 
being concerned, on the terms asked by the State, my father became the sole 
purchaser. Whether the title derived from the State was, in the first instance, 
vested in Mr. Ogdeu and by him transferred to my father, or whether the convey- 
ance was direct from the State to my father, I do not know. The Records in the 
Secretary of State's office, where all these Deeds are recorded, will show how this 



APPENDIX xxxvii 

is. The uuiulier of acres contained iu this purchase was computed to be four 
millions of acres; and, though I have no papers showing the amount paid for 
tbeoi, my recollection is, that it was one hundred thousand pounds, Massachusetts 
money. 

Some of the speeches and papers accompanying this statement show that, in the 
year 1790, a Treaty was held by Colonel Pickering with the Six Nations, at Tioga. 

It appears, from a speech of Cornphinter's to General Washington and the Presi- 
dent's answer to it, that in the month of December of the same j-ear, a conference 
had 1)een had between some of the Seneca Chiefs in Philadelphia and General 
Washington. At this conference, as you will observe from Coinplanter's speech, 
he complained of having been imposed upon b)- Mr. Oliver Phelps, whom he 
charged with not having paid to the Senecas the full amount that he had agreed to 
give for the lands purcliased from them. From this charge, you will also perceive 
that Mr. Deane, who was the Interpreter at the Treaty w-hen that purchase was 
made, iu his Deposition, entirely exonerates Mr. Phelps. In the same Speech Mr. 
John Livingston is charged with having practiced a deception on them, in procur- 
ing a "Lease" of their country. 

In giving an account of this latter transaction, I must observe that I am not 
possessed of any Document whatever in relation to it; and that the Lease in ques- 
tion and the proceedings of the Legislature annulling i.t, and the energetic manner 
in which Governor George Clinton dispossessed those who had settled on a part of 
the "Military Tract," under Titles deriveil from Mr. Livingston, had all taken 
place a short time before I became an inhabitant of this State. My statement, 
therefore, is derived from the representations that were current and undisputed, 
shortly after these events took place, and from what I have frequently heard the 
late Judge Benson, then a distinguished memljer of our State Legislature, and who 
took an active part in annulling Mr. Livingston's "Lease," say ou this subject. 

Prior to the adoption of the present Constitution of the United States, the Con- 
stitution of this State forbade a purchase from Indians, of Lands within the juris- 
diction of this State, without the sanction of the Legislature. 

Mr. John Livingston, of Oak Hill, Columbia county, in order to evade this 
provision in the Constitution, procured from the .Six Nations a "Lease" for nine 
hundred and ninety-nine years, and for a consideration of twenty thousand, and an 
annual payment of two thousand, dollars of all the country comprising the 
"Military Tract," and extending from the Pennsylvania Line to Lakes Ontario 
and Erie, and including even Presquisle, in Ohio. 

The Legislature having met shortly after the obtaining of this enormous Grant, 
they passed a Law annulling it, declaring it to be an evasion of the Constitution, 
and that such a '-'Lease" was in fact a "purchase." 

.\s many persons had taken possession and settled niuler Livingston's Title, on 
parts of this land, situated in the present Counties of Cayuga and Onondaga, and 
had evinced a uisposition to hold the same by force and in defiance of the Laws of 
the State, Governor (ieorge Clinton ordereil William CoU)raith, then Sheriff of the 
County of Herkimer, in which those lands were then situated, to dispossess those 
intruders and to burn their dwelling-. Toenal)le tlie Sheriff more effectually to 



xxxviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

execute these orders, the Governor ordered out :\ military force. These people 
were expelled from their possessions, tlieir houses burnt, and one of tlieir rinj;- 
leaders, by the name of Seely, was Ijrought to New York, in irons, for trial on a 
charge of High Treason. 

This object having been effected, the State, sometime thereafter, made a pur- 
chase from the Indians, ot the country called the "Military Tract.' and extend- 
ing to the borders of the lands that had been ceded to Massachusetts. This is 
what General Washington alluded to in his Speech, in 1790, when he said that, 
upon iuquiry from the Governor of New York, John Livingston had no legal right 
to treat with the Indians; and that his acts were null and void. 

I am not certain, but my impression is that Messrs. Gorhani and Phelps, prior 
to their purchase from the Indians, either apprehending that Livingston's trans- 
actions with them might increase his difficulties iu obtaining the native title or 
otherwise interfere with his purchase, gave to Mr. Livingston and his associates 
the Townships known as the Lessee Townships, being, I believe, four in number, 
thereby quieting their claim. 

Foiled in their attempt, by the energy displayed by the Legislature and the 
Governor, the next effort of Mr. Livingston and his associates was to form a A'e:i' 
Sla/c out of the country West of Seneca Lake and extending from the Pennsyl- 
vania Line to Lakes Ontario and Erie. Their object, in their endeavors to effect 
this pioject, was to get rid of that part of the Constitution of New York which 
had annulled their "Lease" to the lands West of the Genesee river. Accordingly, 
a meeting had been called by these people, to assemble at the town of Geneva, 
on the tenth of November, 1793, to take the necessary steps to carry their scheme 
into effect. To crush, in the bud, this disorganizing attempt, the Resolutions, a 
copy of which yon will find in a letter of mine to my father, dated the tenth of 
November, 1793, were passed. They produced the desired effect; and Livingston's 
scheme was abandoned. 

In 1791, a Treaty was held by Colonel Pickering with the Six Nations, for the 
purpose, as the Indians term it, of " brightening the chain of friendship" and 
preventing their making common cause with the hostile Tribes with whom the 
United States were then at War. The place fixed on for the holding of this Treaty 
was, in the first instance, the Painted Post; but it was afterwards changed to New 
Town, about sixteen miles East of the Post. 

You will perceive, from mv father's letter to Colonel Gordon, commanding a 
British Regiment then garrisoning Fort Niagara, and from another letter to Colonel 
Pickering, that a younger brother of mine and myself left Philadelphia, in the 
month of June, 1791, to attend this Treaty. Our route was first to Wilkesbarre, 
and thence along the West branch of the Susquehanna, by what was then called 
"Sullivan's path" — being that which had been taken by that General and his 
.Army, when invading the Indian country during the Revolutionary War. 

The Newtown Treaty lasted several weeks. I attended it the whole time; and 
lament that I have not more of the Indian Speeches made on that occasion ; and 
particularly tliose of Red Jacket. 

The principal speakers during that Treaty, were Red Jacket and the Farmer's 



APPENDIX xxxix 

Brotlier. Red Jacket was, I suppose, at that time, about thirty or thirty-five years 
of age, of middle height, well formed, with an intelligent countenance and a fine 
eye; and was a fine-looking man. He was the most graceful public speaker I 
have ever known . His manner was, at the same time, both dignified and easy. 
He was fluent, and, at times, witty and sarcastic. He was quick and ready at 
reply. He pitted himself against Colonel Pickering, whom he sometimes foiled 
in argument. The Colonel would occasionally Ijecome irritated, and lose his 
temper. Then Red Jacket would be delighted, and show great dexterit}- in taking 
advantage of an}' unguarded assertion of the Colonel's. He felt a conscious pride 
in the conviction that Nature had done more for him than for the Colonel. 

A year or two after this Treaty, when Colonel Pickering, from Postmaster- 
general, became Secretary at War, I informed Red Jacket of his promotion. 
"Ah!" said he, ''we began our public career about the same time. He knew 
how to read and write," (meaning he was educated) "I did not, and he has got 
ahead of me; but if I had known how to read and write, I would have been ahead 
of him.' ' 

Whatever influence Red Jacket possessed among the Indians was derived from 
his talents. Tlie}' had no confidence in his integrity ; and a greater drunkard than 
himself was not to be found among the Six Nations. He was also, at this time, 
reputed to be a coward; and it was said of him, that, on some occasion during the 
Revolutionary War, when he had stimulated his Tribe to attack the eneni}- and 
had engaged to co-operate with them, he contrived not only to keep out of harm's 
way, but, during their absence, was emploj-ed in the less dangerous but more 
profitable employment of killing some of their cow-s to supply his own family 
with meat; inconsequence of which, he became known \ty the nickname of 
"Cow-killer." 

On one occasion, when Brant, Cornplanter and Red Jacket had been dining with 
me at Canandaigua, I observed, sometime after dinner, when the bottle had 
circulated pretty freely, much merriment betw-een Brant and Cornplanter and 
evident mortification in the looks of Red Jacket. I did not at the time know the 
cause of this, but Brant subsequently explained to me that he and Cornplanter bad 
been amusing themselves at Red Jacket's expense, by telling a story about "some 
other Indian," to whom they imputed the very conduct practiced by Red Jacket, 
when he killed his neighbors' cows. I am told, however, that during the last 
War with Great Britain, he redeemed his reputation for bravery ; and that, on 
several occasions, he evinced decided courage. 

It may not be amiss to mention here an anecdote that was told, and which was 
generally believed to be correct, as to the means resorted to by Red Jacket to 
become a Sachem. The Sachemship is derived from birth, and the descent is in 
the female line, because, they say, the offspring of the mother is always known 
to be legitimate. The War Chiefs only are selected from bravery and merit. 

Red Jacket, though of obscure birth, was determined to become a Sachem. To 
effect his purpose, he announced to the Indians that tlie Great Spirit had made 
known to him, in a dream, that their Nation would never prosper until they 
made of hitu a Sachem. For some time, very little attention was paid to this 



si HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

pretended revelation ; but the dreamer artfully availed liimself of every calamity 
that befell the Nation — such as an unu-ual sickly season, the small-pox spreading 
among them, etc. — and attributed all the mi-fortunes of the Nation to their not 
complying with the will of the Great Spirit. He is said to have persevered in 
this course until he was made a Sachem. 

The Farmer's Brother was a tall, powerful man, much older than Red Jacket, 
perfectly honest, and possessing, and deserving to possess, the confidence of the 
Nation. He w'as dignified and i^uent in his public speaking; and, although not 
gifted with the brilliancj' of Red Jacket, he possessed good common sense, and 
was esteemed, both by the white people and the Indians. 

It may not be improper here to describe a religious, or rather a superstitious, 
ceremonj', which I had been invited to, and did join in, during this Treaty. It 
being full moon, the ceremony was in honor of that luminary. There were 
present, probably, fifteen hundred Indians. We were all seated on the ground, 
forming a large circle, excepting at that part of it where a fire was burning; and 
not far from which was a pillar or post, representing the stake to which prisoners 
are tied when tortured, after having been taken in battle. A very old Cayuga 
Chief, much distinguished for his bravery, and called the "Fish Carrier," rose 
and addressed the moon in a speech of about a lialt hour in length, occasionally 
throwing in the fire a handful of tobacco as an offering, .\fter this speech, we 
all stretched ourselves full length on the ground, the liead of one touching the 
feet of another, anil at one end of the circle, commenced the utterance of a guttural 
sound, which was repeated, one after the other, by every person present. Then 
followed the War Dance, performed by young Warriors, naked to the waist-band, 
with bodies painted with streaks of red, down their backs, representing streams of 
blood. Occasionally, one of the dancers would strike the post representing the 
tortured prisoner, and into whose body he was supposed to thrust the end of a 
burning stick of wood. He would then brag of the number of scalps he had taken 
from those of his Tribe or Nation. 

After the rum drank during this ceremony had began to proiluce its effect, an 
Oneida Warrior struck the post, and imprudently began to boast of the numlier of 
Indian scalps he had taken during the War ol the Revolution, when the Oneidas, 
alone, had sided with the .Americans, and the Senecas, Cayngas, Onoudagas and 
Chippewas with the British. This boast excited the anger of the others; knives 
were drawn ; and there would have been bloody work, had not old Fish Carrier, 
who was venerated both on account of his age and his bravery, interposed. He 
aros;, and, addressing himself to the young Warriors, told them that wlien any of 
them had attained his age, and had taken as many scalps as he had, it would be 
time for tliem to boast of what they had done ; but until then, it better became 
them to be silent. He then struck the post, and kicked it over, and caused the 
fire to be put out; and they dispersed peaceably. 

It was at this ceremony that I received the Indian name Ijy which I was always 
thereafter called by them. That name was Otessiaunee, which was translated to 
be "Always Ready." Red Jacket told me that it had been his name when a, 
young man; but, that when he became a Sachem, he was called, Sagiawata. 



APPENDIX xli 

At tliis Treaty also, I became intimate with Peter Otsigviette who, when a bo}', 
was taken to France by the Marquis de L,a Fayette. He remained with the 
Marquis seven years. He received, while with him, a very finished education. 
Having received the early part of my own education in France, and being well 
acquainted with the French language, I would frequently retire with Peter into 
the woods, and hear him recite some of the finest pieces of French poetry, from 
the Tragedies of Corneille and Racine. Peter was an Oneida Indiau. He had not 
been many mouths restored to his Nation ; and yet he would drink raw rum out 
of a brass kettle ; take as much delight in yelling aud whooping, as any Indian ; 
and in fact became as vile a drunkard as the worst of tliem. 

Having left Newtown at the termination of the Treaty, my brother and myself 
proceeded to Catharine's town at the head of the Seneca Lake, where there were 
two or three log cabins. From there we continued our journey to Geneva, where 
there was a log tavern kept by a man by the name of Jennings aud where alsa 
resided, in log houses, one or two Indian traders and a few drunken white loafers. 

From Geneva we proceeded to Canandaigua, where the settlement, though small 
was of a very different character from that of Geneva. There were at that time in 
Canandaigua, only a few log houses, but they were inhabited by persons of 
worth, of intelligence, and of industrious and sober habits. Very few- of those 
persons are now alive, and I believe that they consist only of the children of the 
late Captain Israel Chapin, Judge Atwater, Mrs. Sanburn and Mr. Barlow. 

.\niong those now deceased, but then alive, were General Israel Chapin and wife, 
his son, Captain Israel Chapin and his wife, Nathanial Gorham, Colonel Othniel 
Taylor, Mr. Sanburn, John Clark, Jasper Parrish, Judah Colt, Major Mellish ; and 
there may have been three or four others whose names 1 do not remember. Mr. 
Oliver Phelps, though occasionally there on business, was not a resident of the 
place, his domicil being at Suflfield, in Counecticut. The respectabilitj-, sobriety, 
and industry of the first inhabitants of this place, have had a happy influence on 
its prosperity ever since. 

.\fter a considerable halt at Canandaigua, we proceeded on our journey to 
Niagara, through the Town of Bloonifield, where the late General Amos Hall and 
a few other settlers had located themselves; and from thence to the borders of tlie 
Genesee river, where a man bj- the name of Berrj- kept a tavern. Judge Timothy 
Hosmer, then first Judge of the County, resided at a short distance; and James and 
William Wadsworlh lived at Geneseo, then called Big tree, at a distance of eight 
or nine miles from Berry's. 

There was at that time, and for several years thereafter, only an Indian pa'th 
leading to Niagara, aud not a liabitation of any kind from the Genesee river to 
the Fort at that place. 

We met at Niagara with a very kind reception from Colonel Gordon, who sent 
two of his officers to accompany us to the F'alls, aud who also gave us a letter to 
the commanding officer at Fort Erie, directing him to cross us and our horses to 
the opposite shore, in the boats belonging to his garrison. 

On our return to Canandaigua, we continued our journey to Whitesborough. 
through the " Military Tract, " and from thence, through .Albany , to New York and 
Philailelphia. 



xlii HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

The excur^iioii that ha~ been spoken of \va> undertaken by nie parth- from a 
desire to witness an Indian Treaty and see the Falls of Niagara, and partly with 
a desire to see a country in which my father had at that time so extensive an in- 
terest ; and with a determination to settle in it, in the event of m3' liking it. I 
was pleased with it, and made up my mind to establish myself in Canandaigua, 
as soon as I should have attained the age of twenty-one and have obtained my 
admission at the Bar — having studied Law in Ne%v York. 

Accordingly, in the early part of March, 1792, I left New York for Canandaigua. 
I was induced to fix on that as a place of my residence, from the character and 
respectability of the families already established there. In the course of that 
3-ear, I commenced the building of a frame house, filled in with brick, and which 
was finished in the- early part of the year 1793. That house still subsists; and 
even in that handsome town, where there are so many beautiful buildings, it is 
not considered as an eye-sore. When it was erected, it and one built by Mr. 
Oliver Phelps, about the same time, were the only two frame houses West of 
Whitesborough. 

Shortly after my having reached Canandaigua, Captain Williamson, who during 
the war of the Revolution, commanded a Company in the British .\rmy, and 
who was captured on his passage to -America and paroled in Boston, as a prisoner- 
of-war, came out as the .\gent of the late Sir William Pultene}' and Governor 
Hornby. In Captain Williamson were combined activity, energy, liberality, and 
indeed every qualitj- requisite to advance the prosperous settlement of the wilder- 
ness in which his agency was situated. To his energy and the liberal expend- 
iture of the large funds at his command, that country owed, in a great measure, 
its rapid settlement. He laid out the town of Bath, at the head of the Conhocton 
river, and took up his residence with his family there. 

Unfortunately for Captain Williamson, Sir William Pulteney had contracted in 
London, with a German by the name of Bertzee, to bring with him, from Ger- 
many, a number of families, and to settle with them on his Genesee lands. It 
was contemplated by Sir William, that the men brought over would be farmers, 
instead of which, they were vagabonds of the worst description, collected together 
out of the streets of Hamburg and other cities, and totally unused to any rural 
occupation. Their number might have been seventy or eighty and they became 
not only a source of great expense, but also of great annoyance to Mr. Williamson. 
They arrived, as you will perceive from two of my letters to my father, in 1793. 
Oije of these letters is dated in Feljruary, and the other on the tenth of November 
iu that year. This last letter encloses the Resolutions passed in relation to John 
Livingston and his associates ; and it is only in the Postscript to it, that you 
will find any allusion to these Germans. 

Mr. Williamson had caused a road to be laid (Uit from the West branch of the 
Susquehanna to Bath; and, on the arrival of these Germans, he thought that they 
mig.ht be profitably employed, on their way to the Genesee, in cutting out this 
road. They were totally unused to the chopping with axes, and insisted on cut- 
ting down trees with cross-cut saws — two of them sawing at the same time on 
the same tree. While thus employed, several accidents happened by trees, when 



APPENDIX xliii 

sawed tlirougli, falling and liadly wounding, and in some instance? killing, tlie 
men thus employed. 

They were so awkward, and made such slow progress with the road, that Cap- 
tain Williamson soon found it necessary to detach them from it. He accordingly 
sent them to Williamsburg, near the Genesee river; and, having previously pur- 
chased for the use of these men, a large field of wheat, on the Flats, adjoining 
that river, they were directed to harvest it. But this, and all other labor, they 
refused to perform — insisting on being ted and maintained in idleness. 

They became so troublesome and unmanageable, that Mr. Johnston, Captain 
Williamson's Agent at Williamsburg, who had them in charge, sent to Canan- 
daigua, to beg me to come to his assistance. As I then spoke a little German, 
and was supposed to have some influence in the country, I went out and expos- 
tulated with Bertzee ; Ijut to no effect. 

The day after my arrival, they expected Captain Williamson, and had deter- 
mined to hang nim on a tree they had selected for that purpose. Mr. Williamson 
did not arrive as they had expected; and, disappointed at his non-appearance, they 
assembled round Mr. Johnston's house, and threatened violence. I appeared 
among them to dissuade them from this course of proceeding : they rushed upon 
me, but I soon escaped from them without injury. 

In the meantime Bertzee became alarmed, and explained to them the impro- 
priety of their attack on me. As they had committed an assault, however, it was 
thought best that these lawless men should be taught that they were amenable 
to the Laws. Accordingly, they, or many of their number, were apprehended 
and brought to Canandaigua, where, not being able to give security, they were 
confined to jail. They were tried, convicted, and small fines were imposed on 
them. To enable them to pa^- those fines, they were obliged to consent to their 
being separated and hired out to farmers in different parts of the countr}- ; and 
finally, with their leader, Bertzee, they removed to Upper Canada, where I be- 
lieve he made some contract with the Government for them. 

Prior to my having settled at Canandaigua, Jemima Wilkinson and her fol- 
lowers had established themselves on a tract of land, purchased by them, and 
called the Friends' Settlement. Her disciples were a very orderly, sober, in- 
dustrious, and some of them a well educated and intelligent set of people; and 
many of them possessed of handsome properties. She called herself , the " Uni- 
versal Friend," and would not permit herself to be designated by any other ap- 
pellation. She pretended to have had revelations from Heaven, in which she had 
been directed to devote her labors to the conversion of sinners. Her disciples 
placed the most unbounded confidence in her, and yielded, in all things, the 
most implicit obedience to her mandates. She would punish those among them 
who were guilty of the slightest deviation from her orders. In some instances. 
she would order the offending culprit to wear a cow-bell round his neck, for 
weeks or months, according to the nature of the offense : and in no instance was 
she known to be disobeyed. For some offense committed by one of her people, 
she banished him to Nova Scotia for three years, where he went, and from 
whence he returned only after the expiration of his sentence. When any of her 



xliv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

people killed a calf or a r^heep, or purcha^eil an article of dress, the "Friend" 
was asked what portion of it she would have ; and the answer would sometimes 
be, that the Lord hath need of the one-half, and sometimes that the Lord hath 
need of the whole. Her house, her grounds, and her farms, were kept in the 
neatest order, by her followers, who labored for her without compensation. She 
was attended by two young women always neatly dressed. Those who acted iu 
that capacity and enjoyed the most of her favor and confidence, at the time I was 
there, were named Sarah Richards and Rachel Milnin. Jemima prohibited her 
followers from marrying; and even those who had joined her after having been 
united in wedlock, were maile to separate ami live apart- from each other. This 
was attributed to her desire to inherit the property of those who died. Having 
discovered that bequests to " the Universal Friend" would be invalid, and not 
recognizing the name of Jemima Wilkinson, she caused devises to be made by 
the dying to Sarah Richards, in the first instance. Sarah Richards however died ; 
and her heirs at law claimed the property thus bequeathed. Litigation ensued; 
and, after the controversy had gone from Court to Court, it was finally decided in 
Jemima's favor, it appearing that Sarah Richards had held the property in trust 
for her. After the death of Sarah Richards, devises were made in favor of Rachel 
Milnin; but Rachel took it into her head to marry, and her husliand, in behalf 
of his wife, claimed the propertv thus devised to her. 

Among Jemima's followers, was an artful, cunning, and intelligent man. by 
the name of Elijah Parker. She dubbed him a Prophet, and called him the 
Prophet Elijah. He woiihl, before prophesying, wear around the lower part of 
his waist, a bandage or girdle, tied very tight; .and when it hail caused the upper 
part of liis stomach to swell, he would pretend to be tilled with prophetic visions, 
which he would impart to the community . But, after some time. Jemima and her 
Prophet quarreled, and he then denounced her as an impostor — declared tliat she 
had imposed on his credulity, and that he had never been a Prophet, .\fier hav- 
ing divested himself of his prophetic cliaracter, he became a Justice of the Peace, 
and in that capacity issued out a Warrant against Jemima, charging her with 
blasphemy. She was accordingly brought to Canandaigua, by virtue of this 
Warrant; and, at a Circuit Court held there, in 1796, by the late Governor 
Lewis, then a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, a Bill of Indictment, 
•prepared by Judge Howell of Cauandaigua, then District Attorney, was laid be- 
fore the Grand Jurj-. Judge Lewis having told the tirand Jury, that, by the Laws 
and Constitution of this State, blasphemy was not an indictaljle offense, no Bill 
was found. Juilge Howell has informetl me that a similar question having been 
brought before a full Bench of the Supreme Court, Judge Lewis's opinion was 
overruled by all the other Judges; and that blasphemy was decided to be an in- 
dictable offense. These litigations, however, had considerably lessened the 
number of her followers; but she, as I am informed, retained until her death, her 
influence over a considerable portion of them. 

Prior to these occurrences, Jemima had been attacked with .1 vii:>lent disease, and 
she e.xpected to die. Under this conviction, she caused her disciples to be as- 
sembled in her sick chamber, when she told them that her Heavenly Father, find- 



APPENDIX x!v 

ing that the wickeilnes^ of the ^vorld «a> so great that there was no prospect of her 
succeeding in rechuniing it, hail determined that she should soon quit it, and 
rejoin him in Heaven. Having unexpectedly recovered, she again assembled 
them, when she announced to them, that her Heavenly Father had again com- 
manded her to remain on earth, and make one more trial. 

When I first saw Jemima, she was a fine-looking woman, of a gooil height, and 
though not corpulent, inclined to embonpoint. Her hair was jet black, short, 
and curled on her shoulders. She had fine eyes, and good teeth and complexion. 
Her dress consisted of a silk robe, open in front. Her under dress was of the 
finest white camljric or musHn. Round her tliroat she wore a large cravat, bor- 
dered with fiuelace. She was very ignorant, but possessed an uncommon memory. 
Though she could neither read nor write, it was said that she knew the Bible by 
heart, from its having been read to her. The sermon I heard her preacli was bad 
in point ot language, and almost unintelligible, .\ware ot her deficiencies, in 
this respect, she caused one of her followers to tell me, that in her discourses, 
she did not aim al expressing herself in fine language — preferring to adapt her 
style to the capacity of the most illiterate of her hearers. 

Governor Simcoe had. from his first assuming the Government of Upper Canada, 
evinced the greatest jealousy of the progress of the settlement of our Western 
Country. He was even said to have tlireatened to send Captain Williamson to 
En-jland in irons, if he ever ventured to come into Canada. 

In 1794, Captain Williamson had commenced a settlement at Sodus Bav. 
In the month of August of that year. Lieutenant Sheaffe of the British Armv, 
(now Major-general Sir Roger Hale Sheatfc, who during the last War, com- 
manded at the Battle of Oueenston after the death of Colonel Brock) was sent 
by Governor Siurcoe, with a Protest, to be delivered to Captain Williamson, pro- 
testing against the further prosecution of the settlement at Sodus, and all o'.her 
American settlements beyond the old French line, during the mexecution of the 
Treaty that terminated the Revolutionary War. Finding there only au agent of 
Mr. Williamson's (a Mr. Moffatt. who is yet living,) Lieutenant Sheaffe in- 
formed him of the nature of his mission, and requested him to make it known to 
Captain Williamson, and to inform him that he would return in ten days, when 
he hoped to meet Captain Williamson there. 

Mr. Moffatt came to tne at Canandaigua, to acquaint me with wliat had taken 
place and induce me to accompany him to Bath, to confer with Captain William- 
son, in relation to this very e.xtraordinary Protest. I accordingly went to Bath ; 
and it was agreed between Captain Williamson and myself, that we would both 
meet Lieutenant Sheaffe at Sodus, at the time he had appointed to be there. 

Accordingly, on the day named b\- Lieutenant Sheaffe, we were at Sodus; and 
shortly after our arrival there, we perceived on the Lake a boat, rowed by about 
a dozen British soldiers, who after landing their officer, were directed by him to 
pull off some distance in the Bay and remain there until he made a signal to re- 
turn for him. 

Captain Williamson, in consequence of the threats imputed to Governor Simcoe 
in relation to himself, did not think proper to expose himself unnecessarily to 



xlvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

any act of violence, if any such should have been meditated against hiiii. He 
therefore requested me to receive Lieutenant Sheaffe on tlie beach, and to accom- 
pany him to the log cabin where Captain Williamson was, with a brace of loaded 
pistols on his table. The ordering his men to remain at a distance from the shore 
showed that the precaution that had been taken, though proper at the time, was 
unnecessary ; and that no resort to force was intended. 

The meeting between the Lieutenant and Mr. Williamson was friendly. They 
had known each other before, and, while in the same ser\ice, had marclied 
through some part of England together. The Lieutenant handed to Captain Wil- 
liamson the Protest, and was desired by the Captain to inform Governor Sinicoe, 
that he would pay no attention to it, but prosecute his settlement the same as if 
no such paper had been delivered to him — that if .any attempt should be made, 
forcibly to prevent him from doing so, the attempt would be repelled by force. 

Lieutenant Sheaffe having, during the interview between them, made allusion 
to Captain Williamson having once held a Commission in the British Array, he 
replied that while in the service of the Crown, he had faithfully performed his 
duty : tliat having since renounced his allegiance to that Crown and become a 
citizen of the United States, his adopted country, having both the aliility and the 
inclination, would protect him in his rights and the possession of his property. 
I asked Lieutenant Sheaffe if he would be so good as to explain what was meant 
by "the old French line ; " where it ran; and what portion of our country we 
were forbidden in Governor Siracoe's Protest to occupy? He replied that he was 
merely the bearer of the paper that, by the orders of his superior officer, he had 
handed to Captain Williamson; that no explanation had been given to him of its 
purport, nor was he authorized to give any. 

After about a half hour, I again accompanied him to the beach where he had 
landed ; and on signal having been made by him, his boat returned for him and 
he departed. 

This is what my father in his letter of the tenth of September 1794 alludes to 
aud terms "a Treaty," aud for which he hopes that Simcoe will get a "rap over 
the knuckles from his master." 

So many years have elapsed since the complaints made by both the British aud 
our own Government were adjusted by negotiation, that you may be at a loss to 
know what Governor Sinicoe meant, when he spoke of the inexecution of the 
Treaty that terminated our Revolutionary struggle. The complaint on the part 
of Great Britain, was, that those parts of the Treaty which required that those 
States ill which British subjects were prevented bv- law from recovering debts due 
to them prior to the Revolution, had not been repealed, as by the Treaty they 
ought to have been ; and also that British property had been confiscated since the 
period limited in the Treaty for sucli confiscations, and no compen^-ation had been 
made to the injured parties. On our part the complaint was, that, after the cessa- 
tion of hostilities, negroes and other property were carried away by the British 
Army, contrary to stipulations entered into by the Preliminary Treaty of Peace. 
The British retained possession of the posts on our borders aud within our bounds, 
until an amicable settlement of these difficulties, which settlement, I think, took 
place in 1796. 



APPENDIX xlvii 

In September, 1794, another Treaty vvas held by Colonel Pickering with the Six 
Nations, at Canandaigiia. The object of this Treaty, like the former ones held 
witli them, was to preserve their friendship and to prevent their joining the 
hostile Indians, or, in Indian language, to " brij;hten the chain of friendship." 
I have none of the speeches made at that Treaty; but as Mr. Greig informs me 
that you have had in your possession all the papers of the late Captain Chapin, 
you have probably received from them all the information that you desire, rela- 
tive to what was done at that Treaty. 

One circumstance I do recollect in relation to it. The Treaty was holding, 
when news was brought by runners, sent by the hostile Indians to the Six 
Nations, giving an account of their defeat by General Wayne, at the Battle at the 
Miami. This account was closed with these words, "and our brethren, the Brit- 
ish, looked on and gave us not the least assistance." The belief at the time was, 
and the words I have quoted seem to confirm it, that when the Indians agreed to 
give battle to Wayne, they were encouraged so to do by the British, and were 
promised shelter in the British fort, commanded by M,ajor Campbell, in the event 
of defeat. Certain it is, that when routed, they rushed towards the British fort, 
the gates of which were shut against them, as our men would have pursued them 
into it. Major Campbell appeared on the ramparts; the matches of his Artillerists 
were lit ; and he hailed our troops and warned them not to approach his fort, or 
he would fire on them. Unmindful of his threats, the Indians were mowed down 
under his very guns, by Wayne's Cavalr3-. He did not fire, for, had he discharged 
a single gun, "Mad Anthony," as Wa}'ne was called, would have taken his Fort. 

I have been thus particular in dwelling on this subject, in consequence of the 
influence it had on our settlements. For some months prior to the Treaty of Can- 
andaigua, the Indians would come among us painted for War. Their deportment 
was fierce and arrogant ; and their behavior was such as to create a belief that they 
would not be unwilling to take vip the Iiatchet against us. From certain expres- 
sions attributed to Governor Simcoe, and in connection with his conduct at Sodus 
Bay, it was believed that the British had taught the Indians to expect that General 
Wayne would be defeated ; in which event, they might easily have persuaded 
the Six Nations to make common cause with the hostile Indians ; and our settle- 
ments would have been depopiilated. 

Such were the apprehensions entertained at that time of an Indian War on our 
borders, that, in several instances, farmers were panic-struck and, with the dread 
of the scalping-kuife before them, had "pulled up stakes" and, with their fam- 
ilies, were on their way to the East. Arrived at Canandaigua, they found that I 
was painting my house and making improvements about it. Believing that I pos- 
sessed better information on the subject than they did, their tears became quieted, 
and they retraced their steps back to their habitations. After the defeat of the 
hostile Indians, those of the Six Nations became completely cowed; and, from 
that time, all apprehension of a War with them vanished. 

You will perceive, by the Conveyances and Agreements accompanying this 
statement, that, in the years 1792-93, my father had made sales in Holland to 
the gentlemen composing the "Holland Land Company," of tiie greater part of 



xlviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

his interest iu the Genesee Country, or rather that part of it lying West ot the 
Genesee river. You will observe that these Conveyances ami Agreements are in 
the names of Herman Le Roy, William Bayard, Mathew Clarkson, Garrett Boon, 
and John Linklaen. These gentlemen held the land in trust for the Hollanders, 
as the\-, being aliens, were not at that tirue, by the Laws of this State, permitted 
to hold landed property in it. A subsequent Law has removed that disability, as 
far as it relates to the parties concerned iu the "Holland Purchase." 

By the terms of these Agreements, my fatlier was bound to extinguish the 
native Title at his own expense; and thirty-five thousand pounds sterling of the 
purchase-money was retained by the purctiasers until that extinguishment was 
obtained. My father's reasons for not attempting to make a purchase ot the In- 
dian Title at an earlier period, appear in two of his letfers. dated in 1796, and to 
which I refer you. One of these letters was suppressed, because, after having been 
written, it was discovered that, after our fort at Niagara had been surrendered by 
the British to our troops, the officer then in command of that fort had sent to the 
War Department an Indian Speech, bj' which it was made to appear that the In- 
dians were reluctant to treat with him. The other letter, and which was sent to 
the President, was dated the twenty-fifth of August. You will observe, from these 
letters and those written by him the following year, my father's extreme solicitude 
to make a purchase of the native Title. This solicitude was more from a desire to 
comply with his engagements with the Hollanders, than from any private advan- 
tage that would accrue to him, having at that time parted with his interest in 
the lands. 

Massachusetts, when she sold her pre-emptive Title to these lauds, reserved to 
herself the right to appoint a Commissioner, to be present at any Treaty that 
might be held with the Indians for the extinguishment of the native Title ; and 
she accordingly did appoint, at an early period. General Shepard, to attend the 
same. By the Laws of the United States, no Treaty could be held with Indians, 
without being superintended by a Commissioner appointed by the President and 
confirmed by the Senate of the United States; and to procure that appointment, a 
difficulty arose, that had not been anticipated. This difficulty arose from tlie 
Indian Speech sent by Captain Bruff (the officer whom I have before alluded to 
as having assumed the command of Fort Niagara) , to the War Department. It 
appears that this Captain Bruff had held a conference with the Senecas, and had 
presented them with a flag. In their answer to Captain Bruff's Speech, wliich you 
will find in the paper marked "Indian," they called m^' father, as you will per- 
cieve, the "Big-eater, with the big belly," and beg that he may not be per- 
mitted to come and devour their lands. 

When, then, my father made his application, in 1797, to General \\'asliington, to 
nominate a Commissioner, the General at once consented to do so; but said that 
his dut3' would require that Captain Bruff's letter and the accompanying Indian 
Speeches, should be sent with the nomination to the Senate, and that, such was 
the desire at that time to conciliate the Six Nations, he did not believe the Senate 
■pould confirm au}- nomination contrary to their wishes. A Commissioner was 
however appointed, but with an understanding that he was not to act in this busi- 
ness until the Indians themselves requested a Treaty. 



APPENDIX xlix 

The task of procuring from tlietu this request devolved on nie, and it was not 
an easy one to accomplish. The Indians were apprehensive that their asking for 
a Treaty would be considered as a commitment, and be claimed as a pledge that 
they were desirous to part with their lands. To persuade them to make this re- 
quest, I went to Buffalo, having performed the journey on foot (from Canan- 
daigua). For an account of that journey and its results, I refer you to a letter 
written bv me, to my father, dated the twenty-seventh of May, 1797, which I have 
found among my father's papers, and also to the Speeches of Farmer's Brother 
and Red Jacket, of the twenty-third of September, 1796. These are the speeches 
my father alluded to in 1796, and whicirprevented his making in that year an 
application for the appointment of a Comuiissiouer, as by his suppressed letter in 
that year, it appears he had contemplated doing. 

The Commissioner who in the first instance was appointed to superintend this 
Treaty, was a member of Congress from New Jersey, named Isaac Smith. Having 
been subsequently appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and 
finding that his attendance at a Treaty would interfere with his judicial duties, 
he resigned his situation as a Commissioner, and Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, 
who had been a distinguished member of Congress, from Connecticut, was ap- 
pointed in his place. Those who attended the Treaty, besides the two Commis- 
sioners, were Captain Chapin, then Superintendent of Indian Affairs, the Inter- 
preters, and, occasionally. Captain Williamson, with Mr. James Rees of Geneva, 
who acted as Secretar5-, Mr. William Bayard of New York, as Agent of the "Hol- 
land Land Company," and two. young gentlemen from Holland, by the name of 
Van Staphorst, who were nearly related to the gentlemen of the same name who 
were the principal members of that Company. 

I had hired, for the accommodation of these gentlemen, the house of Mr. Wil- 
liam Wadsworth, his brother James being at that time in Europe. I had also 
caused a large Council-house to be prepared, covered by the boughs and branches 
of trees, to shelter us from the rays of the sun, with a more elevated bench for the 
Connnissioners and other benches for the spectators. Here the business of the 
Treaty was conducted between the Indians and myself ; and here also the Indians 
held their private Councils. It is their custom to agree among themselves, in 
private Council, on the measures to be adopted, the arguments to be used in 
support of them, and also to fix on the speakers to discuss them, before they meet 
the white people, in a more public Council. 

You will observe from my father's Speech, No. 3, that, as he could not person-- 
ally attend the Treaty, he had authorized Captain Williamson and myself to act 
in his behalf. Captain Williamson's business requiring that he should be the 
greatest part of his time at Bath, and that he could only occasionally be at Gen- 
eseo, where the Treaty was held, declined acting; and consequently, the manage- 
ment of the whole concern devolved on me. 

By the rough memorandums of the doings at this Treaty, which you will tinel 
rolled up together, you will perceive, that we reached Geneseo, on the twenty- 
sixth of August, 1797. I must refer you to the same paper for a knowledge of 
what had taken place between that day and the thirtieth of the same month. 



1 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

when you will find, from the same document, that I addressed to them the Speech 
No. 4. You will discover from the same memorandum, and for the cause there 
stated, that nothing more was done until the second of September. On that day, 
I again addressed them, as yon will find from the paper marked No. 5. 

You will observe that, in answer to Red Jacket's Speech, wherein he had mag- 
nified the consequence and importance which their lauds gnve to the Senecas 
among the other Nations of Indiatis, that I endeavored to convince him that he 
was mistaken ; and as a proof that he was so, I mentioned the treatment that 
some of their Chiefs (Red Jacket having been one of them), had received when 
on a mission of Peace to the hostile Indians. My allusion was to the following 
circumstance: In 1793, Colonel Pickering and Colonel Beverley Randolph were 
sent by the President of the United States to the country of the hostile Indians 
to endeavor to open negotiation with tliera for a Peace. They came to Canan- 
daigua, and from that place proceeded to Buffalo. There they prevailed on some 
of the Seneca Chiefs to accompany them, supposing that their meditioti might 
promote the object of their mission. On their arrival among the hostile Indians, 
the latter expressed the greatest contempt for the Senecas, and refused to hold 
any communication with them. Although the mission was unsuccessful, our 
Commissioners were treated with courtesy. 

In Red Jacket's reply to this part of my Speech he a<lmilted the fact of the dis- 
respectful reception they had met with, but imputed it to their going in bad 
company. "Had they gone alone." he said, "and on their own business their 
reception would have been such as Senecas had a right to ex])ect. But that, 
when they interfered in the disputes of the United States and accompanied their 
Commissioners, they forfeited all claims to such a reception, " adding, "that 
the event to which I had alluded, would warn them hereafter to confine them- 
selves to their own affairs ; and if they went among otlier Indian Nations, not 
go in bad company." I regret that, among my papers, there are no copies of 
this and several other Indian Speeches 

After ten or twelve days had elapsed, Colonel Wadsworth became unwell, and 
very impatient of further delay, and insisted on the business being brouglit to 
a close. At this time, I became informed that some white men, who spoke a 
little Indian, and whose offers to be employed by me I had rejected, had per- 
suaded the Indians that, by rejecting nu' offers, I could be brought to any terms 
which they might propose; and that they intended, on the next day, to offer 
me one Township on the Pennsylvania line, at one dollar per acre! 

I endeavored to convince Colonel Wadsworth that further delaj- would be in- 
dispensable to counteract the impressions that had been made on the Indians. He 
contended that a prompt and indignant refusal of their offer would bring them to 
my terms. Mr. Bayard had received the same impression from Colonel Wads- 
worth ; and the latter having declared that he would go home unless I made the 
experiment, and Mr. Bayard having agreed to assume towards his principals, (who 
alone were interested in the result) the responsibility in the event of its failure, I 
most reluctantly consented to make it. 

Accordingly, at the next meeting. Red Jacket rose and informed me that the 



APPENDIX ■ li 

Seiiecas had come to the tletermination to sell oulj' one Township, or six square 
miles, to be located on the Pennsylvania line, and that for this tract, they would 
require a payment of one dollar per acre ; that, after purchasing it, I would make 
a Town of it, and sell it for six dollars per acre ; and that the difference between 
the purchase-monej- and that received from sales, would more than repay all 
the expenses of the Treaty. 

I immediately arose, and told them that their proposal did not deserve a mo- 
ment's consideration ; that it was inadmissible ; and that, if they had no more 
reasonable offer to make, the sooner our conferences terminated the better, so 
that we might all go home. 

Red Jacket immediately sprang up and saiil — ' ' We have now reached the point 
to which I wanted to bring )^ou. You told us, when we first met, that we were 
free, either to sell or retain our lands; and that our refusal to sell would not 
disturb the friendship that has existed between us. I now tell you that we will 
not part with them. Here is my hand" stretching it out to me ; and after I 
had taken it, he added, "I now cover up this Council-fire." 

After this, the whooping and yelling of the Indians was such that a person less 
accustomed to them, would liave imagined that they intended to tomahawk us 
all. One of their drunken Warriors, in a most violent and abusive Speech, asked 
me how I dared to come among them to cheat them out of their lands. 

This result was galling beyond measure to Mr. Baj-ard, on account of the dis- 
appointment it would occasion to his principals. He bitterly lamented that he 
had urged me to take this step. I then told him that I thought it possible to 
bring on the business anew; that I would make the attempt, provided both he 
and Colonel Wadsworth would engage not to interfere with me, by advice or 
otherwise. This he readily promised, both on his own and the Colonel's behalf. 
He begged me to make the effort, although, as he said, he could not anticipate a 
favorable result from it. 

The following daj-, Farmer's Brother called on me, and expressed a hope that 
the failure of the Treaty, would not diminish the friendship that had so long 
subsisted between his Nation and mj-self. I told him that I had no right to com- 
plain of their not selling their lands; but that I had a right to complain of their 
behavior towards me, at our last meeting ; that they had permitted one of their 
drunken Warriors to insult me ; and that the rest of them joined in the yelling 
and whooping in such a manner as to show their approbation of this insult; that I 
had not deserved such treatment from them ; that, for several years, I had never 
refused them either food or as much liquor as was good for them, when they came 
to Canandaigua ; that m}- father, when anj- of their Chiefs were in Philadelphia, 
had been kind to them ; and that, during this Treaty, they had all been well fed 
and supplied with liquor. He replied that all this was true; that he was sorrj' 
that we should part with any cause for dissatisfaction on my mind. He also 
regretted that the Council-fire had been covered up, as there would be no oppor- 
tunit}- for us to meet again and smooth over and heal these difficulties. 

I told him, that be was mistaken — that the Council-fire was not extinguished ; 
and I complained of it as another grievance that Red Jacket had declared the 



Hi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Council-fire to be covered up, when, accordiug to their own usages, he who lit 
the Council-fire had alone the right to cover it up; that the council-fire had been 
kindled by nie; and as I had not covered it up, it was still burning. 

After a few moments reflection, he said that was true ; that it had not occurred 
to him before; and that he was glad it was so, as we might meet now and smooth 
over all our diflnculties and causes for discontent. 

It was accordinglj' agreed upon between us, that we should again meet in 
Council ; but I told him that it must be postponed for a few days, during which I 
should be occupied in examining the Accounts and paying for the provisions 
which had been consumed by them, collecting the cattle not slaughtered, etc. 

The Indians are very tenacious of a strict adherence to those usages and customs. 
According to their usages, their Sachems have a right to transact all the business 
of the Nation, whether it relates to their lands or any other of their concerns. 
But when it relates to their lands, and they are dissatisfied with the management 
of the Sachems, the women and Warriors have a right to divest them of this 
power, and take it into their own hands — the maxims among them being, that the 
lands belong to the Warriors, because they form the strength of the Nation, and to 
the women, as the mothers of the Warriors. There are, therefore, in every town, 
head or chief women, who, when in Council, select some Warrior to speak for 
them. 

Apprehensive that it would be difficult to induce the Sachems, to retrace their 
steps and accede to any arrangement widely different from the proposal they had 
made, I determined to try whether a negotiation with the women and Warriors 
■would not be attended with a belter result. I therefore caused all the chief 
women, with some of the Warriors, to meet me. I then addressed them, and 
informed them of the offers that had been made to their Sachems. I told them 
that the money that would proceed from the sale of their lands, would relieve the 
women from all the hardships that they then endured ; that now they had to till 
the earth and provide by their labor, food for themselves and tlieir children; that 
when those children were without clothing and shivering with cold, they alone 
witnessed their sufferings ; that their Sachems could always supply their own 
wants; tliat they fed on the game they killed, and procured clothing for them- 
selves by exchanging the skins of the animals they had killed for such clothing; 
that therefore the Sachems were indifferent about exchanging for their lands 
money enough every year to lessen the labor of flie women and enable them to 
procure for themselves and their children the food and clothing so necessary for 
their comfort. I finished by telling them that I had brought a number of presents 
from Philadelphia, which I had intended to have given to them only in the event 
of a sale of tlieir lands; but, as I had no cause of complaint against the women, I 
could catise their portion of those presents to be distributed among them. 

For some days, the chief women and Warriors might be seen scattered about in 
little knots; after which, I received a message, informing me that the women and 
Warriors would meet me in Council, and negotiate with me. 

You will find among the Speeches, in the memorandums before alluded to, one 
made by a War chief called Little Beard. This was the Chief who made a prisoner 



APPENDIX liii 

of Lieuteuant Boyd, an officer in General Sullivau's Army, at llie time of the 
invasion of the Genesee Country, when Boyd was captured. Boyd was carried 
across the Genesee river to Beard's Town, of which Little Beard was the Chief, 
and was there tortured by him. I must refer you to the Speeches of Little Billy, 
a War chief, to that of a Cayuga Chief, to Colonel Wadsworth's explanation, and, 
finally, to Cornplanter's Speech, for the discussions while treating with the 
women and Warriors, — from whom the purchase was eventually made. 

Here it may be proper to notice a difficulty which occurred during the negoti- 
ations tliat have been described. 

The instnictions of the President of the United States were, that the purchase- 
money Xo be paid to the Indians should be invested in the stock of the Bank of 
the United States, in the name of the President and his successors in ofEce, as 
their Trustee. As no Indian can count over one hundred, the first difficult}- was 
to make them understand, how much one hundred thousand dollars was. The 
second was to account to them for the irregularity of their annual pa^'ments. To 
obviate the first, it became necessary to compute the number of kegs of a given 
size that one hundred thousand dollars would fill, and the number of horses that 
would be required to draw that sum in specie. As to a Bank, and the uncertainty 
of the dividends on its stock, thej- could not be made to comprehend anything 
about it. Their only conjecture in relation to it was, that the Bank was a large 
place in Philadelphia where a large sum of money was planted and that some 
years it would produce a more abundant crop than others ; and long after the 
sale of their lands on my return to Canandaigua from New York or Philadelphia, 
they would inquire of me what kind of crop they might expect in that year. 

After the terms of the Treaty had been agreed upon, the next difficulty, and it 
was not a small one, was to restrict them as to the extent of their Reservations. 
I had agreed to give them one liundred thousand dollars for the whole of their 
lands, and to make no deduction from that sum, if they would content themselves 
with moderate Reservations; but insisting on a proportionate reduction from that 
sum, if their Reservations were large. The first discussions were as to the mode 
of fixing those Reservations. The Indians wanted them to be by natural bound- 
aries, such as the course of streams, etc. To this I objected, knowing their per- 
fect acquaintance and our ignorance of the quantity of land that such courses 
would embrace. For the sake of certainty, I insisted on, and with great difficulty 
got them to consent to, square miles. These being marked out on a map of 
their countrj', they could form an opinion of the quantity of land left to them. 
When we first met to allot to each of their \illage sites proportionate part of the 
two hundred thousand acres retained by them, the utmost jealousy appeared to 
exist among the different Chiefs, as to the portion that shcmld be annexed to the 
place of his residence. 

The importance of a Chief and his influence with his Nation are, in a great 
measure proportionate to the number of his followers; and that number is either 
increased or diminished b^- extent of the land annexed to the Chief's residence. 
Hence the struggle on the part of every Sachem and chief Warrior, both to 
increase his own bounds and to lessen those of a rival Chief. This contest was 



liv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

more violent lietween Reil Jacket and Cornplanter than any of the others — the first 
wanting the principal Reservation to be at Buffalo Creek, and the second at his 
residence, at the Alleghany. I found it impossible to come to any arrangement 
on this subject when more than a couple of the same tribe were together; and I 
therefore required that each of them should alternately send to me one or two 
Chiefs, with whom the arrangements were finally made. 

You will perceive, among the Memorandums that were kept during the Treaty, 
the very large deductions they were desirous of making from the country which 
they had agreed to sell — Red Jacket claiming for Buffalo alone, near one-fourth 
of it. In this they would have persisted had it not been for the apprehension of 
a proportionate reduction of the money to be paid to them. 

After all these matters had been adjusted to the satisfaction of all parties, a 
young Indian, about twent3--four jears of age, called Young King, who before 
had not attended the Treaty, made his appearance. He was, by the female line, 
a lineal descendant of Old Smoke, whose memory is revered as the greatest man 
that ever had ruled over the Six Nations. During his life, his power was 
unbounded. Young King was a heavy, dull, unambitious, but honest man. He 
seldom meddled with the business of the Nation; but when he did so, the 
influence which he derived from his birth was great. On the arrival of Young 
King, all further business was suspended, until that which had been done was 
explained to him. After this explanation had been made he expressed bis 
disapprobation at the course that had been pursued. Farmer's Brother and other 
Chiefs then informed me that the Treaty could not be completed contrary to the 
wishes of Young King; that, however unreasonable it might appear to be that one 
man should defeat the will of a whole Nation, it was a power which he derived 
from his birth, and which he could not be deprived of. Young King, at last, 
though not reconciled to the parting with their lands, acquiesced, saying that he 
would no longer oppose tlie will of the Nation. 

The night previous to the signing tlie Treaty, Red Jacket came to me privately, 
and told me that he would not sign the Treaty in the Council house, when the 
other Chiefs did so, because he had pretended to them that he was opposed to it; 
but that, after its execution by the others, he would come to me privately, and 
have his name affixed to it. He added, that it would not do for the Treaty to go 
to Philadelphia without his name, as General Washington when he examined it 
and found his signature wanting, might imagine that he had been degraded, and 
had lost his rank and influence among the Senecas. He desired, therefore, that 
a vacant place might be left on the parchment, near the top of the instrument, 
which he would, privately, come and have filled up with his name, and which he 
accordingly did. 

In 1791, the County of Ontario twhich then included all Western New York), 
although not entitled to it from its population, became, by a Law of the State, 
authorized to elect a member of Assembly. It was not known in Canandaigua, 
Geneva, nor any or the settlements in the County, excepting a small one in the 
southern part of it, that such a Law had passed. Colonel Eleazer Lindley, who, 
with some of his relatives, had established themselves near the Tioga river, had 



APPENDIX Iv 

accideutall)' heard of its existence; and on the day of the Election, he assembled 
them together, and got them to vote for him. These votes were never canvassed, 
but were carried to New York by L,indley himself, when the Legislature met. 
Notwithstanding this irregularity, he was admitted to his seat in the AssemVily on 
the principle that ever}' county entitled to a Representative ought to be 
represented. The following year. General Israel Chapin became its Repre- 
sentative. In 1796, Ontario, for the first time, became divided, a portion of the 
southern part of it having been detached from it, and erected into a separate 
County bj- the name of Steuben. 

I had not been in the western part of our State for thirty-two years, until last 
August, (1843) wheu I paid a visit to my friend Mr. Greig, at Canandaigua. I 
am at a loss to saj- whether my surprise or my delight was the greatest, at the 
improvements that I have found iu every part of it, since I had seen it. 

I was particularly struck with the city of Rochester. In June, 1797, Louis 
Philip, the present King of the French, and his two brothers, tlie Duke <le Moot- 
peusier and Count Beaujolais, were my guests at Canandaigua. Being desirous of 
showing them the Falls of the Genesee river, we rode together to where Rochester 
now is. There had not, at that time, a tree been cut down, nor was there a hut of 
any kind. The nearest habitation was at the house of a farmer named Perrin, 
where, after having viewed the Falls, we dined, on our return to Canandaigua. 

Notwithstanding all that I had heard of the progre'^s of Rochester, it was 
ditBcult for me to realize that a place that I had last seen, even at that distance of 
time, an uninhabited wilderness, should now bt- an active, busy city, containing 
elegant and costly buildings, and with a population, as I was informed there, of 
between twentv-five and thirtv thousand iuliabitants. 



APPENDIX NO. XI. 

TRAXS.^CTIOX OF THE " OGDEN T^.\XD COMPANY." 

The right to buy the lauds reserved in the treaty of Big Tree was sold by the 
representatives of the Holland Laud company to David A. Ogden, the deed being 
dated September t2, iSio. On Feljruary 8, 1S21, Ogden transferred his right to 
Robert Troup, Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Benjamin \V. Rogers, as trustees. The 
trust is what is commonly called "The Ogden Land Compan}-." On December 
19, 1S29, Robert Troup, Thomas L. Ogden and Benjamin \V. Rogers, trustees, 
conveyed to Thomas L. Ogden, Charles G. Troup and Joseph Fellows, trustees. 
After the death of the first two, Joseph Fellows, trustee, conveyed to George R. 
Babcock and Charles E. Appleby, trustees, Babcock died in 1876 and Appleby is 
now the sole trustee. 

There never was any corporation called "The Ogden Land Company." There 
is no capital stock. There are twenty sliares or interests in the trust estate. They 
have no face value, each share representing one-twentieth of whatever may be the 
value of the right to buy the lands. Charles E. Appleby owns one share. The 
others are owneil by the estates of the following persons now dead: Joshua Wad- 



Ivi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ilingtou, four shares; Thomas Ludlow Ogtleu two shares : Abraliain Ogden one 
share: Peter Schernierhorn one share ; Duncan P. Cainp))ell one share: Robert 
Bavard one share; Benjamin W. Rogers two shares; Louisa Troup one share ; 
Charlotte Briuckeroff one share ; Robert L. Tillotson one share ; James S. Wads- 
worth, one and one-half shares; Ogden F. Murray, one-half share, Shaw and 
Wilson, two shares, now held bj- the Bank of England. 

By treaty at Buffalo Creek, August 21, 1826, the Senecas sold to Troup, Ogden, 
and Rogers the Caneadea reservation, containing sixteen scjuare miles; the 
Canawaugus reservation, containing two square miles; the Big Tree reservation, 
containing two square miles; the Squakie Hill reservation, containing two square 
miles; two square miles of the Gardeau reservation ; 33,637 acres of the Buffalo 
Creek reservation; 33,409 acres of the Tonawanda reservation; 640 acres in the 
Cattaraugus reservation, in the present town of Hanover, and "the mile strip" 
and "mile square" in Erie county — in all 87,526 acres, for 548,216. 

Of the total purchase price, ^43,250 in the stock of the public debt of the I'nited 
States was transferred to the Ontario bank at Canandaigua, and afterwards to the 
United States treasury, in trust for the Senecas, and in each year they have 
received 12,162.50, being the interest at five per cent. 

The greatest frauds were practiced on the Indians at the treaty of 1826. Of the 
purchase money f4,966 was never placed to their credit at all, but was used, with 
other funds of the Ogden Land Company, in bribing the leading chiefs and settling 
annuities upon them. Many of them received from eighty dollars to *I20 a j'ear 
so long as they lived. 

After the sale of the Genesee river reservations and the other tracts of land 
which we have mentioned the Ogden Land Company continued to own the right 
to buy the Tonawanda and AUeganj- reservations and the remainder of tlie Cattar- 
augus reservation. Its right to buy the Tonawanda lands was purchased i:i 
1S57 by the Indians themselves and the title thereto is now held by the Comptrol- 
ler of the State of New York in trust for the Tonawanda Indians. 

All the right that now remains to the Ogden Land Company, therefore, is to buy 
the Allegany reservation, containing 30.469 acres and the remaining 21,760 acres 
of the Cattaraugus reservation. 

With an impudence, that, in view of the facts, is simply amazing, the Ogden 
Land Company claims now the right to buy out the actual ownership of the land, 
and concedes to the Indians nothing more than the right to occupy it. 

The only right which Massachusetts assumed to sell to Morris was the right to 
buy of the Indians, and t'.;is is the only right which the Ogden Laud Company 
has now. 

In speaking of this claim Goveronor DeWitt Clinton said to the Indians: "All 
the right which the Ogden company have to your reservations is the right to pur- 
chase when you deem it expedient to sell them; that is, they can buy your lands, 
but no other person can." 

The Committee of the General Council of Massachusetts, in their report of 1840, 
said in regard to the claim that under the agreement with New York "Massachu- 
setts held the sole and exclusive right to purchase the lands whenever the Indians 



APPENDIX Ivii 

should voluntarily dispose of them. The sole and exclusive right to purchase the 
land of the Indians gave no other title or interest in the land whatever. Such in- 
terest of title could be assigned only b}- a sale or conveyance thereof by the Indians." 

The judiciary committee of the senate of the state of New York, in a report 
made in 1857, referring to the Ogden claim said: "It was simply the right to 
purchase of the Indians whenever they might choose to sell."' 

The following speech made by Frank L. Patterson, a Seneca Indian, and presi- 
dent of the Seneca Nation, at a gathering of Senecas held at Irving, New York, 
July 9, 1904, relates to the subject of the "Ogden Land Company" claim and is 
interesting as showing in a general way the situation of the Seneca people: 

"My Friends: Since I have been an officer of the Seneca nation I have had 
more or less to do with its affairs and have learned something of the situation 
our nation is in. Our reservations are free and clear of debt, and we have a large 
sum of money due us from the government, from the Kansas fund. Our interest 
in that fund is probably three-quarters of a million dollars. The money became 
due in 1898 and was voted by congress in 1900 but there seems to be a good deal 
of difficulty in getting the money from the United States treasury. The United 
States owes us this money, and we hope after a time, to receive it. 

"While the Senecas have a good many enemies on their borders, and in Wash- 
ington, we have some excellent friends. We have recently lost a good friend in 
Senator Matthew Stanley" Qua}'. Senator Quay was always for doing justice to the 
Seneca Indians. We have also a most excellent friend. Bishop William D. Walker, 
who is with us today. Bishop Walker unselfishly, in season and out of season, 
has stood up for us, and our rights. 

"He is better acquainted with our condition than any other public man. 
Whenever we have been assailed by false charges, Bishop Walker has stood up in 
our defense. He is a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, and almost 
the only member of the board who has anj' correct knowledge of our affairs and 
the only member of the board that has stood up ijoldly for our interests in that 
commission. 

"We Senecas have great cause to hope for justice from the senate of the United 
States. Twice that senate has stopped the passage of that unjust and wicked bill 
known as the Vreeland bill, and I firmly believe that no bill whicli seeks to rob 
the Seneca nation of its property and rights can pass the senate of the United 
States. 

"I wish I could say as much for the house of representatives, but truth will not 
permit me to do it. We are willing to sell to the lessees of the Seneca nation, in 
the villages on our reservations, the lands whicli they occupy, for a reasonable 
compensation. We are not willing that these lessees shall fix the price without 
consulting us. We think inasmuch as we own the title, and have to give the 
deeds, we should be consulted about the prices we receive. 

"Our suit against the Ogden Land Company has been tried at Buffalo, before 
Judge Kenefick, and we hope for a favorable decision in the near future. It will 

I The foregoing statement is from an article by Mr. Samson published in tlie Rochester "Post 
Express." 



Iviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

be a great relief to us to get rid of tlie shadow which the Ogden Land Company 
seeks to cast on our title to our reservations. 

"Mr. Van Voorhis, of Rocliester, and Mr. Moot, of Buffalo, trieil the case for 
us and feel confident of success. Our population is increasing and not diminish- 
ing in numbers. In 1830 we had a population of about fifteen or sixteen hundred. 
Now we have more than 2,300. We feel that we are improving in civilization. 
We live much in the style in which our white neighbors live. 

"The government of our nation is republican in form. Our officers are elected 
by the people. There is not a vestige of tribal government among us and has not 
been in more than fifty years. Our children are being taught in the public scliools 
maintained by the state. Our farms are better cultivated than ever before. Our 
lauds have been allotted many j-ears ago among the Indian families. We have 
courts to settle our legal matters, the same as the white people. Our council con- 
sists of sixteen members elected by the people, and consists of representative In- 
dians, all of whom are educated to a greater or less degree. 

"Our people speak the English language, and almost all of tliem can read it and 
write it. We are fast getting on to the ways of civilization, and hope the time is 
not far distant when the oul.v difference between the Senecas and the white people 
will be one of complexion. 

"I want to thank Bishop Walker, in the name of the Seneca Indians, for his 
courtesy in attending our picnic, .ind for the many ways in which he has shown 
hid friendship for us. 

"We feel greatly indebted to W. H. Samson, one of the editors of the Rocliester 
Post Express, who, through the columns of that great newspaper and in other ways 
has called the attention of the country to the wrongs certain cut-purse statesmen 
in Washington are attempting to inflict upon us. Mr. Samson has ever been ready 
to champion our cause, and has done so with great ability and success. 

"And I must not forget our friend, Congressman William Sulzer, who, altliough 
a stranger to us, made a gallant fight for us in tlie house of representatives against 
the Vreeland bill. 

' ' Our case has been brought before the senate in such a way as to secure the 
careful attention of some of the ablest statesmen in the nation, and it is my firm 
belief that no legislation, opposed by us, and injurious to us, can pass that body. 

"I cannot conclude without referring to our great president, Theodore Roose- 
velt. Our people have great faith in him. We believe tliat this excellent man 
and far-seeing statesman will place his signature to no bill that is antagonistic to 
us and to our rights." 

.APPENDIX NO. XII. 

COPY OF DEED TO DAUGHTERS OF IN'DI.iX .\I,LEX. 

To all people to whom these presents shall come, we the Sachems, Chiefs and 
Warriors of the Seneca Nation of Indians, send greeting: 

WHERE.AS, By the custom of our Nation from the earliest times of our forefathers 
to the present day, every person born of a Seneca woman has been and is considered 



APPENDIX lixr 

one of the Nation, and hence as having an equal right with every other person in 
the Nation to lands belonging to the nation; And, — Whereas Ky-eu-da-went-han, 
named in English "Sally" one of our sisters, has had two daiigliters born of her 
body by our brother, "Jen-uh-sheo," named in English, Ebenezer Allen, the 
name of the said daughters in Englisli, Mary Allen and Chloe Allen; and, 

Whereas Our said brother, Jen-uh-sheo, the father of the said Mary and Chloe, 
has expressed to us the desire to have the share of the Seneca lands to which the 
said Mary and Chloe (whom we consider our children) are entitled to have, set off 
to them in severalty, that they may enjoy the same as their separate portions; 
now know ye, that we the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca Nation, in 
the name and by the authority of our whole Nation, whom according to our an- 
cient custom in like cases we represent, and in consideration of the rights of the 
said Mary and Chloe, as children and members of the Seneca Nation, and of our 
love and affection for them, do hereby set off and assign to them, the said Marj' 
and Chloe, and to their heirs and assigns, a tract of land, on part of which the said 
Jen-uh-sheo, our brother, now dwells, upon the waters of the Jen-uh-sheo river 
(Geuesee River) in the county of Ontario, in the State of New York, bounded as 
follows : 

Beginning at an elm tree standing in the forks of the Jen-uh-sheo river (the 
boundary between our lands and the lauds we sold to Oliver Phelps and Mr. Gor- 
ham) and running from thence due south four miles, thence due west four miles, 
thence due north four miles, thence due east four miles, until the line strikes the 
said elm tree with the appurtenances. To have and to hold the said tract of land, 
with the appurtenances, to them, the said Mary Allen and Chloe Allen, and to 
their heirs and assigns, as tenants in common to their use forever, provided 
nevertheless, that we, the said Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors, declare that it is our 
desire and intention, that from this day until the third day of March in the year 
.Anno Domini 1803, during which time both of the said Mary and Chloe will be 
minors, the said Ebenezer .-Vllen, his executors and administrators, shall take care 
of, occupy and improve the whole tract of land and receive the rents and profits 
thereof, without accounting to the children therefor, saving that therewith he, his 
executors and administrators, shall make provision for the decent and suitable 
maintenance, and for the instruction of tlie said Mary and Chloe, and cause them 
to be instructed in reading and writing, sewing and other useful arts, according to 
the custom of the white people, provided that if the said Mary shall marry before 
the age of twenty-one years, then immediateh' on her marriage the said Ebenezer, 
his executors or administrators, shall deliver to her the possession of her one equal 
third part in qualitj' or quantity of said tract of laud. .And if the said Chloe shall 
marry before the age of twenty-one years, then immediately on her marriage the 
said Ebenezer, his executors or administrators, shall deliver to her, the said Chloe, 
the possession of one-third part for quality and quantity of said tract of land. .A.nd 
thencefomard the said Man,' and Chloe, respectively, and their representative 
heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, shall receive the rents and profits of 
their respective third parts of said tract of land. .\nd the said Ebenezer .\llen 
shall continue in the possession of the remaining third part of said tract of laud. 



Ix HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and receive tlie rents and profits thereof during his natural life, to his own use. 
And after his death his present wife Sally, if she survive him, shall hold posses- 
sion of the same third part, and receive the rents and profit thereof to her own 
use so long as she shall remain his widow, immediately after which the said 
Mary and Chloe, their heirs and assigns, shall receive and have the entire posses- 
sion of the whole of said tract of land forever. And we, the Sachems, Chiefs and 
Warriors, do further declare that the said tract of land so set off to them, the said 
Mary and Chloe, is and forever shall be in full of their share and interest of all the 
lands belonging to the said Nation, and of all claims of property of every kind, 
whether moneys or goods for lands sold or received as presents, which have been 
or shall be received by our Nation; provided further, and it is our meaning to 
reserve to the Indian families now dwelling on said tract of land the liberty of 
remaining there so long as they should think fit, with the liberty of planting so 
much corn as shall be necessary for their own use; provided further, that our 
sister, the said " Ky-en-da-went-han" (Sally) shall be entitled to comfortable and 
competent maintenance out of the rents and profits of said tract of land during her 
natural life, or as long as she remains unjoined to another companion. 

In witness whereof, we, the Sachems, Chiefs of the Seneca Nation, according 
to the ancient custom of our Nation, have hereunto set our hands and seals this 
fifteenth daj' of July, in the j-ear one thousand seven hundreil and ninety-one, and 
of the independence of the United States the sixteenth. 

How-de-ye-was, the mark of x Farmers Brother. 

Shek-wi-un-unk, the mark of x Little Beard. 

Kaen-do- wan-ay, the mark of x Big Tree. 

Hoye}--san-sprish, tlie mark of x Young King. 

Oo-nu-got-ek-hon, the mark of x Fire in the Mountain. 

So-ne-auh-to-wan, the mark of x Big Throat. 

Ko3-e-a-gay-anh, the mark of x Heap of Sago. 

Tio-ka-a-ya, the mark of x Little Billy. 

Tain-dau-dash, the mark of x Black Chief. 

Ken-nu-yoo-ni-gut, the mark of x Captain Samp. 

Ken-no-ghau-kol-york, the mark of s Old House. 

Ne-en-daw-ku-wan, the mark of x Great Tree. 

Hah-jun-gunsh, the mark of x China Breast Plate. 

Soo-nooh-shoo-wan, the mark of x Great House. 

So-way-is, the mark of x Stump F'oot. 
Sachems in right hand columns of seals. 

Sealed and delivered in the presence of Ebenezer Bowman, Joseph .Smith, 
Jasper Parrish, Horatio Jones, Oliver Phelps, and by the Chiefs under-written, in 
the presence of us, 

Jacob Hart. 

Eben Bowman. 

To-du-do-nhang-nay, the mark of x Tommy Jemmisou. 

Cj'-asu-te, the mark of x Silver Breast Plate with a cross. 

So-go-urva-to, the mark of x Red Jacket, or Keeper Awake. 



APPENDIX Ixi 

In ivitness whereof, I liave hereuulo set my hand and seal at Newtown, in the 
county of Tioga in the State of New York, tte i6th day of July in the year 1791 
and of the independence of the United States the sixteenth. 

Timothy Pickering, 

Commissioner on the part of the United States for Holding a Treaty with the 
Six Nations of Indians. 

The land embraced in this grant, which came to be known as the Mount Morris 
tract, upon its survey in 1806 by Stephen Rogers, was conveyed to the Bank of 
North America, as collateral security for certain loans to Robert Morris. Tlie 
Bank sold the undivided seven-eighths of the tract in 1806 to John R. Murray, of 
New York, and his wife ; William Ogden, of New York and his wife ; John Trum- 
bull, of New York, and James Wadsworth of Geueseo, New York, and his wife. 
In 1810 the owners made a division of that portion of the property lying south of 
the river, excepting the village square, into lots numbering from i to 251 inclusive 
and partitioned them among themselves. Mark Hopkins was the first land agent 
of the Mount Morris tract. 



APPENDIX NO. XIII 
COPY DEED OF COURT HOUSE GROUNDS. 

This indenture made this fourteenth day of July in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and twenty-one between William Wadsworth and James Wadsworth of 
Geneseo in the county of Livingston and state of New Y'ork of the first part and 
the supervisors of said county of Livingston and state aforesaid of the second part, 
witnesseth ; That the said parties of the first part in consideration of one dollar to 
them in hand paid by the said parties of the second part, and for divers other 
good considerations them thereunto moving, have given, granted, bargained, 
sold, aliened and confirmed, and by these presents do give, grant, bargain, sell, 
alien and confirm unto the said parties of the second part and to their successors 
in office forever, all that certain lot, piece or parcel of land situate in the north 
end of the said village of Geneseo in the county of Livingston aforesaid, and 
bounded as follows — Beginning at the intersection of the west line of Front street 
(now Main street) with the south line of North street so called; thence running 
north 80° west eight rods, to a stake and stones; thence nortli 10° east eighteen 
rods; then south 80° east twenty-two rods; thence south 10° west eighteen rods to 
a stake and stones in the south line of North street ; thence north 80° west eight 
rods to the east line of Front street ; thence, on the same course, six rods to the 
place of beginning, containing two acres and forty-seven one-hundredths acres — 
to be used and improved as a public square or promenade, and for no other pur- 
poses whatever. .\lso the following described piece or parcel of land, beginning 
at the northwest corner of the above described lot or public square, thence north 
10° east twelve rods ; thence north 80° east twenty-seven rods and nine links to 
the west line of the Avon road; thence south 41° west along said west line thir- 
teen rods and eleven links to the north line of the public sqtiare above described ; 
thence on the north line of said public square to the place of beginning, containing 



Ixii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

one acre and seveuty-nine one-liundreiltlis of an acre — to be Ui^ed ami improved as 
a site for the court house, jail and public offices of said county and lor no other 
purposes whatever. To have and to hold the said above described lots or parcels 
of land for the several and respective purposes aforesaid and for uo other purposes 
whatever, to the said party of the second part and to their successors in office for- 
ever, a plan of said two parcels of land is hereunto annexed. And the said party 
of the first part for themselves, their heirs, executors and administrators, do 
covenant, promise and agree, to and with the saiil party of the second part and 
their successors in office, that the above described lots or parcels of land, for the 
several and respective purposes aforesaid and for no other, in the quiet and 
peaceable possession of the said parties of the second part and their successors in 
office they will forever warrant and defend, in witness whereof the said party of 
the first part have hereunto set their hands and seals on the day and in the year 
first above written. Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Ph. C. Fuller and 
John Simonds. L. S. Wni. Wadsworth. 

L. S. Jas. Wadsworth. 

State of New York, 1 _ 

County of Livingston, J ^^' 

I, Orlando Hastings, a commissioner tor taking the proof and acknowledgment 
of deeds, etc., in and for said county do certify that on the 14th day of July, 
1S21, William Wadsworth and James Wadsworth who are well known to me to be 
the grantors within named, came before me and acknowledged that they executed 
the indenture within writteu for the uses and purposes therein expressed, I allow 
it to be recorded. O. Hastings, Com., etc. 

A true copy of the original recorded July 15th, 1821, at S o'clock, a. m. 

James Gauson, Clerk. 



APPENDIX XIV. 
.\X .\CCOL"XT OF THE CEI.EBR.\TIOX OF THE Sl"LLIV.\N CEXTEXN'I.\I, .\T GEXESEO. 

CENTENNIAL. 
1779. — Sept. 16 — 1879. 
On the first day of August, 187S, we wrote and pul)lished the following paragraph : 

A CENTENNIAL AT HOME. 

The expedition of Gen. Sullivan into the Genesee Country, was in 1779, and 
the centennial of that event, will, therefore, occur next year. The 15th of Sep- 
tember is the exact date of the bloody event, which took place in Groveland, and 
ended by the massacre of Boyd and Parker, near Beard's creek, in the town of 
Leicester. We suggest, that timely preparations be made by the Pioneer or His- 
torical Society, to celebrate the centennial so near at hand, upon the spot where 
the capture of Boyd took place, where he was put to death, or at some place con- 
venient of access to the people generally. 

At the Pioneer meeting, on the 15th of the same month, Hon. Richard Johnson, 



APPENDIX Ixiii 

of Grovelaiul, called attention to the matter, and, at his suggestion, a committee 
was appointed, to consider and recommend, to the winter meeting of tlie executive 
committee, such steps as seemed appropriate, to secure a proper observance of the 
event referred to, in the above article. This was done; the subsequent steps in 
the matter, are so recent, as to be familiar to all our readers. And now, we are 
clo^e upon the day fixed for the celebration. The chief labor, in making the 
arrangements, has been performed b}- a general committee, consisting of Colonel 
John Rorbach, Charles Jones and William A. Brodie, Esqs., and we believe the 
result will show, that they have performed their duties with efficiency and good 
judgment. 

At a meeting of citizens, held at Concert Hall, on Fridaj- evening, committees 
were appointed, to go through all the streets of the village, and roads of the town, 
to solicit contributions of provisions, etc. — for delivering at Agricultural Hall, 
on Tuesday morning next, in order that the military, firemen and bands, maj- be 
supplied with a lunch. These provisions will be received b5- persons in waiting, 
and, at the hour of lunch, will be served by fifty young ladies and gentlemen. 

.'\t the appointed hour, the procession will be formed, and led by General James 
Wood, passing through the principal streets and under arches covered with ever- 
greens. Flags will also be displayed at several points on the route, as announced 
in the official programme, in this paper. It is safe to say. that, with the military, 
the firemen and bands, and the great crowd of people, the display will greatly 
surpass anything heretofore seen in the county. 

The general committee having the arrangements of the Sullivan Centennial 
Celebration in charge completed the programme, and the following is the list of 
officers, as selected: 

President of the day, Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh, of Groveland. 

1st Vice-President, Norman Seymour, Esq. , of Mt. Morris. 

2nd Vice-President, Hon. B. F. Angel, of Geneseo, and the following \"ice- 
Presidents from the several towns: 

Avon — A. A. Heudee, Fred Pearson, George H. Nowlen. 

Caledonia — Alex. Ferguson, Dugald E. Cameron, Wni. Hamilton. 

Conesus — Jotham Clark, Sen., Solomon Hitchcock, Hiram Boyd. 

Geneseo— Col. F. W. Butler, Charles Jones, Col. John Rorbach. 

Groveland — Richard Johnson, Wra. A. Mills, George S. Ewarl. 

Leicester — Eli Botsford, James H. Bolton, Henry Tilton. 

Lima— Richard Peck, Ambrose Hyde, William R. McNair. 

Livonia — Solomon Woodruff, Backus Gibbs, B. J. Blake. 

Mt. Morris— M. H. Mills, Lucius C. Bingham, L. J. Ames. 

N. Dansville— Hon. James Faulkner, Jr., Alonzo Bradiier, Dr. F. M. Ferine. 

Nunda — Samuel Swain, Capt. James Lemen, E. O. Dickinson. 

Ossian— Win. M. White, Isaac Hampton, Corydon Hyde. 

Portage— Charles W. Bennett, John Fitch, B. T. Kneeland. 

Sparta— John Shepard, E. L. McFetridge, John M. Campbell. 

Springwater— Orson Walbridge, John S. Wiley, D. C. Snyder. 

West Sparta— W. J. Slaight, John W. McNair, L. B. Field. 



.Ixi.- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

York— Geo. \V. Root, S. Blake^lee, H. E. Smith. 

Secretaries:— E. H. Davis, A. O. Bunnell, S. P. Allen, A. T. Norton, C. K. 
Sanders. 

Chief Mar.shall--Geueral James Wood. 

The following committee of arrangements was appointed: Charles Jones. Col- 
onel Henry L. Arnold and William A, Brodie, of Geneseo; Norman Seymour, of 
Mt. Morris; Major A. A. Hendee, of .\von. 

(From the Livingston Republican. Geneseo, N. Y., Thursday, September iS, 1879.1 

THE SULLIVAN CENTENNIAL. 
Fifteen Thousand People Present — Splendid Decorations and Processions. 

The Sullivan Centennial has just been honored by the largest assemblage ever 
before seen in Livingston County. The morning of the 16th looked unpropitious, 
but as the day advanced, the clouds lifted and the weather proved just right for 
comfort. The previous rain had laid the dust, and the great throng which poured 
in, had as enjoyable a day as could be desired. The trains brought the military 
and Ijand from Rochester, the firemen and several bamls from Dansville, Mt. 
Morris, Nunda, Avon, Lima and Cuylerville, while by nine o'clock, every road 
leading hither, was full of people in carriages, and on horseback. In fact, a 
large share of the adult population of the county, seemed to have turned out, to 
do honor to the occasion. A large delegation of pioneers and other distinguished 
gentlemen came from Wyoming county. The delegation consisted of Geo. 
Tomlinson, H. T. Brooks, Hon. Augustus Frank, Hon. James H. Loomis; and 
many others. Letters were received from Ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour, Gov. Mc- 
Clellau, of New Jersey, Hon. Geo. W. Clinton, of Buffalo, Chief Justice Sanford 
E. Church and Judges Folger and Danfortli of the Court of Appeals, Hon. Roscoe 
Conkliug, Hon. W. W. Campbell, of Cherry Valley, Rev. Dr. Gridley, of Water- 
loo, Hon. W. P. Letchworth and O. H. Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo, and many 
others, but we have not room for them. The absence of Governors Seymour and 
McClellan, was a disappointment to many thousands. The committee delayed 
their announcements, until a very late hour, for the purpose of ascertaining 
w'hether they would be present, but, as has been announced. Gov. McClellan was 
taken very ill only three or four daj's before the meeting, and up to the morning 
of the i6th there was reason to look for Gov. Seymour, as he had given a verbal 
promise, after his letter was written, to be present, if possible. Dr. Fitzhugh 
was to have presided, but he was taken ill at Baj' City, Michigan, and was unable 
to be present. In his absence, Norman Seymour, Esq., presided and performed 
the duties with great satisfaction. 

The village of Geneseo, never before looked 50 gay and attractive. Almost 
every residence and place of business along the line of march, was decorated, 
some of them in a profuse and elaborate manner. Large flags were strung across 
the streets at various points. The Hook and Ladder Company erected at the 
upper end of Main street an arch of which the component parts were ladders. It 
was very tastefully made and trimmed throughout with evergreens. In the open 



APPENDIX Ixv 

spaces were Ining axes, and ropes and other paraphernalia, and in the npper tri- 
angle was the name of the company. Coming southward, the next arch was the 
one erected by the Wadsworth Hose, a large sqxiare structure with openings each 
way. This was more massive in its build than the other, was covered profusely 
with evergreens, and like the other, adorned with flags. The onlv other large 
arch, was the one built in front of the Normal school; this also was solidly built, 
and well trimmed with evergreen. The top of the structure was an arch, on each 
side of which was a motto, the one facing south was "Education, the Nation's 
Safety." The other "Ignorance, the Parent of Crime." While mentionin.g the 
mottoes displayed, we must take note of that of the sheriff. The gate posts at the 
entrance to the Court House grounds were covered with evergreens, and sur- 
mounted by an arch on which was the motto, "Civilization overcomes Barbarism." 
.Ml the county buildings were tastefully and profusely decorateil. On Park street, 
ilr. O'Grady displayed on a canvas extending the whole width of the street, the 
old Irish welcome, " Cead Mille Fealthe," meaning "a hundred thousand wel- 
comes." There was no part of the village to which the enthusiasm did not 
extend. Centre and Second and Elm, and even to North and Court and Eliza- 
beth, where almost every resident made a creditable attempt at decoration. In 
front of the residence of Dr. Lauderdale, from the spacious veranda in front, were 
lutng a part of the large and precious collection made by Dr. John V. Lauderdale, 
consisting of Indian Iflankets, robes of buckskin, bow's and arrows, and other 
Indian belongings collected in Arizona, New Mexico, California, and the other 
frontier posts, to which this young surgeon of the United States army has been 
attached. This last display attracted nuich attention, and was viewed and com- 
mented on all through the day. Where everjone was anxious to do honor to the 
day, and make the exercises a credit and a success, we could not particularize even 
if .space allowed, but must make an exception in favor of the Chief Jlarshal's 
headquarters, where the portraits of General Grant and President Lincoln were 
hung out, and in front of Jay Schuyler's, where a large and splendid portrait of 
Washington, and a large likeness of General Sullivan, were exposed to view. On 
every side was plainlv evident the utmost desire to contribute in every way to the 
success of the celebration, and the honor of the day. .\ fine large portrait of 
Washington, was also displajed Ijefore the residence of Mr. Geo. Mercer, on 
Second street. 

The unavoidable delays of such an occasion compelled the Marshal to cut short 
the line of march greatly to his own regret and that of hundreds of people who 
had taken positions for seeing the procession. .\t .Agricultural Hall on the Fair 
Grounds the most ample arrangements had been made for satislying the wants of 
the invited guests, oflicers, military, firemen, bands, etc. Substantial tables en- 
closed the entire 1)uilding, and from each side and ends a host of waiters, includ- 
ing many ladies, came out with baskets of everything to satisfy hunger. At the 
hour for lunch, the tables were surrounded, and such were the facilities, that no 
lime was lost in satisfying everyone who came. And when all were served, there 
was enough left of meats, bread, coffee, pies, cake, etc., to feed twice as many 
more. The contribution for this purpose from the people of the village and town, 



Ixvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was most profuse and generous. And risilit here let us say, tliat throughout, the 
preparations and arrangements b}- Col. John Rorhacli and \V. .A. Brodie, Esq., 
were really as perfect and satisfactorj- as it was possible to make them. They 
devoted themselves to the work, with a zeal and success which are beyond praise. 
Everybody who was present owes them a debt of gratitude. 

Our fire departments were early on the alert and at seven o'clock had assembled 
and marched down to the depot, to receive the guests. The escort consisted of the 
Wadsvvorth Hose Co., the Steamer Co., and the Hook and Ladder Co., of this 
village, numbering in all about lOO men. Coming on the train from Dansville, 
were the Union Hose, Thos. O'Meara, Foreman; Protectives, F. \V. Krein, Fore- 
m;m ; and Hook and Ladder Company, Daniel Price, Foreman, and .-Active Hose 
Company of Mt. Morris. Jas. Barrett, Foreman, all of which were escorted to the 
village and entertained in the most liberal inanuer bj' the Wadsworth Hose Co., 
which organization had arranged the store lately occupied by Smith Brothers, for 
the reception of visiting firemen. .\nd soon, while the cannon thundered forth 
its greetings, the next train came in bringing six companies of the 54tli Regiment, 
National Guard, commanded b^' Major Weitzel. There were 300 men in line, who 
made a fine appearance. Col. Geo. Hyland, Jr., of Brig. Gen. Briggs' staff was 
also among the officers. The splendid band of the 54th, led the regiment, and 
their music was greatly admired. At the same time, came a delegation from .•Vvon 
consisting of the Avon Hook and Ladder Co. Orrin, Sacket Foreman ; the Avon 
Engine Co., J. B. Benedict, Foreman; the Extinguisher Co., of Avon, McLaugh- 
lin, Foreman. Later in the day, the Nunda Hose Co., came in under the com- 
mand of Altlia Paine, Foreman, and the Engine Co., under the direction of O. H. 
Cook, Foreman. Perhaps at this point, it may be well to mention the distin- 
guished guests which the Wadsworth Hose Co. , received. Among them were (ieo. 
Hylaud, Esq. Chief Engineer of the Fire Department of Dansville ; C. J. Crabb, 
Assistant Engineer of the department of Batavia ; H. \V. Matthews of the Alerts 
of Avon; Henry Wigg, .Assistant Engineer of the town of Mt. Morris and \V. S. 
Newman of Avon, the recently elected President of the New York State Firemen's 
Association. It is perhaps unnecessarj- to mention, that the distinguished giiests 
were cordiall}' received and w'ell entertained. The Wadsworth Hose Co., kept 
open house during the day, for all firemen and their efforts in this direction were 
fully appreciated and enjoyed. 

The procession formed at 10:30 in the following order: 

FIRST DIVISION. 

Chief Marshal, Brig. Gen. James Wood and Aids, General Pratt, Major C. F. 
Wadsworth and Otto Kelsey, preceding the 54th Regiment and band under the 
command of Maj. John N. Weitzel, with Lieut. F. W. Elkart of Company F., 
Adjutant. 

SECOND DIVISION. 

Containing carriages with officers, speakers, distinguished guests and survivors 
of the War of 1S12, prominent among whom was Doctor D. H. Bissell, with .\ids 
Cols. Strang and Hyland and Lockwood R. Doty. 



APPF':NDIX Ixvii 

THIRD DIVISION. 

Veteran!^ of the late war, and a company of Calitliunipian-, with Aids, Major, 
Eldridge and Culbertfon and Geo. S. Williams. 

FOURTH DIVISION. 

Preceded by the Dansville Band and the different fire companies in attendance 
with hose carriages, fire department of Geneseo, Capts. .Scott, Sackett and Van 
Zandt as Aids. 

FIFTH DIVISION. 

Lima Band with Pioneers and citizens generally. Capt. Chapin and R. A. 
Kneeland as .\ids. 

SIXTH DIVISION. 

Cuylerville Band and delegation from Normal School. The scholars of this in- 
stitntion had been trained in the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, which 
it was designed to sing while the procession was passing, but its progress was so 
rapid, that the first verse only was sung. 

The procession marched to the Fair Grounds, where, in ."Vgricnltural Hall, the 
citizens of the town generally had sent their contributions of provisions, in quan- 
tities abimdant enough to have satisfied the hunger of a crowd of three times the 
dimensions. From early in the morning the waiters were occupied in cutting up 
and preparing the food for the guests. Meats and fowls and bread and pastry and 
the choicest of preserves and pickles, were spread out in profusion tor all the 
guests who honored the Sullivan Centennial of Livingston County with their 
presence. 

Lunch being concluded, the officers, speakers and invited guests repaired to the 
grand stand, which was already' surrounded by thousands of people. The seats on 
the east side of the trotting course were full, and the judges' stand was reserved 
for representatives of the press. Norman Seymour, Esq., called to order and said: 

Fellow Citizens: 
We have gathered here today to commemorate the expedition of Gen. John 
Sullivan, and his brare arm}-, against the Six Nations, tlie Iroquois, one hundred 
years ago. Before that event, so fearful had been the atrocities of the Indians, 
"who hung like the c^the of death" upon the defenceless whites, on the border 
settlements, in the Valley of the Mohawk, Cherry Valley, and Wyoming, that 
Gen. Washin,gton determined to chastise them. In his order to Gen. Sullivan, he 
said, "The immediate objects, are the fatal destruction of the hostile tribes of the 
Six Nations, the devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many 
prisoners, of every age and sex, as possible. ' 

Washington appreciated the vast importance of the expedition, and selected 
this able General : the results of the campaign, brought quiet to the land, and 
emigration from Pennsylvania and the east set in, and in a few years brought 
about the famous treaty of 'Big Tree." Let us do honor to the memorj' of the 
indomitable and brave soUliers of that campaign, many of whom became the 
pioneers of the Genesee country ; its delightful valleys, genial climate, and 
luxuriant soil, induced them to make their homes in this land. 



Ixviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Inheriting the New Eiijilaml tyije of true nianliood, they assisted in layinj» 
broad, deep, and enduring, tlie toundation of our illustrious coninionwealth : on 
our hillsides, and at almost every hauilet, they erected rude temples, consecrated 
to the worship of the God of their fathers. In August, 1841, a very large assem- 
blv presided over by the Revolutionary hero, Major Moses VanCampen, met at 
Little Beardstown, Gennishee, the spot where the brave Boyd and Parker, attached 
to Sullivan's Expedition, were so inhumanly put to death. On that occasion. 
Judge Samuel Treat, now of St. Louis, pronounced a just and fitting tribute to 
the memory of these brave men. Their remains were taken to Jit. Hope, 
Rochester, where Gov. Seward delivered a very touching address. To this dav, no 
monument marks their resting place. But I am not expected to speak in detail of 
Gen. Sullivan's devastating march, and of its effect upon the young republic. 
The distinguished and eloquent historian, from Pennsylvania, wlio is with us, 
will more fully than ever before, bring out the facts connected with that effec- 
tive and successful expedition. 

Fellow citizens, to-day we tread upf)n the soil, where first by the treaty of 1779, 
the Indian title was extingui^^hed to the "Genesee Country," "The pre-emption 
line," one mile east of Geneva, to Lake Erie, in all embracing six million acres. 
Here at Big Tree, this famous treaty was signed, one of the most important that 
was ever made with any of the Six Nations. Here, just below, on this western 
slope, three thousand Indians, for over twenty days, gathered around their council 
fires, before Robert Morris, the distinguished financier of the Revolution, repre- 
sented bv his son, Thomas Morris of Kanandaigua, assisted the V. S. Commis- 
sioner, Jeremiah Wadsworth, of Hartford, Conn., consummated this noted treatv. 
This convocation of Indian chiefs and United States officials, met in the un- 
finished log house, covered with bou.ghs, of the Jlessrs. James and William 
Wadsworth, the noble pioneers of our valley. The result of this grand council, at 
once opened more fully to civilization the country in which we dwell. 

Citizens of Livingston County, as today we have met by thousands, to com- 
memorate the bravery, and lofty patriotism of General Sullivan and his arniv, 
so in September, 1897, will we gather upon this historic ground, and recall the 
stirring events of the famous "Treaty of Big Tree," the outgrowth of the memor- 
able expedition of Gen. Sullivan, which today we honor. 

In this valley, there should he erected monuments, that for all time shall mark 
the spot where occurred the crowning results of Sullivan's Expedition, where the 
bloody trail of the Iroquois found its death, and wlicre the Senecas, who for 
centuries had guarded the western door to the "Long House,'' for the last time 
in the Gennishee, covered up their council fires, and with >ullen tread, marched 
to their homes in the west. 

Prayer was then offered by Rev. L. Parsons, D. D., of Mount Morris. 

The Glee Club then rendered the words, "My Country, 'lis of Thee," to the 
tune of America, with fine effect. 

Hon. A. L. Childs, of Waterloo, the Poet of the occasion, then read the poem. 



APPENDIX Ixix 

JOHN Sri.LIVAX'S MARCH. 

By A. h. Childs. 

In memory of the olden time 

With merry hearts, with face? beaming, 
In lon.t; procession, jjrand, sublime, 

We march with Freedom's banner streaming. 

We bring fresh wreaths and lilies fair, 

With incense sweet the air perfuming. 
With love and veneration rare, 

To greet our Century Tree now blooming! 

Blooming w-ith Faith and Hope and Pride ; 

Blooming with blessings; peace liestowing; 
Safe from the storms on every side. ' 

Safe in Freedom's soil now growing. 

We know the hand that planted the seed, 

Where woods were wild and ground nnliroken : 
And we cheer the generous hearted deed. 

As these scenes of joy today betoken! 

Thou.gh .generations have gone since then, 

And scenes of life are often shitted, 
We see John Sullivan and his men. 

As mists of a hundred years are lifted. 

God bless the soldiers of Seventv-Nine, 

For their Ijrave deeds of soldier bearing ! 
Breaking the chains of the Iroquois line. 

Bringing the peace we are this day sharing. 

Where Onondaga and Mohawk Ijrave, 

Oneida, Cayuga and .Seneca found 
The union of tribes that terror gave. 

Where the Tuscarora war-whoop sounded. 

.■\llied with Freedom's bitterest foe. 

With poisoned arrow and scalping knife, 
With flaming torch, they marching .go, 

To murder the young Republic's life! 

God bless the heroes of Seventy-Nine ! 

Their work was blest: their efforts untiring, 
And a hundred years show no decline 

Of the patriot fire, our hearts inspiring. 

Where the savage yell and war-whoop rung, 

.\nd smoke from Imlian wigwam curling, 
Now anthems of praise to God are sung, 

.\nd our starry banner is unfurling! 

Where stealthy step of moccasin feet, 

With death the trail of the white man treading, 
.■\re the busy scenes of the village street 

.\nd the homes with sweet contentment shedding. 



Ixx HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Where the swift canoe went glidinji throut-h 

The waters of the lake and river, 
Now the steamers grand, plow through the Ijlue 

And freight from distant ports ileliver. 

Where bended how would arrows throw 

With death to the white man, swiftly flying; 

Where the war club gave its deadly blow 
To the tortured pale faced victim dying; 

Now the church is seen, and the school yard green, 
And the lionies where Peace and Love are dwellin.ti 

Where the aged sire, calm and serene, 
The tale of the olden time is telling. 

No tears can we shed, for the red man fled ; 

Driven out by the sires before us. 
And we Ijless tlie heroes by Sullivan led, 

In a grand, triumphal clionis! 

As the monster oak, by the axinan's stroke 
Falls down to the ground like the thunder, 

As its branches wide are torn from its side, 
While the flowers of spring are plowed under; 

No mourning is made of the oak tree shade. 
We mi--s not the Ijlooiu ot the flowers. 

The march of Freemen shall not be delaj'ed 
In tliis beautiful land of ours. 

We squ.inder no grief on warrior chiel ; 

To mourn tor the past we will never: 
In God and in Country we rest our belief, 

And tru^t llie\- will triumph forever! 

Then onward we march, 'neath Heaven's blue arch. 

As Sullivan's heroes before iis ! 
And sing by the way as freemen today. 

In a heartfelt, victorious chorus! 

In the Spirit land stands Sullivan's baud, 
In that far distant home in glory : 

Through a lumdred years, a procession appears. 
Far-famed in the world's great story! 

Through the long ravine of the past are seen 
The aged fathers and mothers, too ; 

From the mountain height of a century's flight, 
We can witness the grand review! 

In this grand parade, of a century made. 
The forms of our sires we now behold! 

We see in their face, that goodness and .grace, 
That marked them as patriot men of old ! 

There is F-ranklin's fire on electric wire. 
All over the land the glad news flashing; 

And the cable spre.id in the ocean lied, 

Where our vessels are the proud waves dashing. 



APPENDIX Ixxi 

Through the gloou) of iiiKht, shines the bright headlight 

Of the railway engine with its roar, 
As it rushes by like a twinkling eye 

From Atlantic coast, to Pacific shore! 

And there now appears, in this march of years. 

The wonders of science and genius grand, 
To our ears now come, the busy hum 

Of the work-shops scattered through our laud ! 

On the distant plain is the golden grain, 

And the reapers stand with folded arms; 
While tlie great machine reaps the harvest clean, 
Ul And the mau is king of the fruitful farms. 

In this pageant wide we witness with pride 

Our institutions of learning and law ; 
While the whisper tone of the telephone. 

Speaks loud of wonders the world never saw ! 

Our soldiers in blue are marching there, too. 
And carr^- the Ijauner through mountain glen. 

Though covered with scars, they wear now the stars 
In that distant laud with Sullivan's men. 

The red, white and blue ; those colors so true, 

Triumphant a hundred years ago 
Preserved and kept bright, are still the delight 

Of the hosts that are marching here below ! 

When the grand review of a century new- 
Dawns on our land, we hope and pray 

That the patriot men who are marching then 
May be true as the freemen are todaj- ! 

The 54th Regimental baud played souie fine nmsic, when W. H. Bogart, Esq., 
of Cayuga county, was introduced. 

REM.\RKS OF \V . H. BOG.\RT, ESQ. 

Mr. Bogart made a short address, in which, after congratulating the citizens, on 
the success that had attended their efforts at celebration, he said : 

I recognize in General John Sullivan and his soldiers, the proper men for the 
time. God bless the heroes of '79. Men w^ere patriots and heroes in those days. 
I recognize no decliue of patriotic fire, today. Tliat you have gathered from your 
farms and firesides, to do honor to an occasion like this, is, to me, evidence 
sufficient that, did the occasion require, you would be as ready and willing to do 
battle, in the cause of civilization, as they were. Let us give full credit 
to the Indian, consider the circumstances under which he was placed, but 
at the same time we must prefer the village, and the sweets of civilized home 
to his barbaric wigwam. I prefer the churclies, whose numerous spires pierce 
the clouils in this valley, and the school yards that eclio with the gleeful shouts 
of children to the Indian war crv, "Death to the white man." For one, I waste 



Ixxii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

no tears, no sympathy, and squander no {jrief on the red man. The events of a 
century pass, in grand parade before ns in memory today, but I can recall noth- 
ing in all that grand history, pregnant with events ol greater moment to civil- 
ization than the march of General Sullivan and his men, not even when Franklin 
drew electricity from the clouds, and fired the train that gives intelligence to 
the world. I congratulate you, citizens of Livingston, on the success that attends 
your efforts toda\'. Be always as true to the call of duty, as you have been ou 
tliis occasion, and as your firemen liave always proven themselves, and equal 
triumph shall always cover you with glory. 

The Historian of the day, Rev. David Craft, of Wyalusing, Pa., was then intro- 
duced, who gave an interesting historical address. Rev. Mr. Craft's historical 
addresses at all of the centennials, having been thoroughly revised and consoli- 
dated, will be found in another place, in this volume. 

.\fter music by the Dansville Baurl, Gen. A. S. Diven, of Elmira, spoke as 
follows : 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

After the exhaustive narrative of the campaign, one hundred years ago, by 
my learned friend, it would be folly for me to attempt any description of the 
event we are met to celebrate. .As the celebration of the battle of Xewtown (an 
important incident in the campaign) was proposed, I thought to read up the his- 
tory of events connected with the expedition, and more especially to make my- 
self acquainted with the character aud history of the people, against whom this 
formidable demonstration was made. 

If anyone would appreciate the labor that our learned histori,-\n must have be- 
stoweil upon the interesting narrative with which be has favored us, let him enter 
upon the study of the history of the Six Nations. With a reasonabh- fair lilirary 
befqre me, I commenced this study. For a long time all I could find in history 
relating to this people, described them as a Confederation, not of six but of five 
nations. The division of these nations into tribes, and the relation of tlie tribes 
to the nations, and one nation to another, all resting upon tradition, with no 
written constitution or laws leads the student of history into ways that will sorely 
tax his patience, if not completely bewilder him. Then, as to the personal historj- 
of distinguished individuals of these nations, the confusion is, if possible, still 
greater. I pored over the history of a Madam Montour; the more I examined, 
the more I was bewildered. -At one time I was perusing the history of an accom- 
plished French woman who had cast her lot, from romance or caprice, among the 
Indians. She was friendly to the white people. Admitted to the hospitality of 
the Penns, and the best of Philadelphia society. Again she was the incarnate 
fienil, reveling in the blood of defenceless prisoners. I finally found my way out 
of this mj'stery, by discovering that there were two women of the same name. 
Tlie goodness and refinement of the one, a good deal exaggerated, as well as the 
ferocity-, of the other. 

Tlieu, as to the celel)rated Chieftain, Brant ; such contradiction of his character 



APPENDIX l.xxiii 

and his deeds, sent nie in search of two chieftains, of the ?ame name; I am left 
with ahnost conclusive evidence that Braut was the bloodiest fiend of the Wyoniinj; 
Massacre, with evidence equally conclusive, that he was not within three hundred 
miles of them at the time. 

In fact, with attempt to reconcile conflicting history, with regard to these 
original occupants of these fair hills and valleys, I gave up in despair. I shall 
never give lessons in Indian history. 

One thing in relation to the Indian, is not in doubt, that he possessed all this 
fair land, that it was his home, — his the forest to hunt, the streams to fish, the 
fields to plant. That they are his no longer, is equally true. That he has been 
dispossessed, by fraud and violence, rather than by fair and just dealing, I think 
too evident. That he should Imve resisted his ejectment from so fair a heritage, 
even with cruelty to the intruder, admits of palliation. 

With what blood-curdling horror we talk ot the tomahawk, and scalping knife, 
as if the tomahawk were a more cruel weapon than the bayonet, or the scalping 
knife tlian the sabre. 

How our sensibilities revolt at Indian cruelty to unoffending women and chil- 
dren, and the aged. 

What death is more torturing than starvation, and when we take from a people 
the food to sustain life, do we not subject the unoffending to the most miserable 
death ? 

With what holy horror we exclaim against tlie torture inflicted by the Indian 
upon his enemy ! Have we never heard of equally cruel torture by the white 
man? What of the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of refined Rome? What of 
the inquisitions of Spain and Italy? What of the burning at the stake in England? 
Alas, for poor hunianit3-! What of the burning, drowning, and hanging for 
witchcraft, by our Puritan fathers? 

The Indian is a man with like passions as other men ; for any act of cruelty 
practiced by him, you can find a parallel in the best of your races; for every act 
of disinterested generosity found among our own race,' 3'ou can find a parallel 
among the red men. I had rather be the advocate of the Indian before a just 
tribunal, than of the white man. Our persecution of this unfortunate race is 
still going on, and will until we receive the red man as a fellow citizen, and 
recognize him, in all things, as a brother. 

There have been noble examples of devotion to the interest of the red man, in 
this country. Enough has been done to prove the Indian susceptible of high 
civilization. But for every act of kindness to this race, we may cite ten of fraud. 
While the avarice of mankind exceeds his benevolence this will continue. 

It may be thought by some of you, that this is not a fitting occasion to plead 
the cause of the red man. Pardon me for thinking it eminently so. There is 
danger in celebrating a victory over these people, whom we remember only as 
cruel savages, with no redeeming quality, with notliing to palliate their offences, 
Justice to an enemy, is what just men should always accord. 

From the time when France and England were contending foi their part of our 
continent, these savages were sought by both parties as allies, each striving by 



Ixxiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

specious provisions to engage them on their side. The same was true with the 
English government and the colonies during our revolution. The English 
promised to protect the Indian in the possession of these rivers, lakes, valleys 
and hills, if thej- would assist them. There hail been little in the past to show 
that the people of the colonies would afford them such protection. 

In their incursions on onr frontier settlements, they were told by their British 
allies that they were defending their homes against the intruder. 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, as this campaign affected our struggle for 
indepeudence, I rejoice at its success; as it affected the Indian, my rejoicing is 
mingled with regret. There is a cause tor rejoicing on this day, in which I can 
unite with you in gratitude, mingled with regrets. It is not in that a battle was 
fought one hundred ye.ars ago, but that a hundred years have passed without a 
battle. Not that a hundred years ago a victorious army marched through these 
vales and over these hills carrying devastation and ruin in its track — laying 
waste and making desolate the land — but that for a hundred years the march of 
Peace has been onward, bearing in its track progress and civilization. The wil- 
derness has been converted into fruitful tiehls and smiling orchards. The wild 
beast has given place to herds and flocks; the rough path of the savage, to the 
smooth highway and the railroad ; the smoky wigwam for the beautiful painted 
house, filled with the comforts of sweet home; the village of huddled huts for 
the town with shaded streets, with churches, schools and halls. Conquests, com" 
pared with which, the most brilliant military successes are as nothing. 

Let us not, then, so much rejoice that a hundred years ago the note of war re- 
sounded through this valley, as that for a hundred years, war's havoc has never 
disturbed our peaceful habitations. Thank heaven we have but one campaign 
to celebrate, and that was a hundred years ago, and pray that we may have no 
other for centuries to come, "until men shall learn war no more, until swords 
shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; until peace on 
earth and good will to men, shall prevail throughout the world." 

Hon. Geo. W. Patterson, long an honored resident of this county was then in- 
troduced. He spoke as follows: 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I am allowed, as I understand, aljout five minutes to talk to you. I would 
like it much better if thev- had said five hours, because I could hold out that 
long, now. 

I have a few words to say to you, that are not written. The gentlemen who 
preceded me, gave you some of the written, and some of the unwritten history of 
Livingston county. I recollect, that sixty-one j-ears ago, I stood upon the spot 
where the battle which has been referred to was fought over in Groveland. I 
not only stood there, but I went to the graves of those who were slain in that 
battle. 

I don't know whether the people of Livingston county have erected any mon- 
ument to the memorv' of those who were slain there or not, but this I do say, if the 
people of Livingston county do not, within the next year, erect a monument on 
the spot, where those men were buried, do it yourselves. 



APPENDIX Ixxv 

Wlien I was there, sixty-one years ago, some of the bones of those brave men 
were uncovered ; that is to say, that the ground had fallen away, and had mixed 
with the bones, a portion of which were then uncovered. 'iVhether it remains 
so to this day or not, I do not know, but I beg of you, ladies of Groveland, if 
the gentlemen do not do it, see to it, that there is a monument erected there. 

I have always heard a great deal of the sufferings of tlie white people, who 
came to this vallej-. Suppose some foreign nation should invade your shores, and 
come here to despoil j-ou of your heritage, what do you think you would do? 
Would }-ou not do just the same as those Indians did? Yes, ever}' man of you, or 
vou are not fit to be called a man. They did what other people would do, if they 
had to leave this valle}-, upon the equal of which the sun does not shine. That 
race of Indians has passed away. They were a people not calculated to build up 
such a country as this. 

They were neighbors of mine, when I lived on the other side of the river, and 
I never found anything but friendship at their hands, not under any circum- 
stances. I may say that there is one of them now living, that bears my name. 

I will tell you an anecdote of an old Presbyterian deacon, who came out to see 
the Genesee Valley, and the spots of historical interest. When he came, I was 
living on the other side of the river, and I went with him, to show him what 
General Sullivan and his men had done. I remember showing him over York. 
Then we came over the crossing at the old ferrj-, and came over to Geneseo, called 
upon the Messrs. Wadsworth ; went on to Hermitage, called upou Colonel Fitz- 
hugh ; went to Mount Morris, and there we called upon the Sleepers, Stanleys 
and Millers ; went over to Leicester, where we saw the Joneses, and Whites, and 
Lymans, and back to my own old home, and when the old deacon was asked what 
he thought of the country he saw, he said he had never seen anything that at all 
compared with it. It exceeded anything that he had ever heard of, except what 
was said of the soil of Ohio, and that was, that two pounds of the soil woulil 
make three pounds of clear hog's fat. And that good old deacon sold his old 
homestead, and he and his family moved out beyond the town of Warsaw, where 
his remains now lie. 

Now, nn' friends, I want you, one and all, to recollect that you live in the 
valley of the Genesee, and I want you to recollect, tliat you can never go from 
here and find another country as good as this. 

Governor Patterson handed us the names of the following Londonderry men, 
who were in the armv of General Sullivan, in 1779, at Little Beardstown : Jona- 
than Black, James Boyce, Bishop Coster, Nicholas Dodge, Samuel Avres. Robert 
Hodgart, Timotliy Harrington, John Mead, Peter Jenkins, Alexander McMasters, 
Joseph Mack, Joseph McFarland, Nathan Plummer. 

Hon. B. F. Angel moved a vote of thanks, to the speakers and poet, which 
was adopted. 

After another song by the Glee Club, the 54th band led the multitude in sing- 
ing the Doxology, to the tune of Old Hundred, and the throng dispersed. 

No accident of a serious nature occurreil, and at an early hour, the vast crowds 
had dispersed, and gone to their homes. 



Ixxvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

TREATY OF AUGUST 31, 1826. 

THK SEXKCA XATIOX TO ROBKRT TROTP, T. L. OGDEX AXD B. W. ROGERS. 

At a treaty held under the authority of the United State* at Buffalo Creek, in 
tjie county of Erie in the state of New York, hetween the sacheuis, chietV and 
warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians, on behalf of said nation, and Robert 
Trou]), Thomas L. Ogden and Benjamin \V. Rogers, Esquires, of the city of New- 
York, in the presence of Oliver Forward, Esq., commissioner appointed by the 
United States for holding said treaty, and of Nathaniel Gorliam, Esq., superin- 
tendent in behalf of the State of Massachusetts. 

Know all men by these presents that the said sachems, chiefs and warriors for 
?ud in consideration of the sum of forty-eight thousand two hundred and sixtj- 
dollars ($48,260) lawful money of the United States to him in hand paid by the 
said Robert Troup, Thomas L. Ogden and Benjamin W. Rogers, at or immediately 
before the ensealing and delivering of these presents the receipt whereof is hereby 
acknowledged have granted, sold, aliened, released, quit-claimed and confirmed 
and by these presents do grant, hargain, sell, alien, release, quit-claim and con- 
firm unto the said Robert Troup, Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Benjamin \V. Rogers 
and their heirs and assigns forever all of that tract of land commonly called and 
known by the name of the Caneadea Reservation, situate lying and being in the 
county of Allegany in the State of New York and containing sixteen square miles. 
Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the 
Canawagus Reservation situate lying and being in the county ol Livingston in the 
said State of New York and containing two square nnles. Also all that other 
tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Big Tree Reserva- 
tion, situate, lying and being in the said county of Livingston, containing two 
square miles. Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by 
the name of the Squawky Hill Reservation, situate, lying and being in the said 
county of Livingston and containing two square miles. 

Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of 
the Gardeau Reservation situate, lying and l)eing in the conntv' of Genesee in 
the said State of New Y'ork and containing two square miles, and being that part 
of the original Gardeau Reservation which wa- excepted and reserved out of the 
sale of a part of the same to John Greig and Henry B. Giljson at a treaty held at 
Moscow in the said county of Livingston on the third day of September, 1823. 
Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the 
Buffalo Creek Reservation, situate, lying and t)eing in the said county of Erie and 
containing by estimation eighty-three thousand five humlred and fifty-seven 
(83.557) acres, excepting, nevertheless and alwa>s reserving out of the said 
Buffalo Creek reservation the following tract, piece or parcel thereof, that is to 
say, seventy-eight square miles or forty-nine thousand nine hundred and twenty' 
(49,920) acres Ijounded as follows, that is to say: Beginning on the north line of 
the said reservation at a point one mile and a half east of the Cayuga creek, run- 
ning thence south one mile and a half; thence east parallel with the north Ijne 
so far as that a line to be drawn from the termination thereof south to a point 
one mile distant from the south line of said reservation and thence west 



APPENDIX Ixxvii 

parallel with the said south line to the west line of the reservation ami 
thence along the west and north line of the same to the place of beginning will 
contain the said quantity of seventy-eight square miles or forty-nine thousand, 
nine hundred ami twenty (49,920) acres. .\lso all that tract of land commonly 
called and known by the name of the Tonawanda Reservation, situate, Iving and 
being in the said county of Genesee and Erie and containing by estimation forty- 
six thousand, two hundred and nine (46,209) acres, excepting nevertheless and 
always reserving out of the Tonawanda Reservation the following tract piece or 
parcel thereof, that is to say, twelve thousand eight hundred (12,800) acres, to be 
laid off in oue body in such a manner as that one-half thereof shall all be on 
one side of the Tonawanda Creek and the other half on the other side of the 
creek, and connecting at a point on said creek one mile and a half west of where 
it crosses the line of the said reservation, and the said creek being the center of the 
said twelve thousand eight hundred (12,800) acres until it strikes the north-west 
corner of the Tonawanda Reservation. Also the following piece or parcel of that 
other tract of land comnionh' called and known by the name of the Cattaraugus 
Reservation, situate, lying and being in the counties of Chautauqua, Cattannigus, 
and Erie, in the said state of New York, that is to say, one square mile or six hun- 
dred and forty (640) acres, to be laid off in a square form in the south-west cor- 
ner of said reservation ;six square miles or three thousand eight hundreil and fortv 
(3,840) acres in tlie north part of the said reservation, bounded on the north and 
on the east by the north and east lines of the saiil reservation : on the west by a 
line parallel to the east line, and six miles distant therefrom, and on the south 
by a line parallel to the north line and one mile distant therefrom. And one 
otlier square mile of six hundred and forty (640) acres to be laid off in a square 
form, bounded as follows, that is to say, on the east by the east line of the sai<l 
reservation ; on the west by a line parallel thereto and one mile distant therefrom; 
on the north by the south line of the piece last above described, and on the 
south by a line parallel thereto and oue mile distant therefrom. And which said 
sevenil tracts, pieces or parcels of land so excepted and reserved as aforesaid, 
out of the said Buffalo Creek and Tonawanda Reservations, are fully and clearly 
understood to remain the property of the said parties of the first part and their 
nation, in as full and ample a manner as if these presents had not been ex"c\ited, 
together with all and singular the rights, privileges and appurtenances to (!i? said 
herebj' granted premises belonging or in anywise appertaining, and all of the 
estate, right title and interest, claim and demand whatsoever of them th; said 
parties of the first part and all their nation of, in and to the said sever:: 1 tracts, 
pieces and parcels of land above described except as is above excepted, to have 
and to hold all and singular the said granted premises with the appnrtenances 
unto the said Robert Troup, Thomas L. Ogden .lUil Benjamin \V. Rogers, their 
heirs and assigns, in trust for the use, benefit and behoof of themselves ami such 
other person or persons as are respectively entitled to the right of pre-emption of 
the said several tracts, pieces or parcels of land or any part or portion thereof. 

Ln testimony whereof the parlies to these presents have hereunto and to three 
other instruments of the same tenor and ilate, one to reuuun with the T'nited 



Ixxviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

States, one to remain with the State of Massachusetts, one to~reniain -with the 
Seneca Nation nf Indians and one to remain with the said Rohert Troup, Thomas 
Iv. Ogdeu and Benjamin Woolsey Rogers, interchangeably set llieir hands and 
seals, at the council house at Buffalo Creek the thirty-first day of August, 1826. 

La-qui-uni-gar-tu-ohla, or Young King, his x mark, i^L. S. ) 

Kar-hun-da-wu-na, or Pollard, hi> x niar"«., (L. S.) 

Fosli-ka-uga, or Little Billy, his x mark, (L. S. ) 

John Aljeal, or Cornplanter, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Ty-wau-eash, or Blacksnake, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Na-hal-sta, or Strong, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Uon-hou-dxt-gah-le, or Chief Warrior, his x mark, L. S.) 

Tu-y-a-go, or Senaca White, his x mark, (L. S.) 

On-a-trah-kai, or Tall I'eter, his x mark, (L. S.) 

San-ged-quate, or James Robison, his x mark, (L. S. ) 

A-sah-ea-nor, or White Seneca, his x maik, (L. S.) 

On-onda-hai, or Destroytown, his x mark, (L,. S.) 

Usla-eye, or Charles Obeal, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Te-ugh-ta-gud-ta, or Tunis Halftown, his x mark, (L. S.) 

le-u-gar-se, or Long John, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Uan-eae-ga, or Blue Eyes, his x mark, (L. S.) 

La-him-euha, or Little Johnson, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Ty-at-a-hada, or Dochstader, his x mark (L. S. ) 

Udl-wen-dy-ha, or (Jreen Blanket, his x mark (L. S.) 

U-ut-ha-da-gau, or White Bay, his x mark, ^L. S. ) 

Ua-hu-hevidia, or Isaacs, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Ua-pau-quish, or Henry Two Guns, his x mark, (h. S.) 

Ge-much-tha-de, or Stevenson, his x mark, (L- S. ) 

Len-aeh-te-no-go,or John , his x mark (L. S.) 

She-can-a-chwesch-gue, or Little Bear, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Au-a-shod-akai, or Tall Chief, his x mark, (L. S. ) 

Ha-wan-sai, or Captain Snow, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Pa-he-gan-one, or Twenty Canoes, his x mark, (L. S.) 

As-alon-a-saith, or Silveiheels, his x mark, (L. S. ) 

Kan-on-ga-iot, or Long Chief, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Uan-ish-an, or Barefoot, his x name, (L .S. ) 

Mile-la-go-or, or Captain Crow, his x name, (L. S. ) 

Sa-gun-ja-wa, or Lonnee's Cousin, his x name, (L. S. ) 

Kam-au-ja-uana, or Big Kettle, his x name, (L. S.) 

T}'-a-go-dou-te. or Joseph Snow, his x name, (L. S.) 

or Joseph Leguany, his x name, (h. S.) 

So-wam-a-wa, or William Blacksnake, his x mark, (L. S. ) 

Say-vvay-do, or George Redeye, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Kau-is-h-shorge, or Captain Shongo, his x mark, |L. S.l 

Sa-gu-i-oth, or Jones Undson, his x name, (L. S.) 

La-ga-in-a-shot-sia, or Stiffneck, his x mark, (L. S.) 



APPENDIX Ixxix 

La-gaii-ota, or Red Jacket, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Kah-do-way, or Colin Fopp, his x mark, (L. S.) 

Lo-ye-awa, or Coii Snow, his x mark, (L,. S.) 

Te-go-hia, or Tompson, his x mark, (L. S.) 

K-and-gae, or James Stevenson, Jr., his x mark, (L. S.) 

Peaea-dyo, or John Snow, his x mark, (L,. S.) 

Robert Troup (by his attorney John Greig.) (L,. ,S.) 

Thomas L. Odgen (by his attorney John Greig.) (L. S.) 

Benjamin W. Rogers (bj' his attorney John Greig.) (L,. S. ) 

The words "and a half twice interlined on the second page before executing 
sealing and delivering, in presence of Joseph Parish, Indian agent; Horatio Jones, 
interpreter; Levi Hubbell ; Jacob Jimeson, interpreter. 

Done at a treaty held with the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca 
Nation of Indians at Buffalo creek in the county of Erie and state of New York 
on the thirty-first day of August in the ^-ear of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and twenty-six (1826), under the authority of the United States. 

In testimony whereof I have herexuito set nn- hand and seal the day and vear 
aforesaid, by virtue ot a commission issued under the seal of the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts bearing date the 31st day of August in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and fifteen (1S15), pursuant to a resolution of the 
Legislature of the said Commonwealth passed the nth day of March in the year 
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one (1791.) 

N. Gorhani, 

Superintendent. 

I have attended a treaty of the Seneca Nation of Indians held at Buffalo Creek 
in the county of Erie and State of New York on the 31st day of August 1826, 
when the foregoing instrument was duly executed in ni}' presence by the sachems, 
chiefs and warriors of the said nation, being fairly and properly understood, and 
transacted by all the parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to 
their universal satisfaction. 
I do therefore certify and approve of the same. 

Oliver Forward, 

Commissioner. 



PART II. 
BIOGRAPHICAL 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



McNAIR FAMILY — The McNairs. who for more than a century have been 
residents of Livingston county, had a single ancestor and he was of Scotch 
nationality. Tradition affirms that the Scotch McNairs claim to be sprung 
from a highland clan and to trace their family genealogy back for a space of 
more than two hundred and fifty years. But inasmuch as the John McNair, 
who was the Scotch forefather of the Livingston county McNairs, removed 
firstly from the river Dee in Scotland to county Donegal in Ireland, where he 
and his son resided for about fifty years, before the latter, having married an 
Irish wife, migrated to America, it is more correct to call the McNairs of Liv- 
ingston county, of Scotch-Irish origin. Authentic family tradition affirms that 
persecutions and political disturbances growing out of the reigns of the Stuarts 
were the cause of John McNair senior's removal from Scotland in 1688 and 
similarly attested authority says that a material loss of property through dis- 
honesty on the part of a trusted agent prompted his son John in the year 1736 
to leave his Irish home and come to America. He was then of the age of forty 
years and his family, at leaving consisted of wife and three sons and an aged 
and widowed mother. But of these the mother and two younger sons (Andrew 
and Robert) died at sea. The passage was by sail and of three months dura- 
tion. The name of the surviving son was William who reached America at the 
age of nine years. The family landed at Philadelphia where they had rela- 
tives, who had preceded them, and resided near the city for about a year and 
then removed to a more permanent home at Allentown, then in Bucks county, 
but long since set off and is named Northampton county. During their tem- 
porary residence at Philadelphia a son was born, to whom was given the family 
name of John, and it was these two brothers, William and John, who in after 
years became the founders of the numerous families, who in time came to 
inhabit the upper valley of the Genesee. John McNair, the father lived at 
Allentown (known as the Irish settlement) to old age. His sons lived near him 
until the year 1798, when William, moved by the spirit of unrest then and for 
many years thereafter, so general in the more eastern communities of our coun- 
try, decided on seeking a new home in the, then recently opened Eldorado 
of western New York, especially the valley of the Genesee. He was at this 
time seventy years of age but hale and vigorous and lived until the year 1823, 
dying at ninety six years of age. He was twice married. His first wife was 
Margaret Wilson, by whom he had seven children, four sons and three daugh- 



4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ters, all of whom except a daughter, Sarah, were living and married at this 
time. Sarah had died at the age of eleven years. His second wife was Sarah 
Warner, by whom he had one daughter, Jean, and three sons, James H., 
Andrew and Robert, and this family removed with him to the Genesee country. 
Jean was of the age of thirteen years, James H., was eleven, Andrew seven 
and Robert five. His family effects were considerable and a goodly herd of 
cattle were driven along. The work of removal by teams was no holiday task 
but they safely reached Williamsburg in the early summer, obtaining there a 
temporary residence and at once set about securing a more permanent domicile 
for the family, and winter supplies for their stock. For the latter they cut 
and secured hay from wild grass found in the neighborhood. He had secured 
his homestead from the agent at Bath while on his passage and this was a 
well selected plot of two hundred and sixty-two acres located at the original 
Sonyea and the farm bounds that of the present Craig Colony on the east. 
This tract was purchased out of the Sir William Pulteney estate at the price of 
two and one half dollars per acre. It was principally flats and was covered 
with a growth of large timber. Black walnuts grew there in such an abun- 
dance that rails were made of them, and individual trees were found of twenty- 
one feet in circumference or seven feet in diameter. This farm William 
McNair and his family cleared and here lived until his death in 1823. His 
widow survived him until 1826. Of his second family Jean married James 
McCurdy of Ossian and spent her life in that town, where and in Dansville 
several of her descendants still live. James M. McNair married Mary Mulhol- 
len. Eight children were born and grew to mature age of whom three ladies 
retain the farm and residence long since secured by hitn in the suburbs of 
Mount Morris. Andrew McNair. the second son lived with his brother Robert 
at the Sonyea home until his decease in 1845. He was a batchelor. Robert, 
the youngest of the family married Amelia Warner of Lima, N. Y. and he 
and his brother Andrew jointly owned and occupied the homestead during their 
natural lives. Robert died in 1863 leaving nine children. There are now 
(May 1904) living of the offspring of Robert McXair and Amelia Warner 
twenty nine grand and twenty three great-grand children. Three only of their 
family survive viz. William R., Amanda and Miles. One son of William 
McNair by the first marriage the Hon. Hugh, settled and lived in the Genesee 
country. He achieved civic distinction as judge and other county offices 
living at this time at Canandaigua which was then the county seat of the terri- 
tory now embraced in both Ontario and Livingston counties. His son 
William W. settled on a farm in Groveland. One son of William W. , William 
Woodbridge, achieved a successful and honorable career as a lawyer in the city 
of Minneapolis. His youngest son Captain James died fighting for his coun- 
try on a battle field in Virginia. Another grandson of Hon. Hugh McNair, 
Captain James Monroe died in his young manhood in consequence of hardships 
endured while campaigning during the early part of the war of the rebellion. 
Other branches of the family of Hugh settled on farms at Nunda and Portage. 
The McNairs, as a rule, have adhered to agriculture as their chosen business, 



BIOGRAPHICAL 5 

and for the most pai't have retained tlieir original family homesteads in the 
name. The farm upon which William McNair senior settled is still in the 
hands of his grand daughter, Mrs. Starr, and the same holds true of the farm 
of his brother John, who settled in the town of West Sparta. John McNair, 
brother to William and ten years younger, came to the Genesee valley in 1804 
and settled near Dansville. The McNairs of Livingston county, have for three 
generations, by industrious, honest and stable citizenship furnished a large 
increment to its wealth and prosperity. They have been promoters of schools, 
churches and all public utilities and have done this without being aspirants to 
places of profit or preferment. How much they may owe for these valuable 
qualities to the virtues of their ancestry it may be difficult to say, but obvious- 
ly it is considerable. Their forefathers, both William and John, have been 
described by contempuraries as men of patrician qualities, with rich endow- 
ment of mind and spirit. 



EDWARD EVERETT BIGELOW — A well known agriculturist of the town 
of Geneseo was born on the farm where he now resides, December 30, 1864. 
His education was obtained in the public schools and his life up to the present 
time has been passed on the farm purchased from John Haynes, by his grand- 
father, Ephroditus Bigelow, who came here in the early part of the past cen- 
tury from Connecticut, his native state, making the trip in a lumber wagon. 
On this farm and in the log cabin he erected was born Daniel Bigelow, the 
father of Edward, the date of his birth being in the year 1822. Daniel 
Bigelow married Helen Whitney, of Avon, and two children were born to 
them, Edward Everett and Harriet, who married Lovette Davis, a farmer and 
dairyman of Livonia and they have two sons Sidney and Paul. The father, 
Daniel, died March 2, 1898. Edward E. Bigelow married Rebecca L. Robin- 
son, daughter of William Robinson of the town of York, and they have one 
daughter Ruth. Mr. Bigelow is an enterprising and progressive farmer and 
a very highly respected citizen. He is a member of the Lakeville Lodge K. 
O. t' M. 



JAMES GRIFFIN — The well known contractor and builder and recently 
elected supervisor of the town of Conesus, is a native of that village, having 
been born there November 15, 1862. His education was obtained in the public 
schools of that place. When twenty years of age he began learning the trade 
of carpenter and joiner, faithfully served his apprenticeship gradually perfected 
himself in every detail of tlie business and conscientiously devoted his time 
to the best interests of his employers until the year 1900, when he decided to 
embark in the contracting and building business for himself which he did and 
in the three years succeeding his business has increased and prospered and now 



6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ranks with the best in the county. Mr. Griffin has for a number of years been 
prominent in local politics. He was first elected on the Democratic ticket to 
the office of constable and town collector to which he was elected by 153 
majority, that being the largest majority ever before carried by a democratic 
candidate for that office in the town of Conesus. He also held the office of 
town clerk for three years and in March. 1903, was elected to the office of 
supervisor, which office he is eminently fitted to hold. His marriage with 
Minnie Alger, daughter of Ashabel Alger, of Conesus, took place June 2, 1889. 



WILLIAM WHITMORE of Avon, was born in that town January 1, 1850. 
When a lad his parents moved to Alexandria, N. Y. , where he attended school 
until twelve years of age when they returned to Avon and here he completed 
his schooling. Born with a strong liking for an agricultural life he imme- 
diately took up farming. For a time he worked out with the neighboring 
farmers but soon leased a farm and being successful he continued in this way 
until 1896 when he purchased seventy-five acres of the Stapley farm lying one 
and one-quarter miles southeast of Avon village. In 1900 he purchased the 
Theron Chapel farm of 100 acres which he sold in 1903. In 1880 he erected a 
grain elevator on the Wadsworth farm at McQueen's switch, which he operated 
and for many years it proved a profitable enterprise. In the spring of 1902 
he purchased a grain elevator in Avon and is today carrying on a very successful 
business in grain, beans and farm produce. He furnishes employment to up- 
wards of seventy hands and ships his products to every state in the Union. 

Mr. Whitmore has served as town assessor on the Republican ticket for six 
years and as highway commissioner for the past seven years. May 14, 1875, 
he married Mary E., daughter of George Dooer, of Avon. They have two 
children: Harry E. married Minnie, daughter of John Smith, of Avon; and 
Jennie E. , a teacher in the High schools of Tonawanda, N. Y. Mr. Whit- 
more possesses the commercial spirit in a high degree, manages his business 
and farm interests successfully and well, and is withal a public spirited citizen, 
always ready and willing, financially or otherwise, to lend his assistance 
towards the furtherance of enterprises tending to the best interests of the com- 
munity in which he resides. 



EDWARD B. WOODRUFF, proprietor of the Hemlock Lake Roller Mills, 
was born in Conesus January 28, 1859. His great grand father Solomon Wood- 
ruff was the first white settler in the town of Livonia, coming from Connecticut 
in 1789. Buel D. Woodruff, the father of Edward, married Ortencia Viola 
Harding, of Hornellsville, Steuben county, N. Y., and four children were born 
to them, Herbert S. of Rochester, Edward B. of Hemlock. Frank T. who was 
drowned when two and one half years of age and Frank H. of Livonia. The 



BIOGRAPHICAL 7 

family removed to Livonia while Edward was an infant and in the schools of 
that village he later received his education. 

He also attended the Geneseo Norinai school for two years. Through his 
boyhood days and until he was thirty-four years of age he assisted his father in 
the care of his large farms. In 1893, he rented of his father the Hemlock 
Roller Mills at Hemlock, N. Y. , which property he has since conducted on 
profitable lines. . Mr. Woodruff has been thrice married. He was first joined 
in marriage with Georgiana Quackenbush, of Geneseo, N. Y., and they had 
two children, Emma"^ Lena, born December 3, 1880, and George Arthur, born 
July 27, 1882. Mrs. Woodruff died August 2, 1882. In September, 1891, he 
was again married to Flora Naracong, daughter of James Naracong, of East 
Blooniheld, N. Y. They had one child, Berta, born July 4, 1894. Mrs. Flora 
Woodruff died December 24, 1894. June 17, 1896, Mr. Woodruff married his 
present wife, Isabelle Gilbert, youngest daughter of Haskell Gilbert, a former 
miller of Hemlock. They have two children, Marion, born May 21, 1898, and 
Doris, born August 23, 1901. Haskell Gilbert was born at Canadice, Ontario 
county, November 8, 1820. While very young he lost his parents and was 
taken to Ohio to live with an uncle, remaining there until about twelve years 
of age. when he came to Livonia and made his home with his uncle, W. S. 
Gilbert, and finally married his daughter, Lucia S. Gilbert. They had four 
children: Randall died at the age of six years: Rose E. married Haskell Smith 
and died in March, 1898; Lillian married Paul E. Hamilton, of Honeoye, and 
Isabelle became the wife of E. B. Woodruff. Edward B. Woodruff has for 
many years been actively identified with the Republican party of his town and 
county and has at various times occupied several important offices which he 
has invariably filled in an able manner. He was elected Justice of the Peace 
in 1899 and resigned that office upon his election in 1903 as supervisor of the 
town of Livonia. Mr. Woodruff's father, Buel D. , held the office of supervisor 
of the town in 1881 and 1882 and his grandfather, Austin Woodruff, also held 
the same office in 1849. He is a member of Livonia Lodge No. 778 F. & 
A. M. , Hemlock Lodge No. 200, I. O. O. F. , Hemlock Tent, No. 747, K. O. T. 
M. He is Past Noble Grand in the I. O. O. F. and Record Keeper in the 
K. O. T. M. 



MURRAY L. GAMBLE — A representative farmer and ex-supervisor of the 
town of Groveland, was born in the Gamble homestead, June 30, 1865. David 
Gamble came from Ireland and located in Pennsylvania in 1810, and a few years 
later, probably about 1812. he came to Groveland and purchased from the 
Land Company the farm of 228 acres which is still in the possession of the 
family. He was a very energetic man and a leader, socially and politically. 
He was for a number of years a Justice of the Peace and was also a member of 
the board of supervisors. His son Robert, the father of Murray, was born 
June 9, 1828 and died February 24, 1904. He married Rose M. White and they 



8 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

had three children; Iva, who married Edward Gray, was born September 18, 
1863. Murray L.. and Ora, born January 3. 1874. She married Dr. F. V. 
Foster and her death occurred September 6. 1897. Mrs. Rose Gamble, the 
mother, died June S, 1898. Murray L. Gamble married Fannie E., daughter 
of George S. Ewart, of Groveland, in 1888. She was born December 31, 1867 
and died October 4. 1898, leaving three children: Roxie, born October 5. 1888, 
Mary Louise, born January 5. 1890 and Helen Ewart, born March 26, 1894. 
Mr. Gamble took for his second wife Luella Harrison, daughter of James B. 
Harrison, a prosperous farmer of Groveland. The ceremony occurred June 22 
1904. She was born November 9, 1875. Mr. Gamble has for many years been 
an active factor in local politics and has twice been elected on the democratic 
ticket to the ofiice of supervisor of the town of Groveland. His farm, of three 
hundred and fifty acres, lies tliree miles southeast of East Groveland and in- 
cludes what was formerly the Kuder and the Robert Smith farms. 



HARVEY W. WILCOX — A representative farmer of the town of Spring- 
water and ex-supervisor of that town, was born July 16, 1855. His father, 
Eber Wilcox, previous to his death in 1»67, was a thriving merchant in Spring- 
water. After the death of his father, Harvey worked for neighboring farmers 
until 1881, when he puri^hased his present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, 
lying on the main road near the village of Springwater. That year he married 
Cora Colgrove, daughter of Theodore Colgrove, of Springwater, «nd they have 
one daughter. Pearl. Mr. Wilcox has always been a prominent worker in the 
Republican party. He has served four terms as highway commissioner and 
was twice elected supervisor, an office he filled to the entire satisfaction of the 
citizens of Springwater and with honor to himself. 



CHARLES O. ATHERTON — A successful merchant of the village of 
Moscow was born at that place September 12, 1842. Oliver Atherton, the 
father of Charles, when a young man twenty-one years of age, left his home in 
New Hampshire and came to Wyoming county. For a number of years 
he was employed by Colonel McElwell and Colonel William Bingham, of 
Warren, N. Y. and for about two years drove the stage between Warsaw and 
Geneseo. In 1838 he came to Moscow and purchased the business now con- 
ducted by his son. He married Maryette Knapp of Perry, N. Y. , February 
27, 1839, who died in 1S94. Charles O. Atherton attended the public schools 
and later assisted his father as clerk in the grocery up to within two years of 
the latter's death, when he became a partner under the firm name of O. Ather- 
ton and Co. He at once abolished the sale of liquor in the place and at his 
father's decease succeeded to the ownership of the property. Since that time 
he has had as a partner Dorus Thompson, who remained as such three j'ears. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 9 

Some years later Mr. Athertcin's son-in-Iavv A. V. Diirand purchased an inter- 
est in tlie business which he held for a time and during the past three years the 
partner in the firm has been William D. Clapp, his son-in-law. Mr. Atherton 
was joined in marriage October 16, 1867, with Jennie E. Brooks, daughter of 
Erastus and Eliaa Brooks of Moscow, former pioneer residents of Steuben 
county. Mrs. Atherton died November 26. 1872. Mr. Atherton was married 
to his present wife. Electa Ann Allen, daughter of William R. and Mary Jane 
Allen, of Leicester, August 30, 1876. Mr. Atherton has been in business in 
Moscow for over forty years continuously and is widely known throughout this 
section as a careful business man and a progressive, public spirited citizen. 



JAY C. PICKARD — A well known merchant of Byersville and supervisor of 
the town of West Sparta, was born November 23, 1865. He obtained an edu- 
cation at the district school and later the Nunda High school. In 1891 he pur- 
chased of W. H. Libby, the general store at Byersville which he is now con- 
ducting and which has proved a source of profit to himself and pleasure to his 
many patrons. In 1888 he was joined in marriage with Fannie Libby, daughter 
of George W. Libby, of West Sparta. Three children have been born to 
them, Glenn, Lynn, and Wayne. In 1893 Mr. Pickard received the appoint- 
ment of postmaster at Byersville which office he retained until the adoption of 
the Rural delivery in, that section when the office was discontinued. In 1901 
he was his party's choice for supervisor and was elected by a handsome major- 
ity, and in 1903 was re-elected to the same office. Daniel L., the father of Jay 
C. Pickard, was a native of Cayuga county, and when a child his parents came 
to West Sparta where they purchased a farm. He married Martha F. Purchase 
daughter of Charles Purchase, a wealthy resident of West Sparta, and reared a 
family of seven children, three of whom are now living, Clarence A., C. Elmer 
and Jay C. 



A. H. ROGERS — ^One of the leading merchants of Geneseo, N. Y. , is a 
native of New Y'ork City, where he was born in 1852. His advent in the drug 
business came naturally, as his earlier childhood was spent more or less in his 
father's drug store. Thus he early became familiar with the handling of drugs 
and was later a valued assistant of his father's in the management of his two 
large, stores in that cily. His father, Arthur H. Rogers, Sr., embarked in the 
drug business in New Y'ork in the early forties, and being an excellent manager 
and a skilled pharmacist he rapidly accumulated a competence, until at the 
time of his death in 1877 he was possessed of considerable property, besides two 
finely equipped drug stores. Four yea.-s after his father's death Mr. Rogers 
disposed of the twu stores which he inherited and removed to Geneseo. where 
he purchased the Walker Pharmacy at the corner of Main and Center streets. 



10 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

which he is still conducting. He was married in 1877 to Mary M. Cooiiibe, 
of New York. They have four children Julia, Emily, Beth, and Charles H. 
Arthur H. died while young. Mr. Rogers is a member of the Geneseo Lodge, 
F. & A. M. He has served as trustee and president of the village and is now 
president of the board of health. 



FREDERICK BANCROFT HUNT— Late of the town of Portage, was a 
native of Leicester, England, where he was born May 19, 1828. His father, 
William Hunt, served England, his native country, under the reconstruction 
of the English government. At the age of sixty five, becoming imbued with 
the spirit of freedom he gathered his family together and sailed in the ' ' Patrick 
Henry" for America. The voyage lasted thirty two days, during which time 
they were buffeted about by gales and storms and for three days the good ship 
lay off the banks of Newfoundland, helpless in the storm, with the constant 
prospect of all on board being sent to a watery grave. They however weathered 
the storm and finally made the port of New York, where Mr. Hunt and his 
family remained a short time and went to Whitesboro, Onieda county, where 
he resided one year. He then lived seven years in Marcy and two years in 
Trenton, Oneida county, and in 1852 came to Livingston county and located 
at Nunda. He leased the Skinner farm, three miles east of Nunda, on which 
he resided until 1872. William Hunt was born Novebmer 4. 1783. He mar- 
ried Elizabeth Chambers, of Leicestershire, England, who was born in 1790. 
Eight children were born to them, William, who died in New London, Conn, 
aged eighty three: John, enlisted in the English army and was killed in China 
during the opium w'ar between England and China; George, engaged in farming 
in Illinois and is now deceased; Mary, died unmarried;' Thomas, followed the 
trade of a blacksmith at Nunda, where he located in 1851 and was killed in a 
railroad accident on the Lake Shore road near Erie, Pa., leaving a widow who 
has recently died, two sons and a daughter; Joseph, lived in Nunda for a time, 
afterwards moving to Nebraska and from there to Council Blutfs, Iowa, and 
engaged in raising fruits and vegetables; and Frederick B., the youngest of the 
family. John Hunt, an uncle of William, was killed at the battle of Monmouth 
while in England's service during the Revolutionary War. 

Frederick B. Hunt married Mary E. Moulton, a daughter of Abel Moulton, 
one of the earliest pioneers of Oneida county and a soldier in the war of 1812. 
Coming from his home in Albany Mr. Moulton purchased of the government 
a tract of land at Marcy, Oneida county, which he proceeded to clear and subdue 
and prepare a home for his family. For some years he worked this place dur- 
ing the summer months and followed his trade of blacksmith at Albany in the 
winter, making the journey in spring and fall on foot, a distance of one hun- 
dred and fifteen miles. He was twice married. His death occurred July 8, 
1869, his second wife and six children surviving him. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick 
B. Hunt have been blessed with seven children, of whom four are now living 



BIOGRAPHICAL 11 

two having died in infancy. Frederick William married Ella Baker, of Nun- 
da, and has two sons. Frederick and Howard. They reside at Council Bluffs, 
Iowa. Orin G. a young man of exceptional ability and great promise, died a 
short time since in New York. He was a graduate of the Nunda High school 
and the New York Medical College and had been in active practice for fifteen 
years in the city of New York as a specialist in the nose, throat, heart and 
lungs. As a commentary on his ability in the handling of those diseases it is 
only needful to say that among all the expert specialists in that great city, Orin 
Hunt's opinion on questions referring to the scientific treatment of these dis- 
eases carried the greatest weight. Cut off as he was in the flower of early 
manhood. his death deprives the profession of one of its most able members and 
terminated a career that bore every promise of becoming a brilliant one. Abel 
Moulton Hunt married Lunetta Cuddebeck, of Nunda, and now lives in Batavia. 
They have two daughters Loie and Mary E., Chester C. I. married Julietta 
Spencer, of Nunda, and has three children. They reside on their farm in Por- 
tage known as the Hunt Jersey farm, where Mr. Hunt breeds High class Jerseys. 
Adelbert Bancroft was born April 4, 1870. He graduated from the Nunda High 
school with the degree of Ph. D., after which he became a graduate of the 
Albany State Normal College. He for a time held the position of principal 
in a New Jersey school and for several years has served the Manhattan public 
schools as principal of a department. He married Dorothy Borrell, of New 
Providence, and they have a son and daughter. 

Frederick B. Hunt came from Oneida county and settled in the town of 
Portage in ISSl, and it is interesting to note that the wheel cultivator that 
he brought with him from Utica was the first ever seen south of Geneseo. In 1876 
he purchased the farm of seventy acres on which he resided at the time of his 
death. He was a staunch republican since the organization of that party in 
1854 and cast his first presidential vote for Martin VanBuren in the Free Soil 
campaign. During the Harrison campaign he was made president of the 
Harrison Republican club and later held the same office with the McKinley 
club. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have for years been prominent in church 
and society. Mrs. Hunt is a member ot the Baptist church at Nunda. Mr. Hunt 
held the office of deacon in that church from 1865 to the time of his decease, 
and for thirteen years was superintendent of the Sunday school. He was a 
member of the Portage Farmer's Club and for twenty years served as its presi- 
dent. He was a member of the Board of Health fourteen years and for eight 
years held the office of Justice of the Peace. He departed this life in the spring 
of 1904 and his death caused sorrow in the hearts of all his friends and neigh- 
bors. 



AURORA D. NEWTON — A substantial farmer and highly respected citizen 
of the town of York. was born in that town Maich 12. 1828. His father Dudley 
Newton, was one of the earliest settlers in the county. When about twenty 



12 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

years of age he left his liome in Colchester, Conn., and journeyed westward, 
seeking a suitable location in which to establish a home. He first located in 
Avon. Livingston county, about the year 1800. At that time Avon was called 
Hartford and was a part of Ontario county. He remained there for a time and 
then took up a tract of land in the town of York, on which he erected a log 
house and engaged in the toilsome work of clearing his farm and reducing 
the land to a state of cultivation. Here he passed the remainder of his life. 
He married Hannah Deitz, a native of Hagerstown, Md., and of German de- 
scent. Eight children were born to them — Daniel B., Jeremiah, Cordelia, 
Orville H., Alon'/.o, Newell, Susan Amanda and Aurora D. Both the father and 
the mother died in 1862, the former aged eighty-two years and the latter sev- 
enty-five. 

Aurora D. Newton attended the district school and assisted in the working 
of the farm, of which in later years he became the owner. His marriage with 
Klizabeth Fraser occurred in 1851. She was a daughter of Donald G. and 
Margaret (Ferguson) Fraser and a descendant of one of the Scotch families 
who settled the north part of the town in an early day. Mrs. Elizabeth Fraser 
Newton died in 1853, leaving one son, Walton A. now residing in Lansing, 
Miciiigan. Mr. Newton was again married March 17, 1864, taking for his 
second wife Henrietta Clark, of Caledonia, and they have one daughter Stella 
H. Mrs. Newton died September 22, 1868. Mr. Newton cast his first presiden- 
tial vote for General WinHeld Scott in 1852 and since the organization of the 
Republican party in 1854 has been an active worker in the interests of that 
party and has at various times held offices of a public nature which he has 
invariably filled in an able and intelligent manner. He has been elected to 
the office of assessor, highway commissioner and supervisor of the town. 
The latter office he held seven consecutive years, two years of which he served 
the Board as chairman. Mr. Newton has also been active in the church and 
social life of the community and has for many years been an ardent member 
and supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church of Fowlerville, in which he 
has held all the offices and has several times served as delegate to the Lay 
Electoral conventions ot the Genesee Conference. 



FRED A. CULLEY — Was born in Geneseo, N. Y. September 18, 1869. 
He received his education in the schools ot Avon, the Genesee Wesleyan Semi- 
nary and the Rochetser Business University. The six years following he was 
engaged as clerk in the wholesale and retail establishment of Weaver, Palmer 
and Richmond, of Rochester, N. Y. In 1896 he came to Mount Morris and 
with D. F. Russell, purchased the hardware business they are now conducting. 
In 1892 he was united in marriage with Miss Carrie D. Parish, daughter of A. 
R. Parish of Avon, N. Y. Their family consists of four children: Marion, Fran- 
cis, Ruth and Fred A. Jr. Mr. CuUey is a member of Mount Morris Lodge 
No. 122 F. & A. M., Mount Morris Chapter Xu. 137 R. A. M. and Cyrenc 



BIOGRAPHICAL 13 

Commandery Knights Templar of Rochester. His father, Alexander CuUey, is 
traveling salesman for the Champion Drill Cu. His family consists of wife, 
formerly Mary Bridgland, and five children: Fred A., Edgar \V., a physician 
residing in Flint, Michigan, Elizabeth M. , principal of the High School at 
West Orange, N. J., Albert B..a practicing physician also residing in Flint, 
Mich., and Ralph H. , a student in the Avon High School. 



LEWIS H. MOSES — Supervisor of the town of Lima, was born and raised 
and now resides in the old homestead three miles southeast of the village of 
Lima. A portion of this land comprises the half section originally taken from 
the government during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Mr. Moses 
was born August 18. 1846. His education was obtained at the Genesee Wes- 
leyan Seminary, where he was fitted for entrance to West Point Academy, was 
appointed, and might have successfully passed the rigid examination imposed 
upon applicants for entrance to that noted institution. His health, however, 
at the time was such as to pieclude the possibility of his withstanding the 
rigorous treatment accorded cadets, so he voluntarily withdrew and has since 
devoted his time and labors to the care of the farm. A staunch democrat, 
Mr. Moses has for years been a vigorous worker in the interests of his party 
and has conscientiously devoted time and energy in fulfilling the various duties 
of the elective offices which he has held. He served the town of Lima four 
years as Justice of the Peace, and the past five years he has acceptably occupied 
the responsible office of supervisor, to which office he was again elected March 
10. 1903, for a term of two years. He was united in marriage in November, 
1869, to Alice B. Harden, daughter of Truman Harden, a former merchant of 
Lima. Their family consists of three children, Carrie E., Fred L, and 
James G. 

Lewis Moses, the father of our subject, was well known for his many ex- 
cellent qualities. A successful farmer, he also in some degree served his 
political party at various times during the course of his career and was invari- 
ably a strong factor in the promotion of political or civil enterprises tending 
towards the advancement or betterment of the community. Zebulon Moses, 
the great grandfather of our subject, came to Lima from Rutland, Vermont, in 
1791 and acquired the tract of land in Lima village on the northwest corner of 
which now stands the American hotel. Two years later he sold this tract at a 
material advance in price and purchased the property which his great grandson 
now occupies. His life was devcted to the hardship and toil of the early 
pioneer days. His son Luther was a soldier in the war of 1812 and participated 
in many notable engagements along the Niagara Frontier. 



NEIL STEWART — Who died in the town of York on the thirtieth day of 
April, 1893, was for years one of the leading business men in that town. He 



14 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was of Scotch parentage, his father Alexander Stewart, having been born in 
the Highlands of Scotland in the year 1778. When about thirty years of age 
he married Margaret McDougal of the same neighborhood and came to 
America in 1810, settling in the town of York where Mr. Stewart purchased 
a tract of heavily timbered land. Here they established their home and reared 
to maturity six children, four sons and two daughters. Alexander Stewart 
died in February 184S, and his wife Margaret survived him fifteen years. 

Neil Stewart was born in the town of York, July 12, 1811. He acquired a 
good education, first attending the district school and later a select school in 
Caledonia, following which he began teaching and pursued that vocation in the 
schools of York and Caledonia for several years. As he grew to manhood he 
developed an unusual aptitude for business and at the age of twenty-three he 
entered the employ of J. H. and E. S. Beach, millers of Rochester and Auburn, 
and soon thereafter was given full charge of their large warehouses and boats 
at York landing on the Genesee river. He continued in that capacity for six 
years when he established a grain and wool business at Y'ork village. He also 
in early life was engaged in a mercantile business at Y'ork Center, where he 
conducted a thriving establishment for the sale of dry goods, groceries, etc., 
for many years and during a portion of this time he served as postmaster. He 
also at one time owned and conducted a large flour mill at Y'ork landing. In 
1870 he began dealing extensively in grain, wool and lumber, and for a period 
of fifteen years was undoubtedly the largest purchaser of wool and grain in 
the country, having a warehouse at Livonia as well as Y'ork, the direct manage- 
ment of the business being vested in his son, Alexander N. On October 1, 
1871, he engaged in the banking business at Livonia, which proved successful, 
and a few years before his death his son, Alexander N. , became a partner in the 
enterprise and thereafter managed and controlled the business, eventually 
becoming the sole proprietor. In early days Mr. Stewart affiliated with the 
Whig party but after the organization of the Republican party in 1854 he 
allied himself with them. He served his town three years as Supervisor and 
also held the office of Assessor and Justice of the Peace for several years. His 
marriage with Jane Nichol, a daughter of William and Jane Nichol, of York, 
took place March 12, 1840. Ten children were born to them. Margaret, the 
widow of Homer McVean, late of York; Jane R. , the wife of George K. Whit- 
ney, of Geneseo; Eliza, the wife cf John Sinclair, of Caledonia; Ella, the 
wife of Edward C. Caldwell, of York, Alexander V.; Agnes, the wife of 
George D. Smith, ut New Y'ork City; Charles N., William N., Mary K., 
the wife of George A. Donnan, of York; and Neil, Jr., who died in New York 
City March 30, 1891. Mrs. Stewart died May 20, 1891. Neil Stewart at the 
time of his death was possessed of nearly two thousand five hundred acres of 
land, which he acquired through various purchases during the cour.se of his 
successful career, and the management of which during the later years of his 
life occupied all his time. 



BIOGRAPHICAL IS 

WILLIAM N. WILLIS — An energetic and prosperous young business man 
of the village of Springwater and recently elected a member of the county 
Board of Supervisors, was born and reared in the town of Springwater, the 
date of his birth being December 9, 1859. His education was acquired in the 
village schools and later at the State Normal school at Geneseo. After finish- 
ing his course in the latter institution he took up teaching, which he followed 
until 1891, when he purchased his present handsome residence in Springwater 
and engaged in the grain and produce business, which he has since conducted. 
Archibald Willis came to Springwater from Cayuga county in 1816. He experi- 
enced the toil and hardships incident to the lot of the early pioneers, but pos- 
sessed of a hardy constitution with a brave spirit, he surmounted the many 
obstacles and succeeded in establishing a comfortable home, where he ended 
his days at the age of about 80 years. His son Nelson, father of William N., 
was born in 1817, one year after their arrival at Springwater. He succeeded 
to the property and devoted his time through life to the management of the 
farm. William N. Willis married Ortha B. Stuart, daughter of C. W. Stuart, 
of Springwater, in 1884. She died in 1892 leaving one son, Stuart N. He again 
married, June 1, 1893, Gertrude, daughter of A. M. Withington, of Spring- 
water. Mr. Willis has, since reaching his majority, been an ardent supporter 
of the Republican party. In 1892 he was elected town clerk, which office he 
held until 1897, and in the spring of 190.? was elected supervisor for the town of 
Springwater. 



THE FAULKNER FAMILY. — Dansville perpetuates in its name the most 
enterprising of the three brothers Faulkner who came to the place where was 
to be this village in the last years of the eighteenth century. These brothers 
were Daniel P., Samuel and James Faulkner. 

Daniel P., brought with him §10,000. the proceeds of a tract of land sold by 
him, and he entered upon the building and settlement of the growing village 
with characteristic energy and vigor. But he was imprudent in the outlay of 
his money, and failed in business in 1798. He returned to Pennsylvania. But 
he took up his home in Dansville again and died here in 1802. He first came 
here in 1795. 

The second of the brothers to come to Dansville was James. He was a 
graduate of Rush College and the earliest physician of Dansville. It was said 
of him that "he was an eminent physician, and a public man of sagacity and 
eccentricity." 

Samuel Faulkner became a resident of Dansville in 1797, and bought of his 
brother Daniel several building lots. He built for his residence a two-story 
frame house, the first frame house in Dansville that was ever finished. He 
opened this as a tavern, but it was destroyed by fire in 1798. Samuel had two 
children — -Jonathan Dorr and James. The former served in the commissary 
department in the War of 1812 with the rank of captain and died in 1815 from 
exposure in the service. 



16 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Dr. Jaines Faulkner, the son of Samuel, was born at Cambridge, Washington 
county, January 21st, 1790. His parents came to Dansville when he was six 
years old, the friends and neighbors bidding them what tliey supposed a life- 
long farewell. They were ten days on their journey of two hundred miles. 
Samuel, the father of James, died in 1805 and he was immediately adopted by 
his uncle Judge Faulkner, the physician just spoken of. In 1810 he sent him 
to the College of Physicians and Suigeons in New York, from whence he was 
graduated in March, 1812. Upon receiving his diploma he returned to Dans- 
ville and entered upon the practice of a profession in which he achieved suc- 
cess. In June of that year he was united in marriage with Miss Minerva Ham- 
mond of Dansville. In 1S15 he purchased a Urge paper mill in Dansville, and 
about the same time, an extensive tract of land which is largely within the 
limits of the present village. To secure this he incurred obligations to exceed 
$16,000 which he promptly and rapidly met. But his business increased at the 
cost of professional service, and he was compelled to abandon his practice. 
Nevertheless, he was constantly consulted by physicians of the village and of 
the region about. 

Dr. Faulkner operated the mill with success until 1839 when it was converted 
into a tannery. He also built the large flouring mill, which was successfully 
carried on by his son-in-law, John C. Williams. 

In politics Dr. Faulkner was a Jeffersonian Democrat. The suffrages of his 
fellow citizens placed him in many positions of official responsibility. In 1815 
he was elected Supervisor of Sparta, in which Dansville was then situated. He 
was continued in this office until the county of Livingston was formed in 1S21. 
After this he served his town frequently in this office. In the autumn of 1824 
he was elected Member of Assembly from Livingston county, and re-elected 
in 1825. From the expiration of this term he devoted himself to his private 
affairs until the fall of 1842, when he was elected to the Senate of the State of 
New York. Since 1835 Dr. Faulkner had been Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas of Livingston county, having been appointed by his friend Governor 
William L. Marcy. When elected senator he resigned his judicial office. 
During his lifetime Dr. Faulkner enjoyed the intimate friendship and confi- 
dence of such men as Silas Wright, William L. Marcy, John C. Spencer and 
General Erastus Root; not to mention ex-President Martin VanBuren, who 
once did him important professional service. 

His children were Endress, born in 1819, who was a graduate of Yale, studied 
for, and was admitted to the bar where he had already achieved more than 
ordinary success when he died at the early age of thirty-three; Samuel D., 
who was born November 14th, 1835. and was also a graduate of Yale. He 
studied law and was admitted to practice in January, 1860. He rose rapidly in 
his profession, attained distinction as an orator, was elected Member of Assem- 
bly in 1865, and was chosen to the office of County Judge in 1871, lu which 
office he was elected once more in 1877. He died at-ttw^close of the first year 
of his second term. His father and he and/his brother James enjoyed the 
distinction of being the only Democrats ever selit by Livingston county to the 



0^'(( Q Ji'j^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL 17 

Assembly. James Jr., was the third son of Dr. Faulkner, and was graduated 
from Yale in 1859. He was elected to the Assembly in 1874. He took his 
seat January 4th, 1875, just fifty years to a day after his father had taken his, 
and they both drew the same seat — No. 99. While in the Legislature it was 
through his efforts that $25,000 for the enlargement of Geneseo Normal School 
was secured. He was re-elected to the Assembly in the fall of 1875. The 
fourth son of Dr. Faulkner was Lester B. , who also graduated at Yale in the 
class of 1859. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of his 
country in the Civil War. He was instrumental in the establishment of the 
Normal School at Geneseo. 



DAVID HALSEY PIFFARD -Residing in the Piftard homestead, in the 
village of Piffard and town of York, is a grandson of one of Livingston coun- 
ty's most prominent early settlers. David PifiEard, the paternal grandfather 
ot David Halsey, was a native of England, having been born at Pentonville, in 
the parish of Clerkenwell, without Middlesex county, August 9th, 1794. The 
family is of French Huguenot extraction. David Piffard was a man of the 
highest intelligence. He was gifted with a rare menjory and was a great 
reader, and had the advantage of a thorough classical as well as practical educa- 
tion. At the age of eight he went to France and pursued his studies in Paris 
and Versailles, where he also made a special study of architecture, perfecting 
himself in that profession after his return to London in 1813. In December 
of 1822, at the age of twenty-nine, he came to America with letters to LeRoy 
Bayard & Co., of New York, who were his father's agents in America. For 
two years he resided in New York. In 1824 he journeyed West and purcliased 
of John Brinton of Philadelphia, and others, six hundred acres of land lying in 
the rich and fertile valley of the Genesee. A portion of this land is now 
covered by the village which bears his name. Here he established his home and 
henceforth devoted his attention to the management of his farm and about ten 
thousand acres of land which he o.vned near Flint, Michigan, and two tracts of 
land which he had purchased at an early day in Erie county, Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Piffard was a man of wide experience. He had witnessed three forms of 
Government in France. He was a subject of George HI, had lived in England 
during the reg.ency of the Prince of Wales and had seen the coronation of King 
George IV. In America he lived through thirteen presidential administra- 
tions. He early allied himself with the Whig party, and in 1854, when the 
Republican party was organized, he joined their ranks and remained a loyal 
supporter of the principles of that party through life. In 1825 he married 
Ann Matilda Haight, a daughter of David L. Haight, of New York. Five 
children were born to them. David Haight married Constance Theall and died 
in 1881, leaving four children: D. Halsey, NinaH., Charlotte O., and Emma 
M. Sarah Eyre died in 1881. Charles Carroll resides in Santa Cruz. Califor- 
nia. Ann Matilda died in May, 1898. Henry G., a prominent physician in 



18 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

New York City, married Helen H. Strong, daughter of General William K. 
Strong. They had tour children: Henry H., died in 1892. Helen married 
Everett Oakes. Chas. H. and Susan F. David Piffard was a member of the 
First Vestry of St. Michael's parish, Geneseo, and was on the building commit- 
tee of the first church building of that parish. He had made a special study 
of medicine and became very skillful. He practiced among the poor and 
needy of his neighborhood, receiving no remuneration for his services. He 
was universally loved and respected, and his memory is affectionately held in 
the hearts of many who were recipients of his kindness. He died at his home, 
Oak Forest, Piffard, June 27th, 1883. 

David Halsey Piffard, eldest son of David Haight Piffard. was born in the 
homestead September 18th, 1849. and studied at Temple Hill Seminary, 
Geneseo. After leaving school, and during his earlier years, he was connected 
with several business enterprises in New York. In 1869 he returned home and 
took charge of his grandfather's business, which he managed until the fall of 
1872, when he went to California. From there he travelled through the West- 
ern States and several of the countries of South America. He eventually 
located at Georgetown, Colorado, where he engaged in mining, lumbering and 
sawmilling. In 1878 he engaged in sheep raising in Western Texas. which 
business he managed personally for two years. In 1880 he returned to Lead- 
ville, Colorado. During the following six or seven years he was connected with 
a number of large mining companies, milling companies and smelter works in 
the mountains of Colorado and attended to various branches of their busi- 
ness which required the oversight of an expert. He also spent much time 
during these years in prospecting for gold, silver, copper, lead and coal in the 
lesser known portions of the Rocky Mountains. 

Returning to Piffard in 1888 he took charge of the Genesee Salt Co's works, 
which were, at that time, being conducted at a loss, but which he afterwards 
placed on a paying basis through careful management and the perfecting of 
new processes which he invented. For this work he was very well equipped, 
having spent the greater portion of his life in chemical and electrical work and 
study. 

He was united in marriage in February, 1898, with Pauline Arthur, daughter 
of Edward Paul Arthur of New York City, and they have one daughter, 
Pauline. 



CHARLES H. SWARTZ — A prominent farmer of Sparta, was born October 
6, 1850. His father, Jonas Svvartz came from Pennsylvania in 1820 and first 
settled in Dansville, where he remained three years, he then came to Sparta 
and purchased 200 acres which is now owned by his sons Charles and John 
jointly. Charles H. Swartz was married in 1882 toAddie, daughter of William 
Morris, of Conesus, and they have a son Morris and daughter Hazel. Mr. 
Swartz has always been a leading factor in local politics. He has held the 



BIOGRAPHICAL 19 

office of town collector, was elected supervisor on the democratic ticket in 1881, 
and was again elected to that important office in the spring of 1903. 



WILLIAM HENRY NORTON — Is a well known and prosperous farmer and 
produce dealer of Springwater. His father, John B. Norton, was educated for 
a physician at Auburn, N. Y. He came to Springwater and on February 20, 
1820 purchased a large tract ot land on the spot where the village now stands. 
This region was at that time a virgin forest. He cleared a portion of his land 
but devoted his time chiefly to the practice of his profession. Much of his 
original holdings he afterward disposed of from time to time and thereby 
acquired a competence. For forty or more years he practiced in this district 
and his field of labor extended over a large area. He became widely known 
and was highly esteemed, being of a kind and generous nature and possessed of 
the strictest integrity. In politics, he was in early days a Whig, but later 
became a loyal Republican, and being a man of sound principles and positive 
character his opinions in political matters carried much weight. He was 
joined in marriage June 8, 1823, with Jane Marvin, a daughter of one of the 
early settlers in Springwater. Mr. Marvin was a Methodist and a strict sec- 
tarian, a true friend and a kind benefactor. He passed his declining years in 
Springwater, where he died in 1845. To Mr. and Mrs. Norton were born eight 
children, of whum four are now living: Levina married C. Y. Andrus and is 
now a widow; Asher B. , Oscar M. and William H. Those not now living are 
John M., who died in 1901, Solomon G. , Juliette and Aaron M. Mrs. Norton 
died on their farm two miles below the village of Springwater in 1855 at the 
age of fifty-seven. She was an earnest member of the Methodist church. Dr. 
John B. Norton died at the homestead August 29, 1878. 

William H. Norton was born in Springwater August 15.1840, and was named 
after the president then in office, William Henry Harrison. His education was 
obtained at the district school and the Lima Seminary. He early developed 
an aptitude for a business life, even at thirteen carrying on business for him- 
self in buying and selling sheep. At nineteen he purchased his father's farm 
of two hundred and twenty-five ai:res just north of the village of Springwater, 
which thirty years later, in 1890, he sold for ten thousand dollars. Soon after 
disposing of this place he purchased the land he now owns, consisting of four 
farms and including their present home, a handsome and valuable property 
located on main street in the village of Springwater. Mr. Norton makes a 
specialty of sheep raising and owns one of the finest flocks of registered Shrop- 
shire and Hampshire sheep in the county. Mr. Norton attends to the man- 
agement of his affairs personally and is one of the largest grain and produce 
dealers in the county. He also buys and ships large quantities of hay annual- 
ly. On August 24, 1870 he was united in marriage with Alice Wooden, a 
daughter of Rev. T. J. O. Wooden, a Methodist minister of the Genesee con- 
ference and at one time well known as a successful revivalist. Mrs. Norton 



20 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

received her education at the Lima academy, of which she is a graduate and 
Drew Seminary at Carmel, N. Y. in which she took a Post Graduate course. 
She is also an accomplished musician. She has one brother, Irving, a physi- 
cian residing in Independence, Cal., who is also a successful ranch and mine 
owner. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have three children. Lillian M., is a graduate 
of the State Normal School musical department and of the Conservatory of 
Music in Chicago. She married Dr. James D. Stewart, of Springwater, and 
has one son. Norton A., born November 21. 1900. Oakley Wooden, the second 
child, attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and the State Normal School. 
He took up the study of dentistry in the University of Maryland and is a 
graduate of the dental department of that institution. He practiced his pro- 
fession in Baltimore several years and in May, 1901, returned to Springwater 
and practiced until June. 1902, when he opened an office in Lockport, N. Y., 
and is now one of the leading dentists in that city, with a branch office at Wil- 
son, N. Y. Ethel L. graduated from both the classical and musical depart- 
ments of the State Normal and for three years engaged in teaching at Port 
Jefferson, and Islip, L. L, and is now a student at Smith College Northampton, 
Mass. Mr. Norton is a staunch republican, well versed in political issues, 
with an intelligent understanding of and an abiding faith in the principles 
upon which the republican party was founded. Mr. and Mrs. Norton are 
members of the Methodist church and take an active interest in its work. For 
many years Mrs. Norton was a teacher in the Sunday school and Mr. Norton 
was its superintendent. He also holds the ofiice of trustee of the church. 



MAURICE J. NOONAN — Of Mount Morris, was born in Ireland, Decem- 
ber 25, 1843. His mother removed to this country in 1847, locating in Geneseo, 
and in 1848 removed to this village. Mr. Noonan received his education at 
the public schools here. In July, 1854, he enlisted in Co. D. 58th New York 
Volunteers, serving his country until December of that year, when he received 
his discharge. In the spring of 1865 he accepted a position as foreman in the 
cigar factory of J. L. Thompson, of Syracuse, N. Y., remaining with him 
until 1869, when he decided to open a factory for the manufacture of cigars 
at Mount Morris. He secured the store he now occupies in March, 1870, and 
established a wholesale and retail business of some magnitude. Having a 
desire to retire from business life, he sold this establishment in 1893 and in 
1899 again took possession of it and has since been actively enga-ged in its 
management. Energetic, enterprising, and successful in business, Mr. Noonan 
has always been in close touch with his fellow citizens, favoring and supporting, 
financially and otherwise, such enterprises as seem for the best interest of the 
community. He has also taken an active interest in politics and is ably con- 
versant on all political questions and party issues. As president of the village 
he served two years, and is at piesent a member of the Board of Trade and 
Livingston club. In October, 1870, he was joined in marriage with Miss 
Agnes M. Skillen, of Mount Morris. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 21 

GEORGE S. EWART— Senior partner of the firm of Ewart and Lake, 
mill owners and produce dealers of Groveland Station, and a well known farmer 
and politician, was born in Groveland, November 12, 1835. His father, 
William Ewart, was burn in county Armah, Ireland, and came to America, 
when a child, with his parents, who settled in Groveland where they secured 
a farm and reared their family. After attaining his majoritj' William became 
associated with his brothers in farming and with them succeeded to the 
ownership of the homestead, and by careful management and prudent business 
methods added lands to his share of the estate which he still owned at the time 
of his decease in 1851. His wife was Elvira a daughter of Walter Stevens and 
a native of Vermont. She lived to the advanced age of eighty three years and 
had six children: Catherine S., George S. , Mary C, Anna, Jennie M., and 
Elizabeth. 

George S. , the only son, was educated at Temple Hill Academy. Geneseo, 
and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. He took up the occupation of 
fanning on the homestead, a share of which he inherited at the death of his 
father. He has since added farm purchases to his holdings and now owns some 
four hundred acres of valuable land, all of which is highly productive. Sev- 
eral years ago Mr. Ewart engaged in the wool business at GrovcUnd Station and 
with his partner, Orrin C. Lake, is now conducting a flourishing trade in 
wool and produce at that place. In November of 1897 they purchased of the 
Wadsworths the old mill property which has been standing since 1826. This 
they have entirely remodeled throughout, have installed new machinery, erected 
a grain elevator, and now have a plant producing the best quality of roller pro- 
cess flour, which finds sale in all the eastern states. They have also recently 
acquired a custom mill at Greigsville. N. Y., which handles the grain and 
produce for that section. In 1S61 Mr. Ewart married Marila P. Merrell, of 
Richmond, Ontario county, N. Y. , daughter of Nelson Merrell. They have 
had two children, Helen M., and Fannie E., Helen M., is the wife of Orrin 
C. Lake, Mr. Ewart's partner. Fannie E. married Murray L. Gamble of 
Groveland; she was born December 31, 1867, and died October 4, 1898, leaving 
three children. 

Mr. Ewart has for years been prominent in "politics and a staunch upholder 
of the Democratic doctrine. He has held various offices within the gift of the 
people and has invariably performed the duties of such offices with promptness and 
exactness. He was for nine years a member of the Board of Supervisors and for 
many years was chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Livingston 
county, having been placed in that office in 1889. He was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Hill as Loan Commissioner for Livingston county and held that office 
under Governor Flower's and a part of Governor Morton's administration. 
He held the otiice ot Justice of the Peace twelve years and was appointed treas- 
urer of the Craig Colony for Epileptics at Sonyea by the first Board of Direct- 
ors under Governor Flower and held that office until the election of Governor 
Morton when the change of administration brought about various changes in 
hat institution. He is at present Democratic Elector for the thirty-fourth 



22 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

district. Through his intelligent understanding and thorough manner in 
dispatching duties of public trust Mr. Ewart has been tendered offices of 
distinction which lack of time to devote to such duties forbade him accepting. 
He is an ardent member of the Masonic fraternity and a good and loyal citizen. 



SOLOMOX HITCHCOCK — "I, Solomon Hitchcock, was born on the 14th 
day of November 1809 in the town of Amenia, Dutchess county, N. Y. My 
father (a farmer) had a family of six sons and five daughters. It being impos- 
sible for us all to remain at home, I of my own accord, when in my 17th 
year, took my clothing in a cotton handkerchief and went on foot and alone 
about twenty miles to Cornwall, Litchfield county. Cunn. , where I bound 
myself out to learn the carding and clothdressing trade. This was at that 
time, in 1826, a good business, but soon afterward small woolen factories sprung 
up over the country to which farmers took their wool and had it manufactured 
into cloth, greatly injuring my trade, which I carried on one year in Dutchess 
county, N. Y. , making nothing, which caused me to leave the business in 
disgust and look out for another occupation. In 1831, when I was twenty-two 
years old I started west to seek my fortune and arrived in Conesus in October 
of that year. There were then no railroads in New York state, except from 
Albany to Schenectady, seventeen miles, (on which cars were drawn by horses), 
and I was about one week traveling the distance that I have since traveled 
by railroad in about sixteen hours. My first business was teaching school in 
winter and working by the month on farms in summer. I next became able to 
rent and work land on shares, and was finally able to buy some cheap and 
partially improved land by running considerably in debt. In November, 1S41 
I married Laura M. Coe, of South Livonia, X. Y. , and to her assistance I 
am indebted for a large share of all the earthly prosperity I have achieved." 
Thus, one morning in May, 1873, when in a reminiscent mood, wrote, of him- 
self, the subject of this sketch. I have quoted his words, because they tell in 
brief the story of his early days as he told it while living. Possessed of only 
a common school education, he nevertheless fitted himself as best he could for 
teaching and taught several terms with good success. He also served as school 
inspector before that office gave way to the present office of County School Com- 
missioner. While always interested in politics from the standpoint of an ardent 
Republican he never sought political office and held none outside the town 
where he lived. There he served successive terms as Justice of the Peace, 
Assessor and Supervisor. Referring to his experiences in the former office, I 
again quote from his own words: "In the course of my life I have often known 
men to sue others or allow themselves to be prosecuted for matters of very little 
consequence; but although I have had considerable dealing with my fellow men, 
yet I take pride in saying that I was never sued and never had a contested law 



BIOGRAPHICAL 23 

suit. I have believed and still believe that it is better and more for one's 
interest pecuniarily to put up with some injustice than to go to law. " In 
1854, he purchased from the late Timothy DeGraw the farm on which he resided 
until his death. It is located one-half mile north of Conesus Center and is 
now owned and occupied by his son, S. Edward Hitchcock and family. While 
he carried on a general and quite extensive farming business, owning at death 
about four hundred fifty acres of land, yet by far his greatest efforts were along 
the line of wool-growing and sheep-breeding and this was his greatest source of 
income. In this industry he was an authority retaining a keen interest in 
it while he lived. He owned the same flock of Merino sheep and their descend- 
ants for more than forty years. While his health permitted he took an active 
interest in the work of the church in whose faith he believed, viz: The Univer- 
sal Fatherhood of God and the Universal Brotherhood of Man. His time and 
his means were always at the disposal of the Universalis! church, locally and at 
large, and for many years his was a well-known figure in the local, state and 
national conventions of that body. An early and long-time member of the 
Livingston County Historical Society, his fondness for pioneer history as well 
as acquaintance with many early settlers of the town caused him to take a keen 
interest in the work and meetings of that organization. Concerning his later 
years I again quote from an article written shortly before his death: "There 
have been no events in my life worthy of particular note. From the age of 
twenty-two my business has been farming. From that time up to the age of 
fifty years my labors were almost constant and often severe. Yet. having a 
strong pair of arms and a good constitution (for which I should be and hope I 
am thankful) I enjoyed my labor, with the expectation that it would, as it did, 
bring competence and comfort to myself, wife and family in after life, and 
allow us to visit many of the noted places in our country, which we did while 
our health permitted; and the money thus spent I think was well invested. 
About the year 1869, after we had acquired by industry and economy a compe- 
tence such as we hoped would sustain us through accidents, sickness and the 
infirmities incidental to old age, I turned my attention to some public improve- 
ments which I thought were needed at the center of the town. These were a 
cemetery a new road and a new church. The road was needed for ingress to 
the cemetery and also for village lots, there being a scarcity of good building 
places about our village." The "public improvements" above referred to are 
the present Universalist church, the G. Arnold cemetery, and the highway 
known as Elm street. To the building of the first, the originating .of the 
second and the laying out of the third the subject of this sketch put forth his 
best efforts, and in the final success of them all he was largely instrumental. 
He died at his home in Conesus, on June 20, 1886, aged 77 years, having sur- 
vived his wife about one year. His death removed another of the long line 
of those, who, descended from pioneer ancestry, retained the pioneer vigor 
and character, and who will always be needed to aid in moulding the thought 
and in leading the best interests of the communities in which they dwell. 



24 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

RICHARD R. WELCH — A prominent citizen of the town of Leicester, 
residing near Cuylerville, was born in Rochester, N. Y. , November 27, 1842. 
His father, John R. Welch, was a native of Ireland, having been born in the 
county of Cork. He came to America about 1835 and soon thereafter drifted 
to Rochester, where in 1840 he married Margaret McCarthy, also a native of 
County Cork, Ireland. In 1846 they removed to Rush, Monroe county, where 
be owned and operated a farm for ten years. The ten years following were 
spent on farms which he owned and worked successively in West Mendon, 
Canawaugus and West Sparta. He then moved to Leicester, where he pur- 
chased a farm on which he resided up to the time of his death which occurred 
in 1887. They reared a family of five children, of whom four are now living. 
His wife died in 1883. 

Richard R. Welch married Anna Sullivan of the town of York, and they have 
had five children, three of whom are now living: Charles Edward; Mary Lil- 
ian; and George Francis. William Harrison, an exceptionally bright young 
man, studious and with every prospect of a promising career and a graduate of 
the State Normal school was stricken with pneumonia and died April 6, 1903 at 
the age of twenty; John Richard, died in 1902, aged sixteen years. Charles 
and George are at home and have taken the care and management of the farm, 
Mr. Welch having in a measure retired from the active duties incident to farm 
life. Mr. Welch is a life-long Democrat and has ably served the citizens of 
his town as Highway Commissioner and Justice of the Peace. 



JOHN O. XICKERSON — A prosperous mill owner of Livonia, was born in 
Waterloo, N. Y. , March 31, 18S2. While very young his parents removed to 
Albion, N. Y. where he later received his education. After attaining his ma- 
jority he engaged as apprentice at the machine trade in Corry, Pa., where he 
remained seven years. The year of 1880 he spent in travel through the west 
working at his trade en route. In 1883 he came to Livonia, where for a time 
he followed his trade and for one season operated the steamer Mollie Teft, on 
Hemlock Lake. In 1887 and the year following he resided in Rochester. In 
1891 he returned to Livonia and installed a machine shop which has since 
proved a profitable venture, and in 1900 he further increased his business by 
establishing a complete flour and feed mill plant, both concerns being now in a 
healthy, flourishing condition. In October, 1878, Mr. Nickerson married 
Robina Hoskih, of Corry, Pa., and they have seven children: Edwin O. , Liv- 
ing.i^ton Blake. William C. . Walter C. , Coral, Louis, and John J. James O. 
Nickerson, the father of John, was a native of Connecticut and a former news- 
paper man. He tnarried Louise Blake, daughter of Richard Blake, of Livonia, 
and they had five children: John O., Jessie married Gardner Marsh, of Cone- 
sus. Livingston B. now a citizen of Minneapolis, Cornelia married William 
Holmes of Wayland and Lucy married James Van Duzen, and resides in 
Pachogue. Long Island. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 25 

WILLIAM S. GOODING— Was born in Bristol, Ontario county, N. Y. . 
December 21, 1852. For ten years after reaching his majority he taught school 
during the winter months and worked farms during the summer months. In 
1887 he removed to Geneseo and conducted the Normal boarding hall known as 
Gooding Hall. In 1901 he leased of the Wadsworth estate the popular summer 
resort, "Long Point." This resort is the oldest in this part of the country. 
General Wadsworth conceived the idea of a place of resort _at Conesus Lake 
many years ago and erected a commodious cottage on Long Point in which to 
pass the summer months. This cottage contained twelve rooms and some of 
them still contain the original furniture. In 1875 Mr. Gooding was united in 
marriage with Isabelle Gaines, daughter of Henry Gaines, a tanner and shoe 
manufacturer at East Bloomheld. They have three children, Rodney E., Alma 
and Norma. Mr. Gooding and son Rodney are both members of the F. & A. 
M., the former of Canandaigua Lodge, the latter of the Geneseo Lodge. 



WILLIAM J. MAXWELL — A prosperous farmer of Caledonia, N. Y. , was 
born Augusts, 1857, on the farm that he now owns. His paternal grandfather, 
William Ma.xwell, was born on The Marcus Badalbal Estate in Scotland in 1786. 
He was there apprenticed and learned his trade of miller. In 1811 he sailed 
for this country landing in New York, where he engaged with Peter Van Rens- 
selaer, of that city, as miller, with whom he remained two years. In 1813 he 
was offered the position of head miller in the large flouring mills at Albany, 
which he accepted. It was at Albany that he met Isabelle Cameron, whom he 
married in 1815. They had three children, James A., Catherine and William. 
In 1817 he decided to remove to Pittsburg, but on his way thither stopped for 
a visit with his wife's people who had removed to Caledonia, and while with 
them he engaged with Mr. Wadsworth to opeiate a large ilour mill at South 
Avon. This mill he ran for sixteen years. In 1833 he gave up the mill and 
purchased of Mr. Wadsworth 120 acres of land in Caledonia. James A., the 
eldest son and the father of William, was born at Albany in 1816. He was 
only eight months of age when his parents made the overland trip to Living- 
ston county, where he received a good education. He made farming his life 
work. In 1841 he purchased of Thomas Monteith 150 acres of land in Cale- 
donia, and in 1851, 50 acres of Daniel Bowman that adjoined him. In 1841 he 
married Mary Barron, a daughter of William Barron, one of the early settlers of 
the town. They had five children. Sarah married James Espie, of Caledonia. 
Isabelle married Erastus Weeks, and she died in 1902 leaving four children. 
Mary married Alton Estes, of Caledonia, and they have two childi'en. Cath- 
erine married John Shoudler of Scottsville, and died in 1899, and 
William J. Maxwell in 1883 married Lida Paul, daughter of Alexander Paul, 
a merchant of Scottsville. They have had three children of whom two are now 
living, Mary Belle and Marguerite. He has served as highway commissioner 
for several years. In 1899 he purchased of his father the homestead, forty- 



26 HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 

seven acres of which have been sold to the New York Central railroad and 
to the Iroquois Cement Coiiinany. William Barron, father of Mary (Barron) 
Maxwell, came to this country from North Hampton, Eng[and, at the age of 
twelve, locating at Geneva and about 1891 removed tu Caledonia. In 1812 he 
joined the Patriot Army and was stationed on guard duty at Buffalo. Return- 
ing to Caledonia, he obtained from the Government 350 acres of land on which 
he established a home and there spent the remainder of his life. 



OSCAR WOODRUFF— Editor and proprietor of the IJansviUe Express, a 
live, enterprising paper devoted to the interests of the people and upholding 
the principles of the democratic party is a native of Livingston county, Gen- 
eseo being his birthplace. He comes of old New England stock. His pater- 
nal grandfather, Oliver Woodruff one of the pioneer settlers of this county, 
was born in Litchfield county, Conn., in 1755. When nineteen years of age 
he entered Yale College and one week later enlisted in the Continental army. 
After serving six months he reenlisted and assisted in building Fort Lee on 
the Hudson river which was captured by the British one month after comple- 
tion. He and others were taken prisoners and confined ill New Bridewell, 
New York, through the winter months without fire, with every window in the 
building broken out and with but little food. An exchange of prisoners was 
effected the following spring and when released thirty-three out of the thirty- 
five men in Mr. Woodruff's company died in one night from overeating. In 
1804 he moved into the town of Livonia where he purchased a tract of heavily 
timbered land which he eventually cleared and converted into a productive 
farm and a comfortable home. He died December 24, 1845, at the age of 
ninety-one. His wife died at the age of fifty. Of his seven children who 
grew to maturity nearly all attained an advanced age. Sydney Stacey lived to 
be ninety-seven years of age. Hardy eighty-eight, Kushrod Washington, the 
father of Oscar, eighty-seven, Olive and Birdseye seventy and Steptoe sixty. 

Bushrod W. Wocxiruff was born in Livonia May 26, 1806. When fourteen 
years of age he entered the office of a Geneseo paper, one of the first published 
in the county where he remained seven years and learned the printer's trade. 
He worked at his trade and as a publisher until 1860, after which he lived 
retired, v.ntil his death at Dansville in 1893, aged eighty-seven years. His 
wife's maiden name was Sally A. Rose, daughter of James Rose, of Bath. N. 
Y. Of the thirteen children born to them, four are now living, of whom 
Oscar is the eldest. She died August 27, 1899 at the age of eighty-five years. 

When seventeen years of age Oscar Woodruff entered as a printer the office 
of the newspaper he now owns. It was then known as the Dansville Herald. 
He remained in this office until 1861, when at the nation's call for volunteers, 
he enlisted in the Tenth New York Cavalry and three years thereafter re- 
enlisted and served to the end of the war. He actively participated in many 
battles and was three times promoted, first to the rank of Second Lieutenant, 



BIOGRAPHICAL 27 

then to First Lieutenant, and afterward to the brevet rank of Captnin. Follow- 
ing the close of the war he returned to Dansville, where he has since resided 
with the exception of the years 1873, 1874 and 1875, when he held the office of 
paymaster's clerk in the United States navy. Mr. Woodruff purchased the 
Dansville Express in 1877, which he has since very ably managed. His part- 
ner in this purchase was A. H. Knapp, who retained his interest until 1882 
when Mr. Woodruff became the owner of the entire business. Mr. Woodruff 
has been twice married. His inarriage with Mary Betts, daughter of John 
Belts, a pioneer settler of Dansville. took place in 1869 and her death occurred 
one year later. In 1892 Mr. Woodruff took tor his second wife Nettie Carney, 
daughter of William G. Carney, of Sparta. Mr. Woodruff is in every sense a 
public spirited man. While in sympathy with the democratic party he is 
thoroughly alive to the best interests of all his fellow citizens and never fails 
to lend his influence and assistance in all undertakings tending towards the 
betterment of the community in which he lives. From 1890 to 1895 he served 
as supervisor and was chairman of the board one year. He has been four times 
elected president of the village of Dansville. He is a member of the Canasera- 
ga Lodge of Odd Fellows in which he has held all offices. He is also a mem- 
ber of Phcenix Lodge of Masons and is a charter member and one of the organ- 
izers of the Seth N. Hedges Post G. A. R. , ot which he was commander three 
years and adjutant seven years. 



JAMES H. CROUSE — -A wealthy landowner an 1 an enterprising citizen of 
Lima, N. Y. , was born in that town P'ebruary 9, 1834. His grandfather, 
George Grouse, a native of Fort Plain, Montgomery county, came to Avon, 
Livingston county, at an early day and bought and cleared a farm of ofie hun- 
dred twenty acres where he lived for many years, afterward removing to Mich- 
igan where he purchased land and resided until his death some years later at 
the age of seventy-four. He raised a family of nine children all of whom lived 
to maturity. His son, George G. Grouse, the father of James, was born in 
Avon and attended the district schools of the place. He remained on the farm 
until reaching his majority when he engaged with a neighboring farmer by 
the month, thereafter working on various farms until he purchased one of his 
own in Lima. He subsequently added to this place and at the time of his 
death was possessed of one hundred and eighty-three acres. When twenty- 
seven years of age Mr. Grouse married Mary N. Hovey, a daughter ot James 
and Esther Hovey, of Lima, early settlers of that place. Four children were 
born to them, — Sarah Jane, Ann Eliza, James H., and Henry R. who died at 
the age of four years. Sarah J. married Oliver P. Flansburg and died in Jan- 
uary, 1901. Ann Eliza died in March, 1904. She married Wilkinson Carey, 
of Lima, and had two children — Mary E., now Mrs. Ira Newman, and Georg- 
iana Carey, who married Charles Gray, of Lima, N. Y. Mr. Crouse died In 
the seventy-ninth year of his age. 



28 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

James H. Crouse obtained an education at the district school and the Genesee 
VVesleyan Seminary. He began farming on the homestead in Avon, where he 
remained ten years. He then sold this place and purchased his father's farm 
in Lima, where he also remained ten years and went to Michigan after selling 
his Lima farm back to his father. He remained in Michigan three years and 
returning to Lima resided with his father until the latter's death in 1884. 
The following year he purchased the handsome residence in Lima where he now 
lives. Mr. Crouse was twice married, his first wife being Frances A. Carey, 
of Lima, who became the mother of two children, Mary and Frances N. Mary 
married Clarence V. Tenney a native of Michigan, and has one son. They 
reside on one of the Lima farms. Frances N. married Melvin R. Hamilton, 
of Avon. Mr. Crouse took for his second wife Lucia C. Chapman, of Lima. 
The four children of this marriage are George G., who died at the age of five; 
James S., Henry P. and Arthur D. Mr. and Mrs. Crouse are members of the 
Baptist church of Lima. Mr. Crouse is the owner of twenty-two farms rang- 
ing from fifty-five to two hundred and fifty-six acres, all lying mostly in the 
towns of Lima and Avon. That Mr. Crouse is a shrewd business man and a 
careful manager is evidenced by the large amount of property he now owns 
nearly all of which he has accumulated through his own efforts. He is an 
ardent supporter of tlie democratic party and cast his first presidential vote for 
James Buchanan in 1856. Mr. Crouse has ably served the town of Lima as its 
assessor. 



WALTER H. SHERMAN — A prosperous agriculturist of the town of Avon 
comes from a family who had much to do with the making of early colonial 
history. Among his ancestors appears the name of Richard Warren, of the 
Mayflower. He also traces his ancestry in a direct line to Philip Sherman, 
who emigrated to America, from Essex, England, in 1634 and settled at Rox- 
bury, Mass. A few years later he removed to Rhode Island and became an 
associate of Roger Williams in the founding of that colony. He was the fiist 
secretary of the colony, and in critical periods, as a man of intelligence, wealth 
and influence, was consulted by those high in authority. Benjamin Sherman 
was burn in Dartsmouth, Mass. He was fourth in descent from Philip Sherman, 
and in 1764, removed to Duchess county and settled at the foot of Quaker Hill. 
His house was for a time the headquarters of General Washington and it was 
under his roof that the trial of General Schuyler took place. He and his son 
Abiel were wagon makers and farmers, whigs in politics, and Abiel became a 
member of the State Assembly. The wife of Abiel was Joanna Howland of 
Dutchess county. Their son Henry, followed the trade of his ancestors and in 
1836 came to this vicinity, seeking a new location for a home. He returned to 
Dutchess county and the year following, with his family sailed up the Hudson 
in a sloop as far as Albany, thence by Erie canal to Pittsford and by teams to 
the town of Rush, Monroe county, where he bought land and established a 




George C. Northrop. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 29 

home. He died at the age of seventy-six. His wife, Emma Halloway of the 
town of Pawling, Dutchess county, was a grand-daughter of William Hallo- 
way, an officer in the Revolutionary army. Howland Sherman son uf Henry 
and the father of Walter, purchased the Sherman homestead, in Avon in 1856. 
He married Mary Price of Rush, who was born September 26, 1823, and was 
the daughter of George Price, a native of Frederick, Md., who came with his 
parents to 'central New York in 18(11. Three children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Sherman, Amanda J., wife of Horace L. Bennett, of Rochester; Frances 
C, wife of John A. Munson, of Savannah, Wayne county,^ and Walter H. 
Walter H. Sherman was born in tlie town of Rush, Monroe county. May 28, 
1854. His education was obtained in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Fair- 
field Seminary, in Herkimer county and the Albany State Normal School. 
His entire life, with the exception of a few years spent in business in Roch- 
ester, has been passed on the home farm. In August 1879 he married Harriet 
C. Mitchell, daughter of Wm. Dean Mitchell, a merchant of Lima, N. Y. , 
and a native of Penn Yan, where he was born November 8, 1823. He married 
Nancy Barstow Coryelle in June 1854 and they had but one daughter. 
He died in October 1880. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Sherman, Laura Coryelle, born January 18, 1882; Mary Howland, born Sep- 
tember 6, 1883 and Frances Caldwell born May 27. 1887. 

Mr. Sherman has for many years taken an active interest in politics and 
has served the town of Avon two years as supervisor. 



[I^GEORGE C. NORTHROP — A prominent produce and grain dealer of 
Lakeville. N. Y., and an old resident of the town of Livonia, was born in 
Oneida county, N. Y., December 18, 1828. His early education was obtained 
first at the district schools of his native place and afterward he attended the 
Livonia Academy, his parents having removed to Livonia when he was a child. 
At the early age of fourteen he took up the study of civil engineering, for 
which even at that age he evinced a peculiar aptitude, and five years there- 
after he was employed by the Erie railroad on their preliminary survey of the 
Rochester divisioii. He was then engaged in similar work for the Cleveland 
and Mahoning Railroad Company of Ohio, and afterward assisted in the survey 
for the enlargeuient of the Erie canal. After the completion of the canal sur- 
vey, which covered a period of about two years, he was employed in the capa- 
city of civil engineer for the following railroad corporations: The Genesee 
Valley Railroad from Avon to Mount Morris; The Chicago, Iowa and Nebras- 
ka; The Logansport, Peoria and Oquaka Railroad, now a part of the Bloom- 
ington and Western system; The Geneva and Southwestern railroad, now a 
part of the Lehigh Valley system, between Geneva and Naples as chief engi- 
neer; The Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad; The Ohio Southern Railroad; 
The Alleghany Valley Railroad at that time a narrow gauge road running 
between Wayland and Hornellsville and since made a part of the D. L. & W. 



30 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

system. He then engRged for the state, establishing boundaries for the canal 
road in the Genesee valley. In 1884 he located at Lakeville, where he estab- 
lished his present business which he has profitably conducted to the present time. 
His is one of the thriving establishments which put life and energy intu the sur- 
rounding community and establishes a ready market for the neighboring farmer's 
grain and produce. Mr. Northrop has during his later years been an ardent 
supporter of the Prohibition party. He is tliorougbly public spirited, strictly 
honest in all his dealings and a man of the highest intelligence. His library 
contains books from the pens of some of the best writers which he has carefully 
collected and intelligently perused. His marriage with Lavina Carnes, of 
West Sparta, took place in 1853. Three children were born to them: Minnie, 
who married William Jackson, resides at Livonia and has five children; Luella 
Elizabeth, who married Rev. C. V. Parsons, a Baptist minister of Fort Fair- 
field, Maine, and they have two children; and Grant F. who married Miss Jen- 
nie Deery and has five children. He is in the employ of the Eric railroad as 
engineer and resides in Rochester. 



FRANCIS M. ACKER — A prominent citizen of the town of Livonia and 
merchant in the village of Lakeville, was born in Groveland, September 28, 
1847. Shortly afterward his parents removed to Lakeville, where he attended 
school and where he has since resided. He secured the rudiments of his busi- 
ness education at the Rochester Business University. He then engaged in the 
carriage business which he successfully conducted for fifteen years in Ldkeville, 
and twenty-eight years ago he embarked in the grocery business which he has con- 
ducted on plans both profitable to himself and pleasing to his many customers. 
Mr. Acker is a Republican in politics and under President Harrison held the 
office of postmaster for four years. He married Caroline Gordinier. of Avon, 
and her death occurred in 1884. He took for his second wife Elizabeth Weeks, 
of Lakeville, and they have three sons. Carroll Francis, Harold Chester and 
Marion Allen. His father, Silas Acker, a native of New Jersey, came to 
Livingston county when a young man, locating in Groveland, where he acquired 
ISO acres of government land which he subsequently cleared. He was thrice 
married and raised a family of seven sons and five daugliters. His third wife, 
the mother of our subject, was Phcebe Shay, of Scottsburg, a granddaughter of 
Daniel Shay, of Revolutionary fame, to whose memory a monument has been 
recently erected at Scottsburg, N. Y. She died at the age of seventy-three 
years. Silas Acker died in 1865, aged seventy-five years. 



ENOS A. NASH — -A prominent farmer and ex-supervisor of the town of 
Portage was born in that town September 4, 1845. His grandfather Alfred 
Nash, a veteran of the war of 1812, migrated with his family from Connecticut, 



i I 



BIOGRAPHICAL 31 

his native state, to Western New York in 1818. He made the journey by 
wagon and first settled in Rochester, where he purchased a strip of land, lying 
east of the business part of the city and embracing that portion now adjoining 
East Avenue. He soon sold this property and removed to Portage (then 
Nunda, Alleghany county,) and was one of its earliest settlers. He took up 
two hundred acres of wild land which he cleared and amid all the disadvantages 
under which the early pioneers labored, eventually succeeded in bringing to a 
high state of cultivation and success crowned his efforts. He married Elizabeth 
Hoyt of Connecticut and they reared a family of nine children. His son Enos 
H.. the father of Enos A. became a tanner and currier and for many years con- 
ducted a business in that part of Portage known as Hunts Hollow. He after- 
wards returned to the homestead, where he remained until his decease, Feb- 
ruary 3, 1845. He married Elanora B. Stockwel! of Vermont, and reared 
three children, John A., Adelia E., and Enos A. His wife Elanora died 
March 14, 1886. Enos A. Nash received his education in the district schools 
and at the Nunda Academy. At the breaking out of the war he twice enlisted 
without his father's knowledge, Jlr. Nash being obliged upon each occasion to 
prove to the authorities that his son was under age in order to secure his release. 
Upon reaching the age of eighteen however he again enrolled himself as private 
in the Fourth New York Heavy Artillery, which was attached to General 
Grant's command. He took part in the various engagements in which his 
regiment participated and was taken prisoner, being for four months confined 
in Belle Isle and Libby prisons, before being exchanged. He was mustered 
out with his company October 18th, 1865, and returned home. He married 
Miss Augusta Williams, a daughter of Solomon and Catherine (Averill) 
Williams, and they are the paients of two children, Arthur J., and Albert B. 
Arthur married Ruth O. Morton of Jamestown, N. Y., and they have one child, 
Marion Irene. They live on what is known as the Ingham farm in Portage, 
owned by Enos A. Nash. Albert married Grace A. Hark of Alleghany county. 
They reside with Mr. and Mrs. Nash and assist in the care and management of 
the farm. Mr. Nash was for a number of years a member qf the board of 
supervisors, and for several years served his town as collector. He has also 
been Justice of the Peace for twelve years. Mr. Nash has always been a repub- 
lican and cast his first presidential vote for General Grant in 1868. 



WILLIS J. RANDOLPH — Of Moscow, N. Y. , was born at Richmond, 
Northampton County, Penn. May 19, 1862, and received his education in the 
Portland Academy and the schools of Columbia, N. J. When eighteen years 
of age he began learning telegraphy in a railroad office and the year following, 
in 1881, entered the Lackawanna office at Portland, Pa., as extra operator and 
one year hence was made a permanent one. He was shortly after this engaged 
as timekeeper at the Buffalo machine shops and in 1885 was tendered the office 
of operator for the D. L. & W., at Mount Morris, where he remained three 



32 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

years, coming to Moscow in 1888 as the company's agent. In 1881 occurred his 
marriage with Miss Ada Francis Michaels, of Columbia, N. J., and they have 
two children, Grace, who is attending the State Normal School at Geneseo, 
class of 1904, and James who for some years has been an assistant in the D. L. 
& W. office with his father. Mr. Randolph is a member of the Mt. Morris 
Lodge of Masons, of the Blue Lodge and also of the Chapter. He has always 
been prominent in town affairs taking an active part in all matters pertaining 
to the general welfare of its citizens. A republican in politics, he has for years 
actively upheld the principles of his party. He ably served the town of 
Leicester, as town clerk, for two terms, and has been a Justice of the Peace 
four terms. 



DAVID MENZIE — The well-known auctioneer of Caledonia, was born at 
LeRoy, Genesee county, July 11, 1837. After finishing his schooling, which 
was obtained in the public schools of that place, he engaged in farming. In 
1862 he was joined in marriage with Kate Mcl?ain, daughter jf Francis McBain, 
a prosperous farmer of the town of York. They then removed to Riga, Mon- 
roe county, where Mr. Menzie purchased a farm on which he remained ten 
years. They have four children, Jane B., Charles, Christina and Robert D. 
Jane B. married William H. Garbutt and resides at Wheatland, Monroe county. 
Charles married Anna Bowerman and Christina married John G. Glass and 
resides at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Robert is in Alaska, where he has been engag- 
ed in mining fur the past six years. In 1872 Mr. Men'ie and family came to 
Caledonia where they have since resided. His father, Duncan, was a native of 
Scotland and one of the first 'settlers in the county, having as a young m^n 
settled in Caledonia in 1810. He married Miss Christie, of Wheatland, a 
daughter of John Christie, who came to America from Scotland in 1796. David 
Menzie has undoubtedly conducted more farm auctions than any other man in 
the county, having taken up the work in 1857 and followed it continuously to 
the present time. Thoroughly honest and straightforward in all his dealings, 
he has gained the entire confidence and friendship of all who know him or with 
whom he has had dealings. 



WILLIAM W. BISHOP— Was born at Geneseo, Feb. 20, 1850. He attended 
Temple Hill Academy, also the Willistoii Seminary at East Hampton, Mass., 
graduating with the class of 1866. His first occupation was a clerkship at the 
Bank of Geneseo, which he retained a short time, when he entered his father's 
(John F. Bishop) dry goods establishment and remained, with him until the 
spring of 1884. He then went to Grand Forks, N. D., and engaged with the 
loan and real estate firm of E. P. Gates & Co. as abstract clerk. He re- 
mained there until 1888, when he accepted a position with Bradstreet's at New 



BIOGRAPHICAL 33 

York City. In 1890 he returned to Geneseo and took up his former work in 
his father's store and succeeded to the business at the time of his father's 
death in 1895. In 1899 he received the appointment of abstract clerk of the 
county and is now filling that office. In December, 1879, Mr. Bishop was 
united in marriage with Sarah L. Booth, of Canandaigua, and they have one 
son, John A. Since the appointment of Mr. Bishop as abstract clerk, Mrs. 
Bishop has very successfully carried on the dry goods business until February, 
1904, when, unfortunately, their establishment was entirely destroyed by fire. 



Dr. CHARLES C WILLARD — Veterinary surgeon of Mount Morris, was 
born at Pittsford, N. Y., February 18. 1859. He received his school educa- 
tion at that place. Having a natural love for horses he early began a study of 
their diseases, attended lectures and so perfected himself in veterinary surgery 
thdt in 1887 the Rochester Veterinary Association granted him a diploma which 
was endorsed bv the Regents of the State University. He immediately began 
practicing at Mendon, N. Y. , where he remained two years and removed to 
Mount Morris, his present home. As an auctioneer, Dr. Willard is also well 
known throughout the country, having conducted scores of successful farm and 
stock sales since his first sale in 1896. In 1890 he married Miss Mercie Louise 
Richardson, of Pittsford, N. V.. and their family consists of two children, 
Clarence Richardson and Charles Leslie. 



WILLIAM J. WEED — Cashier of the State Bank of Avon, has occupied 
that position eleven years, coming here from Cattaraugus, N. Y. , where for 
the three years preceding he had acted as assistant cashier in the state bank at 
that place. He was born at Franklinville, N. Y., July 19, 1858, and his edu- 
cation was obtained in the schools of that place and the Ten Broeck Academy. 
Immediately upon leaving the latter institution, when sixteen years of age, he 
secured the position of bookkeeper in the First Naticmal Bank of Franklinville, 
where he remained until his removal to Cattaraugus in 1889. In 1880 he was 
united in marriage with Miss Alice M. Shokency, of Avon, N. Y. , and their 
family consists of one son, W. Stanley. A daughter, M. Adelaide, died in 
1894 at the age of fourteen years. Mr. Weed has by his own efforts and ability 
attained the position he now occupies. Endowed with a natural aptitude for 
the banking business and possessed of originality and enterprise with a thor- 
ough knowledge of the business, acquired during his thirty years of experience, 
Mr. Weed has performed skilfully and well the various exacting duties inci- 
dent to tlie position he occupies. 



WILLIAM McLEOD. — The subject of this sketch is of pure Scotch parent- 
age. His father, the late Norman McLeod, came to Canada with the Ninety- 
third Highlanders. William was born in Canada in 1841, while his father was 



34 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

yet a member of that noted British regiment. His mother's brother, William 
McBean, was also a member of that regiment, and later made the notable 
record of rising from the ranks to the command of it, and ilied in London in 
1878, a Brevet Major General. William thus comes of martial parentage, 
maternal and paternal. His father was discharged from the British service by 
reason of ill health, and came to York state with his family, when William 
was eleven years old. William's boyhood, until he was twenty was simply that 
of the average American boy. He worked on a farm until eighteen years of 
age when he comnjenced learning the blacksmith trade, at Prattsburg. The 
outbreak of the Civil war found bim at Pulteney, N. Y., at the home of a married 
sister. The battle of Bull Run had taken place and the attack on the flag of his 
adopted country stirred his soul. From this point we give his military exper- 
ience somewhat in detail, not that it was especially noteworthy, but to put on 
record an instance which was duplicated perhaps many times, and to show the 
depths to which the North was roused by that challenge to war. From the 
date of the first battle, William McLeod wanted to enlist, but from his parents' 
experience of military life he supposed they would object to his going into the 
army. So in his letters to his parents at Hemlock, he said nothing about it. 
Thus it went until Saturday evening, October 13, 1861, when a letter came 
from his father in which he told of the raising of a regiment at Geneseo, and 
of a number from Hemlock who had already joined, and that they were asking 
about William and wanting bim to go with them. He added " if William 
wants to go I will make no objection.'' Monday evening he appeared before 
Edward D. Clarke, a Justice of the Peace, empowered to take enlistments. 
The evening of the next day found him back at Prattsburg, having walked the. 
entire distance, thirty-six miles, each way. The second day of December 1861 
at Geneseo, he was mustered into the United States service, as a member of the 
104th New York Volunteers, by Captain Marshall. Here he found his brother, 
Donald N., who had already enlisted before he was seventeen. His brother 
was rejected later by reason of his youth, but the boy was determined to go, 
and his father appeared with him, on February 25th, before Colonel John Ror- 
bach, and gave his written consent that Donald might go with his elder 
brother. The Wadsworth Guards left Geneseo on February 26th 1862, and from 
this time, William McLeod's military experience was simply one with his regi- 
ment, until the second battle of Bull Run, when he was wounded on the skir- 
mish line, August 30th. His right arm was amputated at noon, on September 
first, in a field hospital, near the place where he was wounded. At nine 
o'clock on Wednesday morning forty five hours after his arm was amputated, 
he started out on foot for Washington, about thirty miles distant. Being taken 
prisoner after he was wounded he had nothing to eat, save what he had in his 
haversack, when he was wounded. This was six army crackers and coiifee and 
sugar for six cups. Half this supply he gave away to comrades who had 
nothing. It was simply a question with him whether to die on the field where 
he was or try to reach the Union lines. He said to himself "If I must die I will 
die going towards help; I am not going to die lying here. " The first half 
mile he walked along by a rail fence, steadying himself by it. He was so 



BIOGRAPHICAL - 35 

weak he dared not sit down, fearing he could not rise again. He reached 
Centerville about three P. M. and found his brother there, severely wounded. 
They had been together on the skirmish line and Donald was wounded a few 
moments first, but unknown to William. The only food that had passed Wil- 
liam's lips, from Saturday at five P. M. until Wednesday at five P. M. was the 
three crackers, the three cups of coftee and a piece of lean fresh pork about a 
cubic inch in size. The brothers received their paroles at Centerville and 
resumed their journey toward Washington on September 4th with their haver- 
sacks empty. They bad nothing to eat for the next twenty-four hours. They 
came to the Union pickets six miles from Washington, where they arrived in 
the forenoon of September 6th, having walked all the way from Bull Run. ex- 
cept the last six miles. They were taken by our pickets to Epiphany Hospital, 
where they remained until November 14th 1S62. William then came home 
on discharge and Donald, whose wound was yet far from healed, on furlough. 
Upon returning to his regiment, Donald was discharged in February 1863 from 
a hurt received earlier than the one at Bull Run. He remained at home until 
September and enlisted in the 21st New York Cavalry. He put in nearly four 
years service before he was twenty-one, was wounded once in his second term 
of service, but his first hurt to his right knee was so serious that in 1S7S, he 
had the leg amputated just in time to save his life. Save for short periods 
William has lived at Hemlock. He has no political ambitions, save a deaire 
to better the conditions of society, so that he may feel that he did not give 
his good right arm in vain. 



FRED Jl. WILNER — An extensive farmer of the town of Portage, was 
born on the farm his grandfather took up soon after the war of 1812. George 
Wilner, grandfather of Fred, was a native of Berkshire county, Mass. He 
afterward removed to Connecticut and joined the American Army in the war 
of 1812. His brother also enlisted and was killed at the battle of Plattsburg in 
1814. George participated in the battle of Stonington with his regiment and 
at the close of the war came to Livingston county, making the journey 
by wagon, and settled on land on the Genesee river, which he afterwards sold. 
He then removed to Indiana, going thence by the way of the Ohio river. 
Three years later he returned to Portage and settled upon a land grant which 
comprises the present large productive farm owned by his grandsons, Fred M. 
and Frank A. Wilner. He married Betsey Moses, a daughter of Elisha 
Moses, a pioneer of this county, and they became the parents of six children: 
Hannah, Flavia, Marcus W., Malcom, Merriman J. and Mortimer. 

Marcus W. Wilner, the father of our subject, was for twenty-five years a 
merchant in Portageville, where he was also engaged in the lumber business. 
In ISSO he married Susan A. Adams, daughter of Gayloid Adams, of Gran- 
ville, Ohio. They have had four children: Frank A., Fred ^I. , Gaylord and 
Nellie. Frank A. is now a commander in the U. S. Navy, stationed at 



36 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

New Orleans. During the recent investigation as to tlie alleged frauds in 
sieel plate he was appointed iiispector, by the Government, of all steel plate used 
in the manufacture of armor clad vessels. Gaylord is warden of the State 
Insane Asylum at Kalamazoo, Mich. Marcus \V. Wilner died January 14, 1S97. 
Fred M. Wilner married Ida E. Paul, of I'ortage, and they have one daugh- 
ter Gretta. A republican in politics, Mr. Wilner has served his town as 
road commissioner two terms and is a member of the republican central com- 
mittee. 



WILLIAM W. McMAHAN — Of the firm of McMahan Brothers, grocers of 
Moscow, N. y. , was born at that place May 6, 1874. His early education was 
obtained in the public schools after which he took a three years, course in the 
State Normal school at Geneseo. He then, in 1S94, began teaching, the first 
year in Livingston county and the second in Wyoming county. In February 
189S, he entered the Craig colony Institution at Sonyea. N. Y. , and took a two 
years, course of training as a trained nurse At the expiration of the two 
years he was appointed supervisor of nurses, which position he held until Feb- 
ruary, 1903, when he resigned and engaged in his present business at Moscow. 
The firm of McMahan Brothers, consisting ot William W. ind Walter J. Mc- 
Mahan, has met with unusual success considering the time they have been run- 
ning, but with their known reputation for uprightness and stiictest integrity 
and their admirable methods of supplying the wants of the people, the tact is 
not surprising. William McMahan is a member of the Mt. Morris Lodge of 
Masons, a conscientious Republican and a charter member of the Gamma 
Sigma Society of the Normal school of Geneseo. His father, James McMahan. 
was a native ot Ireland, coming to America as an infant with his parents, who 
located on a farm near Moscow, where he resided until his death, in 1895. His 
wife, Laura Crossett McMahan, was a daughter of Calvin Crossett, an old 
settler of Livingston county, who when a boy left his home in Massachusetts, 
crossed the Hudson river on the ice and walked the entire distance to his future 
home in Leicester. He made the journey alone, paying his way by the sale of 
essence, which he peddled en route. Laura Crossett McMahan died in 1901 at 
the age of sixty-four. 



FREDERICK E. DALEY — ^Proprietor of the New Iroquois hotel at Cale- 
donia, was born in LeRoy July IS. 1865. When he was four years of age his parents 
removed to Caledonia, locating on a farm one mile east of the village. His 
early life was spent on his father's farm and his schooling was obtaineii in the 
village of Caledonia. Upon reaching his majority he began working by the 
month for neighboring farmers and continued thus for the six years following. 
He then became clerk in a hotel at Caledonia, where he remained five years. 
In 1895 he leased the New Iroquois hotel and two years thereafter purchased 




William W. Kllllii. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 37 

the property and has since conducted it with gratifj'ing success. In 1896 he 
was married to Mary A. Reed of Caledonia. E'jgene Daley, the father of Freder- 
ick, a native of Ireland, came to America about 1845 and settled at LeRoy. 
He later removed to Caledonia and engaged in farming which he followed up 
to the time of his death in 1900. Frederick E. Daley is a valued citizen of 
Caledonia. He conducts his hotel along modern lines; the rooms are handsome- 
ly furnished and kept scrupulously clean, and the table cannot be excelled by 
any medium priced hotel. The establishment is in a flourishing condition and 
enjoys a large share of the transient trade of the place in addition to its many 
regular boarders. 



WILLIAM W. KILLIP — A Manxman by birth, has for more than fifty years 
been a prominent citizen of Geneseo, N. Y. He was born on the Isle of Man 
in June, 1S26. His father. John Killip, inherited the ancestral estates in the 
parish of Ballaugh, in the northern part of the island. He was a man of much 
influence in the parish, highly educated and the fifth John Killip to inherit 
the property. He died in April, 1844. Soon after his death William VV., the 
third son, came to the United States and was for some time employed in a 
clothing store in Rochester. In September, ISSl, he removed to Geneseo, 
where he now resides. While in Rochester he attained considerable promi- 
nence as a musician, being a tine singer and a skillful player of many musical 
instruments. For a number of years he conducted the music in St. Paul's 
church in Rochester, where in 1851 he established a choir of boys, which is 
believed to have been the intrcjduction of boy choirs in America. Upon his 
arrival in Geneseo he was put in charge of the music at St. Michael's and was 
organist and conductor of that choir for nearly forty years. In 1859 he found- 
ed a Normal music school in Geneseo, of which he became the principal. 
During the winter, when the school had no session, he conducted musical 
conventions of a high order throughout the country, which gained for him 
considerable notoriety among lovers of the art. In 1871 he was appointed by 
General Grant postmaster of Geneseo, and the same year was made manager of 
the Western Union Telegraph Company, which office he still retains. He held 
the office of postmaster until 1883. Mr. Killip has been unanimously elected 
each year since 1895 treasurer of the village of Geneseo. He has served as 
overseer of the poor continuously since 1881, and for twenty years has acted 
as special agent of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- 
mals. He has served as town assessor, village trustee and member of the 
Board of Health, and he has also been commissioner of the United States 
Deposit Fund for Livingston county. He has been treasurer of the Masonic 
Lodge of Geneseo continuously since 1889. He is a warden of the Episcopal 
church and is the financial agent of its offerings. For a number of years he 
has represented the church in the annual Diocese of Western New York and 
was elected as an alternate delegate to the General Council of the church at 



38 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Washington, D. C, a few years ago. Mr. Killip attended as alternate dele- 
gate the first national convention ever held by the republican party, which took 
place in Philadelphia in 1856. In 1902 he was appointed by Governor Odell 
as representative of Livingston county to the McKinley National Monument 
Association. In 1850 Mr. Killip married Mary Morrison, daughter of John 
Morrison, of Rochester. She died in 1888 leaving two daughters. Mary E. 
was the wife of W. K. Walker, of Lansing, Mich., and died in that city in June 
1893. Mrs. Walker was an accomplished musician and the first teacher of the 
piano forte in the Geneseu Normal school. The other daughter, Carrie J., 
is living with her father. A son, Horace Shepard, died in 1869, aged twelve. 
A daughter died in infancy in 1853. Mr. Killip, although past the allotted span 
of life, carries his years with the sturdy strength and independence which 
has been his characteristic through life; and while in a measure leading a 
retired life, he still personally attends to his varied interests and remains the 
leading spirit in musical circles in Geneseo. 



DANIEL F. RUSSELL— Of the firm of Russell and Culley. of Mount 
Morris, was born at that place January 1, 1859. When a young man he secured 
a position as clerk with the firm of Olp and Nott, hardware merchants of 
Mount Morris. In 1890, Mr. Olp, the senior member of the firm, died, and 
the business was thereafter carried on by Mr. Nott until his death in 1895, and 
in March, 1896, Messrs. Russell and Culley purchased the business, which 
consists of hardware, agricultural implements and a well equipped plumbing 
establishment. In 1898 Mr. Russell married Miss Jessie Brown, of Leicester, 
N. Y., daughter of Frank L. Brown, of that place. They have two children: 
Francis and Emerson. Mr. Russell is always a Democrat and has for a number 
of years been prominent in local politics. He has served six years, and in the 
spring of 1903 was elected to another term as village trustee. He has been col- 
lector of the town and is now serving his third term as town clerk. 



M. P. ALLEN — .\ prominent and progressive merchant of Lima, was born 
at Ionia, Michigan, in 1852. When three years of age his parents removed to 
this state and settled first in the town of Groveland, where they remained six 
years and then moved to Bloomfield. Later they came to Lima where they 
have since resided. Mr. Allen has been a hardware merchant in Lima for the 
past twenty-five years and his stock of hardware and farm implements is as 
complete as can be found in a like establishment in Livingston county. In 
1886 he was united in marriage with Miss Belle H. Scott, of Lima, and their 
family consists of three children: Willard, Howard and Raymond. A daughter 
Blanche, died in 1893, aged five years. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 39 

CYRUS H. ARMSTED — A well known citizen and property owner of Avon, 
was born in West Bloomfield, N. Y., April 27, 1835. In 1844 he came with 
his grandfather to Avon, where he attended school until 1852, when he began 
learning the harness making trade with J. T. Hall. He remained with him 
until 1859, when with Mr. Hicko.\, he purchased the harness business of Mr. 
Hall, thereafter conducting it under the name of Armsted and Hickox until 
1861, when he secured his partner's interest in the business and continued alone 
until 1880. Mr. Armsted has always been progressive and enterprising. In 1872 
realizing the necessity for a first class hotel he erected and equipped the St. 
George and conducted it together with his harness business until December 25, 
1875, when it was entirely destroyed with all its contents, entailing a loss of 
$18,000 with only $2,000 insurance. In 1876, Mr. Armsted with some financial 
assistance, built the present St. George hotel, which he rented to Smith H. 
Newman, who ran it under the name of the Newman House four years, when 
Mr. Armsted took possession and conducted it two years, since which time it has 
been run under the management of James McCracken two years, Mr. Armsted 
two years, Bronson & Harmon two years, Mr. Armsted eight years, and in 
1896 M. C. Smedley, of the White Horse Tavern secured control of the house 
which he ran until 1900, when M. O. Fisher, the present landlord, took posses- 
sion. Mr. Armsted's marriage with Catharine Kennedy, of Avon, took place 
July 4, 1857. Four children have been born to them, two of whom are now 
living: Charles H. married Miss Burnham and has two childien. He resides in 
Hornellsville, N. Y. , where he conducts a flourishing real estate business. Ber- 
tha L., married Paul D. Warren of Buffalo. They have two children. Mrs. 
Cyrus H. Armsted died in 1878. Mr. Armsted is a republican and has held at 
various times several minor public offices. 



MARTIN F. LINSLEY — A prominent farmer near Livonia Center, N. Y., 
was born in the town of Livonia, N. Y., August 5, 1842. His education was 
obtained in the district schools of the neighborhood and his early life was 
passed on his father's farm. In 1867 he was united in marriage with Fannie 
Perigo of Livonia, and they have had four children three of whom are living. 
May married John Spoor and now resides at Rondout, III. They have three 
children. Arthur, deceased, Claude married Ina Patterson and lives in Livonia, 
and DeForest is unmarried and is employed in the railroad office at Niagara 
Falls. Mr. Linsley about the time of his marriage purchased the farm on 
which he now resides of Clark Burdick. This farm was formerly the Joseph 
Linsley farm and has been in the possession of the Linsley family about one 
hundred years with the exception of the twenty-five years it was owned by Bur- 
dick. In 1879 Mr. Linsley was elected on the democratic ticket to the office of 
sheriff of Livingston county and had the distinction of being the first democrat 
elected to that office, and the last man condemned to death by hanging in this 
county was executed during his administration. Mr. Linsley has twice held 
the office of supervisor of the town of Livonia and for three years served as 



40 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Highway commissioner. Soon after the expiration of his term as sheriff Mr. 
Linsley was kicked by a horse and as a result suffered the amputation of his 
left leg, but notwithstanding this disaster he has always personally looked after 
every detail in the management of his property interests, and his farm is today 
thriving, well-kept and productive. The residence, a handsome modern build- 
ing, set in a grove of trees on the west side of the road, and the commodious 
farm buildings opposite, all situated on an eminence overlooking a wide stretch 
of fertile country make of this place a model country home. 



FREDERICK BEUERLEIN, Jr. — A prominent citizen and successful merchant 
of Mount Morris, N. Y., is a native of Prussia, Germany, having been born at 
Rheiii, February 20, 1852. In 1872 his fattier, Frederick Heuerlein, witli his 
family consisting of his wife and four children. Frederick, Jr., Barney, 
Michael and Elizabeth, sailed from Bremen on the vessel "Donan" bound lor 
America. They landed in New York after a rough and stormy voyage lasting 
two weeks and proceeded immediately to Dansville, N. Y. Mr. Beuerlein 
previous to leaving his native land was a farmer and upon arriving in Dansville 
he secured a farm where he remained the balance of his life. Frederick, Jr.. 
the eldest son, remained with his father until 1880, when he came to Mt. 
Morris and engaged as clerk for his brother Barney, with whom he remained 
eight years. He then, in 1888, opened the store he has since so successfully 
conducted. Their stock made up of groceries, and bo its and shoes, is kept in 
a clean, inviting condition and an air of thrift and prosperity permeates the 
place. In April, 1878, Mr. Beuerlein was joined in marriage with Elizabeth 
Byers, of Wayland, N. Y. , and four children have been born to t.h.eni: his 
eldest son, Barney S. was born in Dansville, Livingston county, March 28, 
1879. He attended the schools of Mount Morris and later entered his father's 
employ, with whom he has since remained. 



CHARLES N. STROBEL — A prominent merchant and postmaster of Mos- 
cow, was born in Herkimer county, N. Y. . February 2, 1855. His education 
was obtained in the district schools of the neighborhood and his early life was 
passed on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one he came to Livingston 
County and first located at Grcigsville, where he was engaged in the threshing 
machine business for about five years. He then removed to Kansas, where he 
farmed during the succeeding Hve years, after which he returned east and for 
some five or six years operated a farm in Wyoming county. In 1891 he came 
to Moscow and purchased the grocery business of John Barrett. This he con- 
ducted profitably until 1900, when the fire that destroyed the business portion 
of the village destroyed his establishment as well. He, however, immediately 
opened in new quarters with a new stock of goods and is conducting a thriving 
business. Upon becoming established in his new quarters in 1900 he received 



BIOGRAPHICAL 41 

the appointment of postmaster, which oftice he nuw holds. In 1878 he was 
united in marriage with Mary J. Barrett, a daughter oC William Barrett, an in- 
fluential farmer of Greigsville, N. Y. They have three sons, Elmer M.. Leon 
H. and William B. Mr. Strobe! has acquired his present standing in the 
business community through his own efforts entirely, with no financial assist- 
ance from any source whatever, he has through the early practice of economy 
and with zeal and perseverance steadily advanced from a state of penury to one 
of modest independence. He is a member of the Mount Morris lodge of Masons 
and a valued member of the Historical Society of Livingston county. 



FOSTER W. WALKER— Of Caledonia, N. Y.. treasurer of Livingston county, 
was born in Caledonia, June 4. 1848. His father, Andrew Walker, came to 
that place from Or<inge county in 1814, afterwards removing to LeRoy, 
Genesee county, where he died in 1884, aged ninety-four. He was a soldier 
in the war of 1812. with the rank of ensign. His father, William H. Walker, 
was born in New Hampshire and with his seven brothers joined the patriots 
at the outbreak of the Revolution and gallantly served their country in its 
struggle for independence. Of the seven brother^, James was killed at the 
siege of Fort Meigs, Peter became a colonel of militia, and Thomas a captain 
of militia. Andrew Walker married Cloey Maxwell, of Deleware county, who 
died leaving one daughter, Jane, now Mrs. Foster Watson, of Benton, N. Y. 
He again married Elizabeth Hawley, a native of Edinborough, Scotland, and 
they had nine children; Andrew, James, John, Anna. Isabel, Elizabeth, 
William, Susan and Foster. Isabel, Susan and Foster are the surviving mem- 
bers of the family. 

Foster W. Walker received his education at the LeRoy Academic Institute 
and the Oswego State Normal, graduating from the latter in 1868. He taught 
school for a number of years, both in New York and Michigan. In 1874 he 
engaged in the hardware business in Caledonia, which he disposed of four 
years later. In 1878 he was elected school commissioner of the northern dis- 
trict of Livingston county, making him the first commissioner elected in that 
district. He was re-elected in 1881. In 1885 he again embarked in the hard- 
ware business in Caledonia, which he retained until 1897. In 1890 he was 
appointed by Judge Nash to serve the unexpired term of school commissioner 
caused by the resignation of R. A. Kneeland. He was appointed county 
treasurer by Governor Morton in December, 1896, and in 1897 was elected to 
that office by a good majority and was re-elected in 1900. In 1877 he married 
Ella McVean, of Caledonia, who died in 1901 leaving one daughter, Eleanor. 
Mr. Walker is a careful custodian of the county funds, is possessed of executive 
ability, and his honesty and integrity are unquestioned. He deserves and has 
the entire confidence of the citizens of Livingston county. 



42 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

THOMAS RUSSELL —Of the town of Geneseu, was born January 29, 
1855. His early life was passed on his father's farm in Geneseo until reaching 
his majority, when he took the management of the Williamsburg farm near 
the village, owned by JIajor William A. Wadsworth, and the fact that he is 
still the manager of this large farm testifies to his ability and success as a 
practical and progressive farmer. His marriage to Marion Willard, daughter 
of Ephraim Willard, of Leicester, N. Y. , occurred March 15, 1883. His 
father. Robert Russell, had for many years been a resident of Geneseo until 
his death, which occurred in February, 1901. His widow resides on their 
farm south of the village. They have had eight children, of whom Thomas is 
the eldest, namely: Mary, wife of Charles Edgerton, of Bergen, N. Y. ; Eliza, 
died at an early age; Robert resides on the homestead with his mother, as 
does Margaret and Edward. William resides in Groveland,N .Y., and Ernnia, 
the youngest, died at the age of eighteen. 



MICHAEL E. GORE — One of the leading and progressive merchants of 
Mount Morris, N. Y. , was born at Waterloo, Seneca county, N. Y. , November 
1, 1862. When a child his parents removed to Pittsford, Monroe county where 
he attended the district schools, later graduating from the Rochester High 
school in the class of 1879. He immediately thereafter accepted a position as 
bookkeeper with the Hrm of Burke, FitzSimons, Hone & Co., of Rochester, 
which he retained until September 1888, when he purchased a stock of general 
merchandise in Mount Morris and has since demonstrated his ability, in con- 
ducting a store along modern progressive lines. In 1886 he was joined in mar- 
riage with Mary Crissy of Rochester, N. Y. 



SAMUEL BONNER — A substantial citizen of the village of Lima, was born 
in the town of Sparta. Livingston county, November 22, 1836. His grand- 
father. Samuel Bonner, came to America at an early day from Scotland or the 
north of Ireland and located on a tract of land in Sparta. This land he cleared 
and improved and ultimately converted into a productive and profitable farm 
on which he remained through life. His son, Benjamin Bonner, the father of 
our subject, was born at the homestead in 1807, He attended the district 
schools and assisted Iiis father on the farm until the death of the latter when 
he purchased the interests of the heirs and became the owner of the property. 
In 1855 he sold this place and purchased a farm one and one-half miles east of 
Lima on which he remained ten years. He ihen removed to the village where 
he lived in retirement until his deatli in 1891 at the age of eigthy-fuur. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Jane Logan, was a daughter of Edward Logan, 
of Sparta. Three children were bjrn to them: Samuel, Edward Logan, and 
Rose J. Edward Logan Bonner, the second son, was born in 1839 and was 
twenty-two years of age at the outbreak of the civil war. He enlisted in the 



BIOGRAPHICAL 43 

One Hundred and Thirtieth New York Infantry, afterwards changed to the 
First New York Dragoons, and was killed in the battle at Trevillian Station 
on June 12, 1864. Rose J., the only daughter,' was born in 1849 and lives in 
Lima. 

Samuel Bonner the elder sun, attended the schools of Sparta and the Genesee 
Wesleyan Seminary. His marriage with Cornelia T. Goodrich, daughter of 
Erastus C. and Sarah (Clark) Goodrich, took place in 1865. Mrs. Bonner died 
in 1875 leaving three sons: Edward L. , Frank C. and William S. Mr. Bonner 
took for his second wife ilary Elizabeth Peck, a daughter of Richard and 
Rebecca Peck, who were pioneers of Livingston couunty. Mrs. Bonner is a 
direct descendant of William Peck, one of the founders of the New Haven 
colony in Connecticut. Mr. Bonner has until recent years made farming his 
occupation and is the owner of three fine farms all highly productive and aggre- 
gating nearly five hundred acres. For a number of years he has resided in 
the village of Lima. Mr. Bonner cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 
1860 and has always been an ardent Republican. In 1890 and again in 1894 he 
was elected supervisor for the town of Lima, which is a strong democratic 
town. He has served as school trustee and for over thirty years has been 
school district clerk. 



JAMES D. ANDERSON — Local agent at Avon, for Belden & Company, 
the well known firm of produce dealers, was born in the town of York. Septem- 
ber 2, 1866. His schooling was obtained in the neighborhood of his home and 
bis early life was passed in York. December 4, 1892, he engaged with Belden 
& Co. as their buyer, in which capacity he remained four years, when he 
purchased an interest in the firm locally and became their agent at Avon. He 
was united in marriage October 30, 1895. with Genevieve Bogiie, a daughter 
of Rev. H. P. V. Bogue, D. D. , at that time pastor of the Central Presbyterian 
church at Avon. Dr. Bogue was pastor of that church twenty-five years and 
was chiefly instrumental in the securing of funds and the erection of the hand- 
some church edifice the Presbyterians now occupy. He married Genevieve 
Dillage, of Syracuse, X. Y. . and they had a family of five children, of whom 
Mrs. Anderson was the eldest. Dr. Bogue now resides in Alliance. Nebras- 
ka. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have five children, James Dixon, Kate Bogue, 
Genevieve Dillage, Margaret J. and Helen.' Peter Anderson, the father of 
James, is a native of Scotland and came to this country about 1855 when twenty 
years of age. He remained in New York city three years and learned the trade 
of wagon making. In 1S58 he came to York Village, Livingston county, and 
opened a wagon and carriage shop which he is still conducting. He married 
Margaret Dickson, also a native of Scotland, and six children were born to 
them. Jennie, John D. . ThomasC, William M., James D., and Margaret W., 
all of whom are now living and married. James D. Anderson has long been 
prominent in the social and political life of Avon. He is a loyal Republican 
and has for two years been a member of the county republican committee. 



44 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

He is a member of Avon Springs Lodge No. S70, F. & A. M. of which he is 
Master, and is chief of the fire department and foreman of the Hook and Lad- 
der Company. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Central 

Presbyterian church .nnd consistent wortcers therein. 



S. TKUMAX SHORT— A retired farmer residing in the village of Hem- 
lock, is a son of Josiah Short, a native of Rehtiboth, Mass., who in 1S21 at the 
age of twenty-seven, journeyed westward and located in Ontario county, where 
he purchased ninety acres of land embracing what is now the town of Rich- 
mond. He made the entire journey of five hundred miles on foot. He re- 
mained but a short time v.heii with two companions he returned on foot to his 
native town where he remained two years. During that time, in 1S23, he 
married Sarah P. Carpenter, of Rehoboth Shortly after their marriage, they 
returned with tueir earthly possessions in a covered wagon to Richmond, 
where they proceeded to clear the land and establish a home. This farm was 
sold by him in 1832 and he then purchased of Sylvester Wheeler a tract of iand 
in tlie town of Livonia n^ar what is now the village of Hemlock. It was in 
close proximity to what was then tlie thriving village of Jacksonville. A frame 
house was erected and here Mr. Short passed in comfort the remainder of his 
days. He died at the age of seventy-four years. Seven children were born 
to them, six of whom lived to maturity Josiah C, Orin L. , S. Truman, Anna 
married Dudley Reed of Richmond, N. V., Mary B., married Alvah Bullock, 
of Pawtucket, R. L, Cordelia S. died at the age of seven and Lurana N. mar- 
led Lyman Kay. 

S. Truman Short was born in Richmond. N. Y. , November 19. 1829. He 
was educated in the Hemlock district school, said to be the first school organ- 
ized in the county, and from 1849 to 1856 was engaged winters in teaching this 
school and summers assisted his father in the care of the farm. He also taught 
for <;ne year in Michigan. His matriage with Delia M. Stevens, daughter of 
Jesse Stevens, of Richmond, N. Y., occurred in 1S56. Jesse Stevens was a 
native of Massachusetts and his family was one of the earliest who settled in 
Ontario county. His father kept an inn at Honeoye Flats and the farm he 
Ott'Ued is still in the possession of the Stevens family. Mr. and Mrs, Short 
have four children: Jane C. married Ellis Stone, a farmer of Livonia. Delia 
S. married Orvell Macomber, now of Saulsbury, Md. Mary S. married Dr. F. 
A. Wicker of Livonia Village, and Ernest T. married Bernice Smith and 
resides on the homestead. In 18,56, shortly after his marriage, Mr. Short 
purchased a farm at Honeoye Lake which he sold after five years when he re- 
moved to the home farm and after his father's death purchased the interests 
of the heirs in the homestead, which consists of two hundred acres of produc- 
tive land lying north and east of Hemlock village. In politics Mr. Short is a 
loyal Republican. His first presidential vote was cast for General Wintield 
Scott in 1852, since which time he has taken an active interest in politics, local 



A I 



BIOGRAPHICAL 45 

and national. He has held for three years the office of assessor for the town 
of Livonia. 



FRANK n. GRIMES — A well known agriculturist and hop grower of the 
town of Nunda, was born in the Grimes homestead January 20, 1855. Richard 
P. Grimes, the grandfather of Frank, was a native of Green county, N. Y. 
Upon reaching his majority he came to Livingston county and settled on a 
tract of land consisting of one liundred acres in Nunda located on East Hill. 
This land he proceeded to clear and subdue and ultimately brought to a high 
state of fertility. He erected substantial buildings including a frame barn, 
the first of its kind built in that locality. He married Betsey Donaldson, also 
a native of Green county, and one son John D., was born to them. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Grimes were possessed of deep religious convictions and were charter 
members ot the Presbyterian church of Nunda. John D.Grirries, the father of 
our subject, attended the district school and being studiously inclined took up 
ji self culture and prepared himself for college. He later became a teacher in 
i the Nunda Academy, afterward resigning this position on account of deafness. 
', He then resumed work on the farm and in 1875 began the culture of hops on an 
I extensive scale at which he was very successful, having at the time of his 
i decease forty acres devoted to that product. He was a man of advanced politi- 
cal views and an ardent Republican. He very ably served his town as assessor 
and also held the office of Highway Commissioner and later that of Census 
Taker. He was joined in marriage with Sarah Hovey, daughter of Allred 
Ilovey and to them were born six children — Frank H., Grace JL who died at 
the age of three and one-half years, Scott F. , John IJ. Jr. wbn married Mar- 
guerite Walker, of Nunda, and resides in that village. Mills S. , now a Presby- 
terian minister of New Jersey, and Blanche who married Fred LeClair of Nunda. 
John D. Grimes was born October 24, 1829 and died October 27, 1893. 

Frank H. Grimes remained on the home farm and assisted his father in the 
management ol the place until the latter's death, when he succeeded to the 
property. His marriage with Lydia J. Van Buskirk of Nunda look place in 
1878 and their family consists of three children, Grace, Grant and Glenn. Mr. 
Grimes, like his father, is a staunch Republican and takes a deep and active 
interest in all matters of a public or political nature. The family are regular 
attendants ot the Methodist church ot Nunda of which both Mr. and Mrs. 
Grimes are consistent members. 



ALLEN S. EDDY — Late of the firm of King and Ivldy, hardware mer- 
chants of Moscow, was born at Scipio. Cayuga county, N. Y. , May 19, 1841. 
His education was obtained in the schocjls at Union Springs, which he attended 
during the winter months and assisted his father in the care of the farm during 
the summer months. He was united in marriage with Ada Botsford, daughter 



46 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

of Eli BotsforJ of Leicester, in 1871. and four years thereafter she died, having 
two children, Day, who died at the age of six, and Eli, who died aged three 
months. For some years Mr. Eddy owned and worked a farm in- Cayuga 
county and in 1887 sold it and purchased of A. J. King a half interest in the 
hardware business in Moscow. In politics Mr. Eddy was a Republican, a man 
of excellent financial judgment, of integrity and honor, he served his fellow 
townsmen with fidelity as town clerk for si.\ years. His death occurred Sep- 
tember 14, 1904. 



MILTON FELEY — Was born at Caledonia. October 17, 1870, and was edu- 
cated in the schools of that place. His early life was passed on the farm of 
his father, William Feley, who was born in Caledonia in 1831 and married 
Mary Cottingham, of the same place. They had five children; William, 
Stephen. Ernest, Milton and John. Mr. Feley died May 7, 1894. In June, 
1901. Milton Feley accepted the management of Congressman James W. Wads- 
worth's farm at Caledonia. This farm comprises 2,000 acres of land and Is 
known as the Street farm. Mr. Feley is a modern farmer and a successful one, 
and is well fitted for the management of this large property. 



L. W. WARFORD — -A prosperous farmer of Geneseo, was born in the War- 
ford homestead in 1845. His father. Theodore P. Warford. came to Geneseo 
about 1830 from New Jersey and for a number of years managed a large farm 
owned by James Wadsworth, but being of an enterprising, ambitious disposi- 
tion he afterwards purchased 143 acres south of the village of Geneseo, which 
he enriched and improved and afterwards beautified and made more valuable by 
erecting a fine tnodern residence and commodious barns and stables. His death 
occurred in 18.96; his wife survived him until 1903, when she also passed away. 

L. W. Warford succeeded to his father's estate on which he now resides. 
In 1874 he tnarried Harriet Begole, of Geneseo, and their family consists of 
three children: Ida, a student in the State Normal School of Geneseo, Daisy 
and Henry. 



FRED H. CROFOOT — Of the Craig Colony, Sonyea, N. Y., was born in 
LeRoy, Genesee county, N. Y., April 28, 1850. Joel Crofoot, the grandfather 
of Fred, left Connecticut, his native state, in 1816, and with his young wife 
came west and located in the town of Pavilion. Genesee county, where he pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land. The journey was performed in a 
covered wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen and occupied a period of some two or 
three weeks. They raised a family of seven children, of whom Gideon D., the 
father of Fred was the second. He was born in 1816 and remained a farmer 



BIOGRAPHICAL 47 

thruugh life. He married Louisa S. Ilaninim, a daughter of Cliester Hannuni, 
of Pavilion Center, in 1843, and four children were born to them: Fred H., 
and Frank M. now residing in the state of VVashingtiin ; William R., a 
former attorney in LeRoy, N. Y., who died Dec. 7, 1897; and Lizzie M., who 
married Ur. Edward Royce and resides in Chicago, III. Mrs. Crofoot's 
father, Chester Hannum, was a veteran of the war of 1812 and first came to 
Western New York with Sullivan in his famous raid. 

Fred H. Crofoot obtained his education in the public schools and the LeRoy 
Academy. He assisted his father in the care of the farm and later engaged in 
farming for himself, which he followed until April, 1896, when he came to 
Craig Colony. In 1874, he was joined in marriage with Miss Sarah Brown, a 
daughter of D. D. Y. Brown, of Wheatland and after fourteen years of wedded 
life Mrs. Crofoot died leaving no children. Mr. Crofoot was again married in 
1889 to Catherine McDonald, a daughter of Daniel McDonald of the town of 
York. The office of the Supervisor of the division of male patients at Craig 
Colony is a most important one and Mr. Crofoot, who has held that 
position during the past eight years, has ably demonstrated his entire fit- 
ness for the work. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity of Mt. 
Morris and of Hope Lodge, A. O. U. "iV., LeRoy, N. Y. 



A. J. KING, — A well-known and prosperous merchant of Moscow, New 
York, was born in Cayuga county, October 31, 1850. He received an education 
at the Perry academy. For a number of years after reaching his majority he 
was engaged in farming near the village of Nunda on the State road. He came 
to Moscow in 1885 and opened a hardware store which proved a profitable ven- 
ture and three years thereafter he purchased ground and erected a commodious 
structure which he has since occupied. The late A. S. Eddy, his partner, 
purchased an interest in the business in 1895, since which time the firm name 
has been King and Eddy. Mr. King has always been a staunch supporter of 
the Republican party. He has held the office of town clerk two years and has 
served as town assessor. Public spirited and progressive, Mr. King has done 
much in a quiet, unobtrusive manner towards the betterment of the town of 
Leicester and the village of Moscow. His marriage to Mary E. Botsford, 
daughter of Eli Botsford, an old Livingston county settler, occurred in 1871. 
They have one daughter, Minnie E., who married Arthur Wheelock, of Leices- 
ter. Eli Botsford married Melvina Bolton, daughter of James H. Bolton, a 
well-known and prominent politician of an early day. 



WILLIAM H. FARNUM, — The well known druggist of Avon, was born in 
Corning, N. Y. , September 12, 1862. When ten years of age his parents removed 
to Avon, where he obtained his schooling. When eighteen years of age, he 
engaged as clerk in the drug store of Dr. C. A. Briggs, of Avon, with whom 



48 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

he remained three years. lie then purchased the business of his employer and 
has since conducted a profitable trade in drugs and medicines. On September 
12, 1884, he was joined in marriage with Lillian M. Hall, daughter of Wallace 
W. Hall of Phelps, N. Y., and they have one son, William W., born in June, 
1887. Mr. Farnuni has for a number of years been prominently identified with 
the political interests of the town and has held various offices of a public 
nature. He has served three terms as village treasurer and is now serving his 
fifth year as town clerk. He has held the office of school trustee for the past 
fifteen years and was President of the Hoard of Education two terms. He is a 
valued member of the Masonic fraternity, having been a member of that order 
for fifteen years, during which time ht served two years as Master, and for the 
past twenty years has been a member of the Hook and Ladder Company of 
Avon. His father. William Warren Farnum, was a native of Massachusetts 
and when a young man came to Western New York and located at Corning. 
He engaged with the Eric railroad company as engineer and remained with them 
until the outbreak of the civil war. He served his country through the entire 
four years of the war as civil engineer. He mirried Sarah Whitcomb, daugh- 
ter of John Whitcomb, of Iowa, and six children were born to them, five of 
whom are now living: Emma died in 1902. John C. , Kate, Nellie married 
H. L. Monroe of the state of Washington and has five children. Myra married 
George Plummer. of Rochester, and William H. The father died April 16, 
1886, and Mrs. Farnuni is residing with her daughter, Mrs. Plummer, in 
Rochester. 



JOHN H. ADAMS, — A substantial agriculturist of the town of Livonia, 
residing near the village of Hemlock, is a native of Ontario, having been born 
at Richnumd, June 27, 1858. His grandfather Isaac Adams, came from Con- 
necticut, his native state, with a family by the name of Reed, for whom he 
worked, the journey being made with an ox team. Some time later he pur- 
chased a small improved farm upon which he erected a log house which was 
some years thereafter replaced by a comfortable frame house. Here he and his 
wife, formerly Lucretia Holmes, reared a family and passed the remainder of 
their days. Ten children were born to them: Cyrus. Willis, John, Lydia, 
Susan, Timothy, Lucina, Esther, Isaac, and Chester. Their son, Isaac Adams, 
after reaching his majority, purchased a farm at Springwater, where he lived 
five years and returned to Richuiond. In 1872 he came to Livonia, where he 
resided until his death January 26, 1887. He married Hannah Becker, a 
daughter of John and Laurana Becker, to whom were born two children, a 
daughter Helen and a son John H. Helen married AUlen Adams and resides in 
Livonia and she has one daughter. Ella. 

John H. Adams attended the district school of the neighborhood and later 
took d course in the State Normal school at Geneseo. He then taught school 
for three years in Livonia and Richmond. In 1883 he bought a small farm of 
seventy acres to which he added until his landed possessions now include up- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 49 

wards of two hundred and fifty acres. In 1880 he was united iu marriage with 
Miss Emma Wemett, a daughter of William and Hulda Wemett, of Livoiria. 
They have four children; Clifford, Fannie, Gladys and John. In politics Mr. 
Adams is a staunch Republican and cast his first presidential vote for James A. 
Garfield in 1880. He ably filled the office of Supervisor uf the town of Livonia 
for four years and is at all times a leading spirit and an active worker for the 
success of his party. 



WILLIAM BAYLOR, — The leading dentist in Nunda, was born in that vil- 
lage April 11, 1865. After obtaining a practical education in the public schools 
he entered the Philadelphia Dental College from which he graduated in 1885. 
He then opened a dental office at St. Augustine, Fla. , where he remained until 
1892 when he returned to Nunda. His dental career in that village has proven 
successful. His offices are equipped with the latest appliances for use in dental 
surgery and his expertness in crown and bridge work is known and appreciated. 
His marriage with Teresa Knappenburg, daughter of William Knappenburg, 
a prominent coal dealer of Nunda, occurred Sept. 30, 1896. He is a member of 
F. and A. M. Lodge No. 299, and K. O. T. M. Tent No. 252. His father 
William Baylor, Sr. , was born in New Jersey of Holland parentage. When a 
young man he came to Livingston county and located, first at Mount Morris, 
where he resided some years, then removed to Nunda and purchased the Wing 
farm, one mile east of the village. He married Sophia Olp of Mount Morris 
and to them were born eight children, five of whom are living. John resides 
in Batavia, Frank, Mrs. John Witt of Mount Morris, Mrs. C. Van Allen of 
Watkins, N. Y. and William. William Baylor, Sr., died March 20, 1872 and 
Mrs. Baylor died Sept. 29. 1883. In 1831 Daniel Olp, the father of Mrs. Baylor, 
left Mansfield, N. J., his native place and, with his family came to Livingston 
county and settled on land, previously purchased, in the town of Mount Morris. 
The journey was performed with teams. A log cabin was erected in the midst 
of the forest constructed from hewn timber, the roof covered with "shakes." 
This structure was later replaced by a comfortable frame dwelling. The forest 
was, in time, cleared and subdued and a productive and valuable farm resulted 
from the years of toil and privations experienced by these early pioneers. 



JOSEPH D. DONOHUE— Was born at Caledonia, August 23, 1858, at 
which place he also received his education. He has always been a resident 
of Caledonia and early in life became identified with its business interests. In 
1883 he formed a co-partnership with Thomas Ball and opened a grocery store 
in the building he now occupies. This firm from the start did a thriving bus- 
iness and continued until 1896 when Mr. Donohue purchased his partner's 
interest in the business and has since that time conducted it alone with excel- 
lent success. He is now the oldest established grocer in Caledonia. la 1885 he 



50 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was joined in marriage with Miss Julia Maloy of Caledonia and they have one 
son, Verne. Mr. Donohue was village trustee from 1892 to 1894 and was a mem- 
ber of the Board of Education from 1895 to 1901. He also served on the board 
of water commissioners from 1898 to 1904 and was village treasurer three years. 
He is a member of the Catholic Relief and Beneficiary Association and the 
Modern Woodmen of America. ^ 



WILLIS W. FENNO — Proprietor of Maple Beach resort at the head of 
Conesus Lake, was born in Erie county, Pa., August 17, 1853. When twelve 
years of age his parents moved to Northeast, Pa., v\'here at the Lake Shore 
Seminary he completed his education which was begun in the public schools of 
Erie county. He then became a clerk in a grocery and later in a dry goods 
store and during the ten years succeeding was employed in this capacity in dry 
goods stores of Northeast and Fredonia, N. Y. In the spring of 1881 he came 
to Genesee and shortly became identified with J. B. Oaks in the dry goods 
trade, the firm being known as Oaks and Fenno. Two years later Mr. Oaks 
having died, J. A. Newton purchased the half interest of the Oaks estate and 
the business was conducted for two years under the firm name of Fenno and 
Newton. The partnership was then dissolved and Mrs. Fenno established a 
millinery and dry goods business which soon developed into a profitable enter- 
prise. This they conducted until 1902 when Mr. Fenno secured the Maple 
Beach property. This is a wonderfully pretty place, with cool, shady walks 
and drives and a gently sloping beach that affords delightful bathing. Situated 
as it is on an eminence at the head of Conesus Lake, a view for miles may be 
obtained along both shores of this lake justly celebrated as the fisherman's 
Mecca. The hotel accommodations under Mr. Fenno's management are of the 
best and families of wealth and refinement from all parts of the country are 
included in his quota of summer visitors. 



TRUMAN LEWIS STONE. — In a history of pioneer settlement of Living- 
ston county and Western New York, as this is intended to be, there is very 
little to say of the present generation that is of interest. 

Mr. Stone is a descendant of a long line of pioneers. His ancestors, both 
paternal and maternal, bore a conspicuous part, and close connection with the 
growth and prosperity of this region; their biographies alone, if followed 
closely in all their relations to our local region, would be almost a history of 
the Genesee country. The Stone family came from Kent and Surrey counties, 
England, to Guilford, Conn., in 1639. The English ancestor was the Rev. 
Samuel Stone, of Ockley, England. He was a nonconformist divine, and, for 
good reasons, could not leave England himself, advised his sons John and 
William to emigrate to the New England across the seas where they could escape 




George B. Adams. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 51 

Lauds persecutions and worship according to the dictates of their own con- 
science. 

These two brothers joined the Rev. Henry Whitfield's Colony and sailed for 
America, landing at New Haven in June, 1639, their ships being the first to 
drop anchor in that harbor. In September, of the same year, the Colony pur- 
chased a "plantation" of the Indians, including what is now Guilford and 
Madison, Conn. Here, five generations of the family lived and died. 

Russell, the fifth descendant of John, the emigrant, soon after the Revolu- 
tionary war, and about one hundred and fifty years after the landing of the 
Colony at New Haven, moved with his family to Hancock, Berkshire county, 
Mass., where Reuben Stone, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
born, and in 1790-91, removed to Greenville, Green county, N. Y., where he 
(Russell) died in 1801. 

Reuben, with his brother, Joel Stone, came to Livonia, Livingston county, 
in the winter of 1809-10, where he settled on lut number 39. This land was 
owned by the Pulteney estate and was left by Sir William Pulteney to his daugh- 
ter, Henrietta Laura Pulteney. She died in July, 1808, leaving a cousin. Sir 
John Lowther Johnson, her sole heir, who also died in 1811. He had made a 
will, willing all his real estate in America in trust to Ernest Augustus, Duke 
of Cumberland, Charles Herbert Pierpont, David Cathcart and Masterton Ure, 
as trustees, for the two sons of George Frederick Johnstone, the heirs being 
twins and both born after the death of their father. Joseph Fellows was a sub- 
agent of the Pulteney estate in 1810, and later, the successor of Col. Troupe. 
Owing to the chaotic condition of the ownership of these lands and the prospect 
being very poor of procuring a title, Reuben, in the fall of 1813, decided to go 
on further into the Genesee country and let another brother, Orin, who had 
come on from Greenville with their mother, Lois Stone, have his claim to this 
land. The records show that the farm was deeded to Orin Stone on November 
13, 1813, by Joseph Fellows, as attorney for the aforesaid parties, Ernest 
Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, &c. The deed was recorded December 6, 
1813, in Liber 20 of Deeds, page 53. Ontario county; the consideration named 
was $450.00. Tin's is the farm on which the Retsof salt mine is located, south 
of Livonia. 

Reuben moved to Orangeville, Wyoming (then Genesee) county, in Septem- 
ber, 1813, and settled on lot number 28 of land owned by the Holland Land 
Company; he was one of the early settlers, being a leader in the organization 
of the town, the placing of public roads, locating schools and organization 
of the first Presbyterian chuich in the town of which he, afterwards, became a 
useful member. 

He was one of the earliest dairymen on the Holland purchase, selling home 
manufactured cheese in eastern markets as early as 1823. 

He held numerous public offices, the duties of which he always discharged 
with ability; his manner was pleasant and agreeable; he spent his entire life 
and declining years on the large tract of land taken up by him; he was a true 
type of the old Puritan stock, from which became, honest, industrious, upright 
man whose whole life is a worthy example. 



52 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Here, on this farm, he raiseil a large family, among whom was Harvey, born 
February 14, 1818, the father of the subject of this sketch. He married Miss 
Eliza Lewis, February 20, 1840, who was born February 20, 1820, on the farm 
adjoining. She was a daughter of the Hon. Truman Lewis and Lucy (Porter) 
Lewis. 

Truman Lewis was born November 5, 1784, at Newhartford, Conn., and died 
at Warsaw, N. Y., September IS, 1865. He married Lucy Porter, October 3, 
1811, who was born March 6, 1795; she was the daughter of Seth and Sarah 
(Cowles) Porter and a grand-daughter of Capt. John Porter, of Revolutionary 
fame. Truman left his father's house at Vernon, N. Y., in the spring of 1807 
and made his way on foot much of the way through a wilderness to Orange- 
ville, Wyoming (then Genesee) county, where he bought a tract of land of the 
Holland Land Company, in what was tlKjn an unbroken forest. Here, he and 
his wife literally hewed out. for themselves and their children, a home; he was 
a member of the Presbyterian church; in the War of 1812, he was in active 
service, holding a commission as ensign from Governor Daniel D. Tompkins. 
His grandson, Mr. George A. Lewis, of Warsaw, N. Y. , now has the parchment; 
he held many important offices, representing Genesee county in the Legislature 
in the years 1834-35, and was the first treasurer of Wyoming county. 

For a great many years, he was the agent for Wyoming county of the Farm- 
ers Loan & Trust company of New York, and of the trustees under the will of 
James Lloyd deceased, of Boston, Mass. These parties were the successors of 
the old Holland Land Company, and held a large number of mortgages and 
owned a great number of farms in that part of Wyoming county included in the 
Holland Land Company's purchase. This business entrusted to him was, 
therefore, one of great magnitude; he so discharged his duties, however, as to 
both merit and receive the most gratifying commendation of the companies he 
represented and the thanks and confidence of all persons occupying these lands, 
and liable to pay these mortgages, who everywhere expressed their gratitude 
for his kindness and forbearance and their perfect faith in his integrity and 
justice. 

He was a man of great executive ability, of eminent good judgment and of 
the strictest integrity; he was also a genial, companionable man, possessing an 
inexhaustible fund of anecdotes with which he often entertained his friends. 
He was a son of Oliver Lewis, Jr.. of Farmington, Conn., a grandson of Oliver 
Lewis, a great grandson of Nathaniel Lewis, of Farmington, Conn., a great, 
great grandson of Nathaniel Lewis of Farmington, who was a son of William 
Jr., who was born in England and came to America with his father. William 
in the ship "Lion" landing in Boston, September 16, 1632. William, the 
emigrant, was a member of the Braintree Company, which located at Cam- 
bridge, Mass. He moved to Hartford, Conn, in 1636, being one of the early 
settlers. He moved from there to Hadley, Mass., in 1659; he again moved to 
Farmington, Conn., in 1677 where he died August 2, 1683. 

Harvey Stone. Esq., purchased a large farm in the township of Orangeville 
soon after his marriage; subsequently, he purchased more land and erected fine 
buildings; he lived on a portion of this land, in comfort, all his lite. He held 



BIOGRAPHICAL 53 

the office of Justice of Sessions for the county for twelve yeais, and was a Jus- 
tice of the Peace for more than twenty years; he traveled all over that region, 
trying lawsuits and settling disputes of citizens. The late Judge, Andrew J. 
Lorish in a letter says: 

"He presided in, and run his own court, and no party in a suit before him 
failed to receive justice; no matter who his lawyer was, impartial justice was 
always dealt out to suitors; he was remarkable along that line: he could grasp 
the question in dispute and readily see what justice required and was fearless 
in administering it. He never permitted technicalities to stand in the way, 
and, in a great many matters of dispute between his neighbors, he sat as a medi- 
ator and peacemaker. The same independence and fearlessness that character- 
ized his official acts was seen in his political life. He was always ready, when 
disagreeing with political associates, to give a reason for the faith that was in 
him. His commanding presence and personal address, with an inexhaustible 
fund of good humor and agreeable conversational powers, made him a welcome 
party in any gathering. Everybody conceded conscientiousness and honesty to 
the acts of Harvey Stone, whether personal, judicial or political." 

He was a man of sterling virtue, remarkable uprightness of character, pos- 
sessing a great dislike for anything petty or mean; he was ever ready to oblige 
when it could be done without sacrifice of principle, but would not give up his 
own personal opinions. He attended and supported the Presbyterian church; 
his education was obtained in the pioneer log school-house, and constant con- 
tact through a long life with the best educated men of his locality, good books 
and a keen observation of occurrences. 

At the time of his birth, the struggles of his parents for a comfortable home 
were by no means ended. When we remember also that he was seven years old 
when DeWitt Clinton made his memorable journey from Albany to Buffalo on 
the Erie canal; that he was twelve years old when the first short railroad was 
built in this country, and that he was twenty-seven years old when Morse first 
exhibited to the world the wonders of the telegraph, we can easily understand 
that, in his younger days, his environment was unfavorable to a liberal educa- 
tion. He was, however, a great reader, keeping constantly abreast of the 
times in current literature and the general news of the day. 

While the names of such men are not always written in flaming characters on 
historic pages, it is nevertheless true that, in more respects than one, their 
lives are heroic. When we recall their limitations and remember their interest 
in others, and their labors freely given for others, as well as their successful 
struggles against every obstacle standing between them and their hope, we may 
well apply to their lives these words of Wordsworth; — 

"Life, I repeat, is energy ot love. 

Divine, or human ; exercised in pain, , 

In strife, and tribulation ; and ordained 

If so approved and r;anctified, to pass 
Through shades and silent rest, to endless joy." 



54 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Harvey and Eliza (Lewis) Stone had three children: Morris L. Stone who 
now lives in Wamego, Kansas. Mrs. Geo. h. Parker who lives in Buffalo, and 
Truman Lewis Stone, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Orangeville, 
Wyoming county, July 1, 1853. He married Miss Helen A. Lewis, a daughter 
of Oliver and Kliza (Preston) Lewis, of Cattaraugus county, N. Y. He has 
held numerous public positions, and has worked continuously for the past nine- 
teen years, for the public, now holding position of steward of the Craig Colony 
for the care and treatment of epileptics at Sonyea, Livingston county, N. Y., 
an account of which is given in this history. 

Now, when that little company of nonconformists in Surrey and Kent coun- 
ties, England, with Elder Henry Whitfield at their head, having lost all but 
conscience and honor, took their lives in their hands and fled to America, seek- 
ing nothing but freedom, to worship God in their own way, crossing the 
Atlantic in the crazy little barks that bore at the peak the cross of St. George, 
the sole emblem of their country and their hopes, leaving home and dear 
friends behind when they knew not where to lay their heads — 

"They little thought how clear a light 

With year:^ should gather round that day. 
How love should keep their memories bright, 

How wide a realm their sons should sway." 

We honor them for their courage, for their virtue, for their self denial, for 
their hard work, for their common sense, for their sense of duty, for their fear of 
God, fur their sense of desire for liberty. In common with all those genera- 
tions through which we trace our lineage, to their hardy stock, we owe a great 
share to all that we have achieved, and all that we enjoy of strength, of free- 
dom and of prosperity, and so long as people continue to love truth, duty, 
liberty and justice, they will never tire of hearing the praises of the Pilgrims, 
the Puritans and Pioneers, or of heaping fresh flowers upon their graves. 



AUSTIN W. WHEELOCK, — Late of the town of Leicester, was born in 
Leicester, N. Y., May 8, 1827. Ralph Wheelock born in 1600 A. D., and a 
native of Shropshire, England educated at Clare Hall Cambridge, taking his 
degree of A. M. in 1631, came to America in 1637 and settled in the town of Med- 
field, Norfolk county in southeastern Massachusetts, on the Charles river. 
Goodman Wheelock, as he was then called became a member of the first town 
board of Selectmen. He died in 1683 leaving a family of nine children. Rev. 
Eleazer Wheelock, D. D. one of Ralph's great grandchildren, a Congregational 
clergyman, was born in Windham, Conn., and died in 1779. Dr. Wheelock is 
celebrated as the founder and first president of Dartmouth college in Hanover, 
N. H., established for the benefit of the Indians. Ralph Wheelock's son Ben- 
jamin was born in Medfield in 1640, married Elizabeth Bull and reared five chil- 
dren. Of these five, Benjamin Jr., was born in the same town in 1678 and 
December 9, 1700, married Huldah Thayer and they had four children. Of 



BIOGRAPHICAL 55 

the four Silas was born in 1718 and had eight children, one of whom was Simeon 
who was born in Medfield, March 18, 1741. He served as first lieutenant in a 
company of Minute Men in the battle of Lexington. He died in 1786 from 
injuries and exposure in the putting down of Shay's rebellion. He married 
his cousin, Deborah Thayer, of Mendon, who bore him eight children. His 
son, Royal Wheelock, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1766. He married 
Lydia Taft and in 1794 with his wife and two children came to New York state 
and settled in Ontario county. A blacksmith by trade, he erected a shop as 
well as a log house, in what is now the town of West Bloomfield, on a tract of 
heavily timbered land which he purchased from the Government. Nine chil- 
dren were born to them. His wife died January 13, 1847, and his death 
occurred November 24, 1856. His son, Harry was two years old when the 
family removed from Uxbridge, where he was born October 20, 1792. He 
served in the war of 1812 and afterward assisted his father in farm work until 
1819 when he came to Livingston county and purchased a tract of land in the 
town of Leicester, whereon a log house was the only improvement. He then 
returned to Ontario county and married Judith Gillett. They took up their 
residence in the log house and here was born May 8, 1827 Austin W. Wheelock 
our subject. A commodious frame house later took the place of the log cabin 
and here Harry Wheelock resided until his death June 13, 1873. His marriage 
with Judith Gillett took place in 1819. She was born in Ly.nie, Conn., Feb- 
ruary 4, 1797, and died January 28, 1867. They reared four children, Charles 
A., Austin W., Martha-M., and Ira T. 

Austin W. Wheelock attended the district school and the Temple Hill and 
Lima Seminaries. November 10, 1853, he married Mary Lovicy Francis, a 
daughter of Harley and Lois Francis, of York, Livingston county. To them 
were born eight children. Helen G., born September 3, 1855, married Newton 
H. Crosby of Moscow, N. Y. Mary P., born December 12, 1857, married Frank 
Tolman, of New Paynesville, Minn. Ruth L, born March 3, 1860, died at the 
age of two years. Harry H., born September 28, 1862, married Katherine 
Hayes Waugh of Chicago and resides in Fargo, N. Dak. George Francis, born 
November 29, 1864, married Harriet Tyler Young, of Jewett City, Conn., and 
has three children, Louise Young, Austin W. , and Harriet Tyler. Alice M., 
born January 30, 1868 married Albert G. Whitney of St. Cloud Minn. Charles 
Austin born November IS, 1871 married Grace Ball and lives in Fargo, N. D., 
and Martha Lucille born February 20, 1879. 

Mr. Austin Wheelock has always been'a man of affairs, energetic and enter- 
prising and possessed of keen business judgment. He has made the most of 
his surroundings and so conducted his business affairs that his farm annually 
yielded a handsome income and his other enterprises almost invariably proved 
successful. In politics a Republican, he served as Supervisor of the town of 
Leicester two terms. In 1900 he was appointed by Gov. Roosevelt as a trustee 
of theN. Y. State School for the Blind at Batavia in which he took great interest 
and was rarely absent from the meetings of the board. In 1858 he united with 
the Moscow Presbyterian church and was ever a regular attendant and generous 
supporter. For many years he was one of its active trustees and for eight or 



56 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

ten years a most devoted and efficient superintendent of the Sunday school. 
He has been an extensive dealer in apples which he shipped in quantities to 
the eastern markets. For some years previous to his death Mr. Wheelock had 
been in ill health and the past year or two had been spent in travel in the 
western states but without avail and his death occurred April 18, 1904. During 
the past six or eight years the farm has been under the management of his son, 
George F. Wheelock, who raises annually large quantities of produce for ship- 
ment, as well as fruits and vegetables. 



ADELBERT L. THOMSON,— A well known farmer and extensive fruit 
grower of the town of Avon, was born in the Thomson homestead. December 
26, 1841. His paternal great grandfather, Daniel Thomson, a veteran of the 
Revolutionary army, was for many years a resident of HoUiston, Mass., where 
he was engaged in farming. At the outbreak of the war for independence he 
gave up farming and all other interests and enlisted as a Patriot soldier under 
that immortal hero, George Washington. He took part in the Battle of Bunk- 
er Hill, and the powder horn and copper bullet mould that he always carried 
are among the highly prized possessions of our subject. The bullet mould will 
run nine balls, ranging in weight from one half ounce to one ounce. He spent 
his last days in Peru, Mass., where his son Simeon was born and reared. 
Simeon Thomson spent his entire life at Peru. Mass., a farmer by occupation 
he owned and conducted the stage line between Pittsfield, Mass., and Albany 
before the days of steam. He marrried Sybilla Leiard, who was born in 
Holliston, Mass., and was a daughter of Daniel and Sybilla (Eames) Leiand. 
a member of the family whose descendant, Sherman Leiand. afterward became 
noted as the publisher of Leiand's Magazine. Leiand S. Thomson, the father 
of Adelbert L., and a son of Simeon and Sybilla Thomson, was born in Peru, 
where he remained until fourteen years of age, his father having died when he 
was five years of age. ^He then came west by stage to Livingston county and 
made his home with his elder brother at East Avon, N. Y. Some years later 
he returned to his native place to visit friends and while journeying back to 
Avon secured a ride on the first train of cars ever run in America with steam 
as the motive power. This line was between Albany and Schenectady. He 
married and resided for a time in Monroe county, later purchasing a farm of 
James Wadsworth in East Avon and for a number of years resided in a log 
house. His wife's maiden name was Mary Wither, a daughter of Jephthe and 
Catherine (Cookingham) Wilber. Two children were born to them, Merrill 
and Adelbert L. Merrill is a resident of Eaton county, Michigan. Mrs. 
Mary Wilber Thomson departed this life December 25, 1890. She was a mem- 
ber of the First Presbyterian church of East Avon. Leiand S. Thomson sur- 
vived her nearly eight years, his death occurring August 12. 1900. Adelbert 
Leiand Thomson received his education in the district school and the Genesee 
Wesleyan Seminary. He was joined in marriage with Adelaide Stover, of 
Point Pleasant, Bucks county. Pa., in May, 1880. They have been blessed 



BIOGRAPHICAL 57 

with four children: Mary. Ella, Leland S. and Adelbert. Mary married 
Judge Clyde C. Raynier, of Elkhart. Ind. The ceremony took place Decem- 
ber 31. 1903, in accordance with the old Scotch custom of selecting the last day 
of the year for the wedding nuptials. Judge Raynier. a graduate of the law 
school of Indianapolis, is now the City Judge of Klkhart, having been elected 
to that office when twenty-six years of age. Mr. Thomson has always been a 
farmer, not a plodding easygoing farmer, but a man of enterprise and thrift. 
He now owns two farms, the homestead consisting ot one hundred and sixty- 
five acres and the Jeptha Wilber farm of one hundred and ninety acres on which 
he now resides. Both of these farms are highly productive and yield a hand- 
some revenue. He has for many years been an extensive grower of fruit, an 
occupation he has found both congenial and profitable; and his home farm con- 
tains an English walnut orchard of twelve acres from which a valuable yield is 
expected annually. The house and farm buildings are pleasantly situated on 
an eminence in a grove of maples, the former a substantial frame building of 
modern architecture is heated and lighted throughout with gas piped from a 
well recently located on the tarm. This well is the largest and mo'st prodv:c- 
tive of any in the town. The residence is also supplied with both the long dis- 
tance and the Interocean telephones, has free mail delivery daily, and as a model 
rural home lacks only the convenience of [an electric road. Such a road has 
been projected and surveyed from Rochester to Elmira to pass through this 
farm and there is every prospect of its early completion. 



JAMES H. MORTON, — Proprietor of the Morton House, at Hemlock, N.Y., 
was born in the town of Lima, May, 11, 1856. When a boy his parents removed 
to Hemlock, where he received his education. For a number of years he fol- 
lowed farming and threshing. In 1891 he purchased the Cora B. , a steamboat 
on Hemlock Lake, which he ran for two years when it burned and he built the 
J. B. Thurston, whicli he ran until the city of Rochester took possession of the 
lake and purchased the boat. In 1901 he built the Morton House at Hemlock 
village which he is now conducting. Mr. Morton was united in marriage with 
Lena Bayles, a daughter of Edwin Bayles, a prominent farmer of Conesus. 
They have one son, James H., Jr. Mr. Morton is a member of Eagle Lodge 
No. 619, F. & A. M., of Honeoye. 



H. ROSS McKAY, — A successful dealer in beans and produce in the village 
of Caledonia, was born in the McKay homestead November 17, 1866. John 
McKay, the grandfather of Ross, settled in Caledonia in 1803, coming from 
Pennsylvania. He purchased of the Pulleney estate a tract of land that now lies 
mostly in the village, on which he erected buildings and established a home. 
He also built a grist mill, which he conducted in connection with farming. 
For many years this was the only mill in this section of the country and was 



58 HISTORY OF LIVIXCiSTON COUNTY 

liberally patronized. He married Louena Smith, a member of a pioneer family 
in Caledonia, and to them were born eleven children, of whom John. Jr., the 
father of our subject, was the eighth. Upon the death of his father, John Jr., 
succeeded to the mill property and conducted it until his death in 1876. He 
married Mary Shannon and seven children were born to them: John, George 
married Katherine Smith, Jennie married Dr. W. G. Brownell of Rochester, 
Edward, H. Ross, Allen married Annie Ripley, and Sarah married Rev. James 
Sankey of Kingston, N. Y. In 1902 H. Ross and his brother George McKay 
erected a bean warehouse on their property and began dealing in that commo- 
dity. This enterprise has proved a successful one and they now have con- 
stantly employed from fifteen to twenty hands. In politics, Mr. McKay is a 
loyal Democrat and has held various offices within the gift of the people, all of 
which he has filled in an able manner. For six years he has served as village 
trustee and is now president of the village, to which office he was elected by a 
handsome majority in 1902. He is a valued member of the Maccabees, the Red 
Men and the Mystic Circle. 



REV. JOSIAH EDWARDS KITTREDGE, D. D.,— Pastor of the Presby- 
terian church of Geneseo, N. Y. is descended from a long line of worthy ances- 
tors, who have added lustre to the history of New England. According to the 
early traditions of the family, John Kittredge, a shipmaster, came to America 
from Suffolk County, England, and received in 1660 a grant of land in old Bill- 
erica, Massachusetts. He married Mary Littlefield. A son John, was born in 
1666. The next in line was Solomon Kittredge. who lived, first in Tewksbury, 
Massachusetts, and afterwards at Mount Vernon, New Hampshire. His wife 
was Tabitha Ingalls. Their son Josiah, married Mary Baker, and there was 
born to them a son also named Josiah. The last became in his day a promi- 
nent physician and surgeon, and served as president of the New Hampshire 
State Medical Society. He practiced medicine from 1817 to 1833 in Pembroke, 
N. H., from 1833 to 1838 in Boston, Mass., then for a year was located at Con- 
cord, N. H., and for the seventeen following years at Nashua, N. H. He 
resided four years in South Hadley, Mass., and eight years in Mont Clair, N. J. 
In 1869 he made his home with his son in Glastonbury, Conn., where he died 
in 1872. 

His son, the Rev. Josiah E. Kittredge was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
on the 12th day of October, 1836. He was the youngest in a family of four 
children, two daughters and two sons, the brother. Dr. Charles S. Kittredge, 
a physician still living and practicing his profession at Berkely, California. 
His preparatory studies were pursued Ht Kimball Union Academy. Meriden, 
New Hampshire and at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. In 1860 
he was graduated from Yale College in the same class with Professor O. C. 
Marsh of Yale. Judge Marcus P. Knowlton of Massachusetts, the Rev. Dr. 
Charles H. Richards of Philadelphia, the late Hon. William W. Phelps and 
others equally eminent in their several professions. After teaching for a year 



BIOGRAPHICAL 59 

as principal of a classical school for boys, at Mont Clair, New Jersey, he com- 
menced the study of theology, spending a year in the Union Seminary in New 
York city, and two years at Andover Massachusetts, where he was graduated in 
1864. A third year he remained at Andover as a resident licentiate. He 
visited Europe in 1866 for the purpose of regaining his health. Two years he 
traveled and studied. His tour through Egypt and Palestine laid the founda- 
tion of those archaeological studies, in which he has since taken so deep an 
interest. Language and philosophy occupied him for a year in Paris and Hci- 
delburg. He returned to his native land in 1868. and settled at Glastonbury, 
Connecticut, as pastor of the Congregational Church of that place. His pastor- 
ate continued nearly five years. In 1871 he married Miss Emma McNair, 
daughter of Robert and Amelia (Warner) McNair of "Elmwood," Groveland. 
Four children constitute their family. Robert Josiah, Charles Firenze, William 
McNair and Mary Emma Kittredge. The first named is a graduate of Cornell 
class of '96 and is instructor in mathematics and physics in Schenectady. The 
second is also a Cornell graduate, class of '97, and of Auburn Theological sem- 
inary class of 1900. and is now pastor of the Presbyterian church in Knoxboro, 
N. Y. The third, a graduate of Williams College. 1901, is at present a stu- 
dent in Ambrose Theological Seminary. The daughter is a graduate from the 
Geneseo State Normal School and is now a student in Mount Holyoke College. 
On the 18th of April 1877, Dr. Kittredge became pistor of one of the two 
Presbyterian churches at Geneseo. The old church had become divided in 
1858 on the old and the new school lines and two churches were formed. In 
1880. after a separation of twenty one years, they were united under the pastor- 
ate of iJr. Kittredge, and a beautiful new building of brick, with stone trim- 
mings, was erected at a cost of $40,000 in 1881. Dr. Kittredge has travelled 
much in the old world and is very familiar with Palestine and the lands of the 
east. In July. 1873, he went for the second time to Europe remaining three 
years, having charge of the American Cha[iel in Berlin, the winter of 1873-4, 
and for two years was the pastor of the American Union Church in Florence, 
Italy. On his first visit in 1866 he organized the first Sabbath School in con- 
nection with the American Chapel in Paris. The second visit to Rome in 
1874 was a sharp contrast to that of 1866. On this visit he was able to preach 
the gospel in that city freely and unmolested, a far different experience from 
that which was his in the earlier year. He returned to the United States in 
1876. A vacation excursion for seventy days in the summer of 1896. conducting 
a pleasant party of sixteen friends, gave him his latest vision of the scenes of 
the Old World. His familiarity with Bible lands and his intellectual industry 
has resulted in his becoming an enthusiastic student of Biblical archaeology, 
and it is stated that his collection of papers, etc, relating to researches in 
Egypt and the East is among the finest in any private library in Western New 
York. He is a member of the London Society of Biblical Archeology, is an 
associate of the Victoria Institute, and is local secretary of the Egyptian Ex- 
ploration Fund. He has published a "Year Book of Sermon and Golden 
Texts" for young people, and is now at work upon a memorial volume of Rev. 
Dr. James Marshall, late president of Coe College. Iowa, soon to be issued. 



60 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

He has delivered many lectures and addresses. In this country he is secretary 
of the Chautauqua Archaelogical Department, and at the time of its inception 
delivered an address called "Biblical History, in the Light of Modern Re- 
searcii. " This effort was pronounced by Amelia B. Edwards, in her Review 
in the London Academy, to be in "Breadth, brilliancy, accuracy, and incisive 
brevity," on a par with the lectures of M. Alexander Bertrand, the French 
Archaeologist. His library numbers about 2.500 volumes, containing books on 
archaeology, biography, history and literary topics. 



NORMAN C. ARNOLD— In the year 1635, un May 1st, William Arnold left 
his home in Leamington, England, and sailed for America, arriving at Boston, 
Mass., June 24, 1635. He was accon)panied by his wife, Christiana Peak, and 
four children, Elizabeth, Benedict, Joanna, and Stephen. A half-brother of 
William named Thomas also came with the family and settled in Watertown, 
Mass., where he remained until 1650. William Arnold removed to Providence, 
R. I., April 30, 1636, and with his friend Roger Williams, settled on the banks 
of the Pawtucket River. He was one of the fifty-four original proprietors and 
a one-third owner in the first purchase. William Arnold was credited as being 
the defender of Soul Liberty and his son, Benedict Arnold, afterward first gov- 
ernor of the colony under King Charles, drew up and was one of the signers of 
the first public paper declaring the separation of church and state. Benedict 
Arnold moved to Newport in 1653, succeeded Roger Williams as President of 
the Colony and later under the second charter served several terms as Governor. 
In 1676, he erected the celebrated "stone mill'' at Newport which is still 
standing. Stephen, the son of William Arnold, married Sarah Smith and 
had seven children. Israel, the son of Stephen, married Mary Smith and had 
nine children. Their son Elisha married Harriet Carpenter who bore him ten 
children. Elisha's son James married Freelove Burlingame and seventeen 
children were born to them. George, the son of James, was born October 12, 
1754. married Mary Hopkins, and reared thirteen children. Mary Hopkins 
was a direct descendant-oi_Sitipl>e»I4opkTns.+me_of tjie signers-^f- the Declafft- 
Dion of Independence. George Arnold, the grandfather of Norman C, was a 
patriot soldier in the Revolutionary army and for services rendered as a soldier 
was granted a tract of land now included within the limits of the town of Ven- 
ice, Cayuga county, N. Y. They settled on a farm in Rhode Island eight miles 
from Providence on the Pawtucket river, where they remained nineteen years. 
In 1800 he removed to Stephentown, Rensselaer county. N. Y., where he pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land and reniained thereon until 
his death March 22. 1829. His wife Mary died April 15, 1803. They reared 
to maturity a family of fourteen children, six sons and eight daughters. 
Joseph Hopkins Arnold, their fifth son, was born February 17, 1789, in Rhode 
Island. In 1811 he and his brother Benjamin and wife journeyed westward 
and settled on eighty acres in Cayuga county deeded to them by their father. 
They afterward added to their landed possessions until they owned upwards of 



BIOGRAPHICAL 6] 

three hundred acres of land. Following a call for volunteers in 1812 Joseph 
Arnold was the first to enlist from the region south of Aiihurn, and the same 
summer Benjamin was drafted and sent to Fort Erie. Joseph was stationed at 
Lewiston under the command of General Van Rensselaer. On October 13 
an attack was ordered on Queenstown and about one thousand men crossed the 
river on flat boats. John Boles and Joseph Arnold were the only ones able to 
make a landing from the boat they were on and Joseph received two wounds. 
In the charge made by the British Joseph was shot in the body and taken pris- 
oner. Tlie British surgeon who dressed his wounds, being a brother Mason, 
succeeded in effecting his release and he shortly thereafter made the journey 
to his home on horseback. Mr. Norman C. Arnold has in his possession the 
two ounce-balls that wounded his father in this battle and which were the ulti- 
mate cause of his death while a comparatively young man, on September 16, 
1834. His wife, Susanna Gardner, survived him until May 11, 1882. She was a 
descendant of the Gardners. who came to America with the Arnolds in 163S. Of 
their family of ten children, Norman C. Arnold was the youngest. He was born 
April 23, 1832. He married Mary E. Bills November 19, 1857, ai;d two children 
were born to them. Their first born a daughter, died in infancy. Hattie V. born 
February 28, 1860, died December 29, 1860. Mrs. Arnold was born September 25, 
1837, and died Novembers, 188S. Mr. Arnold took for his second wife Carrie F. 
Noble, a daughter of the late Dr. W. H. Noble, of Mount Morris. She was 
born February 25, 1845 and died December 3, 1902. He was again married on 
October 19, 1903, to Mary M. Harrison. Mr. Arnold during the earlier years 
of his life was actively engaged in farming. When seventeen years of age he 
took the management of the home farm and a few years later he and his brother 
Simon purchased the homestead and for a number of years carried it on in 
partnership. In December, 1S62, Mr. Arnold received the appointment of 
Deputy Revenue Collector for the South District of Cayuga county. In 
1871 he was engaged as agent for the New York, Oswego and Midland Railroad 
in securing the right of way and purchasing material for the construction of 
the road. During the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 Mr. 
Arnold had charge of the exhibits of the Auburn Manufacturing Company and 
the Empire Wringer Company. The following winter he went to Kansas and 
engaged in the sale of the Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad Company's lands and 
for a nuinber of years thereafter conducted excursions from the east to Kansas, 
which resulted in many hundreds of families securing homesteads in that state. 
He came to Mount Morris in 1877 and has since made that place his ho;ne. 
The above article includes but a brief sketch of Mr. Arnold's ancestry, which 
dates in a direct line through some of America's mcst prominent men of the 
pre-Revolutionary period to nionarchs of the Old World, and on in a well 
authenticated line to Adam and Eve, the progenitors of the human race. A 
copy of the original family record which was brought to this country by 
William Arnold in 1635, dating back to the year 1100, is one of Mr. Arnold's 
most highly prized possessions. 



62 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

THE WOODWORTH FAMILY— Probably no family in the lower part of 
Livingston county are better known or more highly respected than the Wood- 
worth family of Nunda village. Charles R. Woodworth, the father came to 
Nunda in 1849 from Georgetown, Madison county, where he was horn February 
3,1831. His brother, James R., accompanied him and together they established 
a blacksmith business in the eastern portion of the village. Expert tool mak- 
ers, they early acquired a reputation for manufacturing cutlery of the finest 
quality, and while their work was done entirely without the use of machinery 
their skilltulness enabled them to give to their work a finished appearance 
which with the e.xtra quality of tempered steel that they always used created a 
lasting demand for their output. They continued in the manufacture of cut- 
lery until 1863, when Charles joined the Union army and took up arms in de- 
fence of his country. He was attached to the S2d New York Infantry. After 
a service of one year and a day, and while at Spottsylvania during the battle 
of the Wilderness, he suffered the loss of his left hand which was shot off by 
a Minnie ball. He then returned home and shortly thereafter removed to 
Pitcher, N. Y., where he resided ten years, then returned to Nunda in 1878 
and again began the manufacture of cutlery, this time in the basement of 
what is now the casket works. He continued in the business until 1886, when 
his son Frederick E., who had learned the art of knife making under the able 
tuition of his father, purchased the establishment and has since conducted it.* 

Frederick E. Woodworth was born in Nunda, December 17, 1861. His educa- 
tion was obtained in the public schools of the village. Having early shown 
an aptitude for the business in which his father was engaged, he grew up under 
his training to a knowledge of the work which enabled him later to successfully 
manage the business. Shortly after his purchase of the concern he secured 
ground and erected a building in the eastern part of the village which he 
occupied some two years when the rapidly incre^ising volume of business neces- 
sitated the building of the present commodious structure. This building is 
installed with the latest machinery and equipment for the manufacture of 
knives. From ten to fifteen hands are employed regularly and from 800 to 
1200 knives constitute the output for a day. November 25, 1886. he was 
united in marriage with Cora Demmon, of New Y'ork city, and their family 
consists of four children: Amy Olga, Minnie May, Clayton D. , and Frederick 
E. Jr. Mr. Woodworth has for many years been a member of the Methodist 
church choir. He is captain of the Sons of Veterans, a member of the Board 
of Education, and thoroughly public spirited he takes a leading part in all enter- 
prises of a public nature. 

George C. Woodworth early took up the study of electricity and has become 

* Charles R. Woodworth was married September 3, 1849 to Elizabeth H. Bennett of Pitcher, N. Y, 
who died in 1887. Mr. Woodworth died November 21, 1903. 

George R. Woodworth, the father of Cliarles, came to Madison County, N. Y. from Litchfield 
Conu., with his parents, wlien six years of age. He married a Miss Howe of Litchfield, tlie cere- 
mony being performed by Rev. I.yman Beecher, tlie father of Henr\- Ward Beecher. Samuel Wood- 
wortli, a second cousin of Cliarles, was a printer by trade and the author of "The Old Oaken 
Bucket." A sister of Charles was an author of note and contributed to the leading journals before 
and during the war period. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 63 

an expert upon all matters pertaining to the appliance of electricity in the 
many ways which modern ingenuity have invented. He installed the electric 
plant which now furnishes light and power for the village of Nunda, and he 
now holds the position of manager for the immense Electiric light and power 
pl^nt at Henderson, N. C. 

Clarence A. VVoodworth, the third son, has for the past six years held a posi- 
tion under the government as first class machinist at the Washington Navy 
Yards. His position calls for an expert knowledge of the various parts of 
both large and small guns used in naval and inland warfare. 

Clayton J. Woodworth. a normal graduate, for a number of years was con- 
nected with the Maryland Steel Works at Sparrows Point, Md. as private sec- 
retary to the president of the company. A man of much natural ability and 
having executive talents in a high degree he soon made himself invaluable 
to the company with whom he was connected. In 1895 he received an offer 
from the officers of the Scranton commercial schools to become their assistant 
general manager, which he accepted, and in the spring of 1902 he was made 
manager of the entire establishment. 

Albert J. Woodworth as a boy was well known as a fast bicycle rider and had 
the championship honors for the counties of Livingston, Wyoming and Steuben. 
For a time he was occupied as telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
He then became connected vvitli the Maryland Steel Company in the electrical 
department where he remained four or five years then entered the electrical 
engineering business for himself and one year later returned to the Maryland 
Steel Works as chief electrician of the entire establishment and holds that posi- 
tion today, 

Zula M., the eldest daughter, married Frank Wood, consulting engineer of 
the Maryland Steel Company. They have three children. 

Minnie M. , married Frank Davis, inspector of ordnance at the gun works 
in Germantown, Pa. They have one child. Mrs. Davis was before her mar- 
riage an accomplished contralto singer and for some years was a member of the 
choir in one of the leading churches in Rochester, N. Y. 

Clara A. lives at the homestead. She has always been prominent in musical 
circles and plays the organ of the Methodist church of Nunda. 

Julia Sylvia, a recent graduate of the State Normal school is an artist of 
exceptional ability. Her pen drawings have found sale in families of wealth 
in Buffalo and eastern cities. She is now engaged in teaching in the Long 
Island schools. 

Rose, the youngest, for a season was with the Boston Lyceum Company. As 
a whistler she has no superior. Her pure, bird-like notes always under thor- 
ough control elicit the greatest admiration from all who hear her. 



FRED D. HOLFORD, — Veterinary surgeon ot the village of Avon, is a 
native of Uhaca, N. Y. , where he was born May 3, 1879. He obtained his 
education in the schools of that city and afterwards entered Cornell University, 



64 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

taking a two-year course in agriculture and a three-year course in veterinary 
surgery, graduating in 1902. He then located in Avon, ebtablishing his office 
in the building adjoining the postoffice. Although young in practice, Dr. 
Holford has demonstrated exceptional skill and a perfect knowledge of the 
duties of his profession, and his services are in constant demand, which bears 
testimony to his accepted worth as a veterinarian in the community. 



CHARLES MEACHAM, — A well known citizen of Livonid, N. Y.. and the 
leading blacksmith and wagon manufacturer of that place, was born in Lake- 
ville, August 18, 1860. As a boy he attended the district school and early in 
life began learning the trade of blacksmith, which he followed until 1885, when 
he opened his present establishment in the village of Livonia. Being an ex- 
pert workman and a good manager, Mr. Meacham rapidly obtained a large share 
of the local patronage and soon placed the concern on a sound financial footing. 
He manfuactures a superior quality of wagons and carriages, in the making of 
which, none but the best of material is allowed to be placed. His success is 
merited and is a testimonial to his mechanical skill and keen business judgment. 
He was joined in marriage w'ith Miss Claudia House, of Allegany county, 
on March 26, 1882. Five children have been born to them — Arthur Claire, 
Bessie Claudia, Ralph Clark, Leslie Fred, and Francis B. Clark Meacham, 
the father of Charles, was a native of Livingston county. He married Laura 
Phelps and to them weie born three sons and four daughters, all of whom are 
now living. The father died in 1894. 



CHARLES H. ROOT, Caledonia— About the year 1807, Israel D. Root, a 
native of Pittstield, Mass., accompanied by his seven sons journeyed westward 
seeking a suitable location for the establishment of a home and the rearing and 
maintaining of a large family. The western part of New York state was at 
that period not far from the boundaries of civilization, but the beautiful and 
productive valley of the Genesee was, even at that early date, beginning to 
acquire a reputation as a wheat producing section and was proving the Mecca 
for some of the more enterprising New Englanders who in seeking to better 
their condition thus laid the foundation for prosperity and contentment which 
naturally follows upon a life of honest toil in a land of plenty. Near this val- 
ley, Mr. Root decided to locate, and in what is now the town of York in Living- 
ston county he acquired from the government a tract of land a square mile in 
extent. A portion of this original tract is still in the possession of members of 
the family and the homestead erected by Mr. Root in pioneer days is now in a 
good state of preservation. 

Charles H Root vvds born and reared in the old homestead. His early edu- 
cation was obtained in the district schools of the ueighborhood, the Geneseo 
State Normal school and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, all of which he at- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 65 

tended winters. The summer months were spent assisting his father in the 
care of the farm. At the age of nineteen he took a position in a grain and 
coal business at Fowlerville, N. Y. , and two years from that time he accepted 
a similar position with the Retsof Mining Company, of Rctsof, N. Y. He 
remained with this Company six years, during which time the Genesee and 
Wyoming Railroad Company was organized. Mr. Root was one of the incor- 
porators of that company and became its first General Freight and Passenger 
agent. He then accepted the position of Superintendent of the Lehigh Salt 
and Mining Company of LeRoy, N. Y. remaining with them three years, when 
the mines were closed by the .=alt trust. During his connection with this Com- 
pany he helped organize and became a stockholder in the Lehigh and Pavilion 
Railroad and was elected to the office of General Freight Agent. In 1894 he 
purchased the real estate and insurance business uf W. M. Chapman, of LeRoy, 
N. Y., which he conducted some three years and sold out. Meanwhile, he had 
succeeded in purchasing the several interests in the Wheatland Land Plaster 
Company, interested New York caprtal in the concern, reorganized the com- 
pany, and incorporated it under the name of the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster 
Company, which is now being profitably conducted. They have added to this 
plant facilities for the manufacture of plaster of Paris and v.-all plaster. Mr. 
Root has served as secretary, vice-president, and is now president and treasurer 
of this company. In 1898 he organized the Oatka Cheujical Company for the 
manufacture of "Black Death," an insect poison, and he occupies the office of 
Vice-president and Treasurer of this concern. In January, 1901, he was em- 
ployed by Chicago capitalists as General Freight and Passenger agent of the 
Gulf and Mississippi Transportation Company and office manager of the Ameri- 
can Salt Company, with headquarters at Belle Isle, La. He remained there 
over a year, when his other business interests demanding his attention, he re- 
turned to Caledonia and shortly afterward became one of the organizers of the 
Caledonia Marl and Lime Company and was elected its secretary. In June, 
1895, he was united in marriage with Katherine P. Merritt, daughter of Mial 
A. Merritt, the leading contractor and builder of LeRoy, N. Y. They have 
four children: Miriam, born September 10. 1896; Pierson Vallance, born June 
1, 1898; Mary Elizabeth, born August 15, 1899, and Reginald Dean, born Au- 
gust 1, 1903. Mr. Root is a thoroughly wide awake business man. He is en- 
ergetic, original and progressive and enjoys to the fullest extent the confidence 
of the several business men and capitalists who have unhesitaiingly placed their 
capital under his management. He is, in politics, a Republican and a staunch 
adherent to party principles, and has served the Livingston county Republican 
League as its secretary. 



FRANK C. BONNER, — Proprietor of the Bonner House, Geneseo. N. V., 
was born at Lima, N. Y., September 24, 1869. Samuel Bonner, his great 
grandfather, a native of Scotland, came to America and located on a tract of 
land in the town of Sparta. His son, Benjamin, was born there in 1807, 



66 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

remained with his father on the farm until the latter's death, when he purchased 
the interest of the heirs and became the sole owner of the property. He sold 
this place in 1855 and purchased a farm near the village of Lima. He married 
Jane Logan, a daughter of Edward Logan, of Sparta, and to them were born 
three children; Samuel, Edwaid Logan and Rose J. Edward was killed in the 
battle of Trevillian Station, June 12, 1864. Samuel Bonner, the elder son and 
the father of Frank C. married Cornelia Goodrich, in 1865. She died in 1875, 
leaving three sons; Edward L. , Frank C. and William S. William is the pro- 
prietor of a thriving hotel in Ovid, N. Y. Samuel Bonner has for the past 
ten years resided in the village of Lima but retains and manages his farm prop- 
ertj' which aggregates nearly five hundred acres. 

Frank C. Bonner received his education at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary 
and for some time thereafter assisted his father in the management and care of 
his farms. July 24, 1899, he purchased the Wallace Hotel, at Geneseo, which 
he renamed the Hotel Bonner. He thoroughly repaired and entirely refur- 
nished the establishment and has since conducted it along modern lines. With 
all improvements and conveniences neat, tastily furnished rooms and serving 
excellent meals, the Bonner Hotel ranks among the best and has a most liberal 
patronage. The date of his purchase of the hotel property marks the date of 
his marriage with Alice Larned, daughter of Oliver Earned, a former well 
known merchant of Lima. Mrs. Bonner has one son Raymond. 



R. H. MOSES, — Of Mount Morris, came to that village in 1870 from Cuba, 
Allegany county, N. Y. , where he was born April 28, 1837. Mr. Moses was 
born and raised on the farm his grandfather. Reuben Moses, acquired from the 
government. Reuben Moses, a native of Bloomfield, N. Y. , journeyed by ox 
team from that place to Cuba in 1820 and took up one hundred acres of land 
upon which he erected a homestead, and there he toiled, suffering tlie privations 
and enduring the trials incident to the early pioneer days. He thus paved 
the way nnd laid the foundation for future happiness and prosperity, which 
were bestowed upon his family and their descendants. His son, Samuel S., 
the father of our subject, possessed of a progressive, enterprising spirit, was 
engaged for many years in the lumber trade. This lumber he floated in rafts 
down the Allegany and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati. He accumulated consider- 
able landed property and owned some 500 acres in the vicinity of his father's 
original purchase. A staunch Democrat, he was always thoroughly alive to the 
best interests of his party, was well posted on all political topics and might 
have become a power in his locality were he not averse to mixing politics with 
business. 

Reuben H. Moses, our subject, conducted a dry goods store for a time in 
Cuba, afterwards sold out and came to Mount Morris, where he has since resided. 
He became well known here as a dry goods merchant, having conducted the 
leading store in that line from 1870 to 1878. He then took the position of 
superintendent of the large stock farm of 2800 acres near this village then 



BIOGRAPHICAL 67 

owned by William Fitzliugh, now a part of the Wadsworth farm. He occupied 
this position three years. Later he became private secretary to Hiram P. Mills 
and continued in that capacity some three years. Mr. Moses, like his father, 
is a Democrat, and has filled numerous oflfices in the town and county. He has 
served the town of Mt. Morris as collector, supervisor and assessor, the latter 
office he has held eight years and still holds. He has served the village in the 
capacity of treasurer, trustee, clerk and is now its assessor. In 1860 he mar- 
ried Mary L. Moses, daughter of Alfred Moses, of Cuba, N. Y. 



GRANT E. MOSES, — Of the firm of Hunt and Moses, merchants at Dalton. 
was born at Granger, N. Y. , May 28, 1868. He attended the schools of that 
place and later took a two years' course in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. 
He then entered Eastman College at Poughkeepsie. N. Y., from which he grad- 
uated in 1887. In 1889, in company with William W. Hunt, he purchased the 
Lyman Ayrault stock of goods at Dalton, and they have since that date carried 
a general stock of merchandise. This business is today in a flourishing con- 
dition. The place presents a clean, inviting appearance and appeals to the 
class of trade to wliich they cater. In 1897 Mr. Moses was appointed postmas- 
ter under the McKinley administration and was reappointed in 1901. 



AARON BARBER, — Although a native of Rush, Monroe county, has passed 
nearly all his life in the town of Avon, Livingston county, where he now re- 
sides. His paternal grandfather, also named Aaron Barber, was a native of 
Connecticut, a Dlacksmith by trade and a skilled mechanic. He died in middle 
life leaving a widow and a family of small children. The eldest of these chil- 
dren, Aaron, Jr., was the father of our subject. The family at once removed 
from Connecticut and for a time resided in Onondaga county, afterwards 
coming to Livingston county, and for years made their home in Lima, where 
the eldest son secured employment and being enterprising and industrious suc- 
ceeded in making a home for the family. He afterwards engaged in the butch- 
ering business which he followed three years and removed to Ogden, Monroe 
county, where he had previously purchased a tract of heavily timbered land 
consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, a small portion of which he had 
cleared some time previously. Here he remained two years with his wife, 
whom he married before leaving Lima. He then bought a small farm in Rush 
on which he resided five years and came to Avon, where he purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of improved lands two miles north of the village. For 
nine years a log cabin served as their home. He then erected the handsome 
residence that is now occupied by the subject of this article and resided therein 
until his death in 1868 at the age of sixty-four. His wife was Lois Stevens, a 
daughter of Phineas and Mary Stevens, and three children were born to them: 
Mary L.. Aaron and F. Amanda. Mary married Dr. James E. Jenks of Avon, 



68 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

and is now a widow with two children, William and Louisa M. Amanda 
married Holliday Williams, of Prattsburg, Steuben county, and is also a widow 
with three children, Frank, Aaron and Lois. 

Aaron Barber, the third of the name, was born in the town of Rush, July 6, 
1836. He was well educated, having as a boy attended the Avon schools and 
later the Lima Seminary and Rochester Academy. He was joined in marriage 
with Caroline B. Hall, daughter of William E. and Esther M. Hall, of Bloom- 
field, Ontario county. Mr. Barber has always been a steadfast supporter of the 
Democratic party. His first presidential vote was cast for Stephen A. Douglas 
in 1860, and with an unwavering belief in the Democratic doctrine he has 
steadily thrown his influence and support in that direction. Mr. Bdrber 
began life as a farmer and has always followed that occupation. His farm 
comprising seven hundred acres of rich, productive land, is well stocked and 
kept in the finest condition. A fine large herd of short-horned cattle have 
proved a source of much pleasure and profit to their owner, who has been 
engaged in their breeding for over a quarter of a century. This herd is con- 
sidered the equal in point of excellence to any in the country. 

He has within recent years made many improvements, including handsome 
farm buildings with modern equipments for the care of stock. Mr. Barber has 
always conducted this place upon stiict business principles and has succeeded in 
converting it into one of the handsomest and most profitable stock farms in 
the county. He is a shareholder and for a number of years has held the office 
of President of the State Bank of Avon. 



DeLANCEY A. CAMERON,— The leading contractor and builder of Cale- 
donia, was born at St. Louis, Mo., July 11, 1871. He received his education 
in the public schools of that city and afterward entered Yale University, grad- 
uating from the scientihc department of that institution in the class of '91. 
Having made a study of civil engineering he was employed in that capacity by 
the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company during the construction of that read. 
He came to Caledonia in 1897 where he opened a lumber yard and engaged in 
contracting and building. In 1903 he became interested with Charles H Root in 
the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Company, with offices at Caledonia and 
works at Wheatland, N. Y.. and is now its Piesident. This company manu- 
factures all gypsum products, including land plaster, calcined plaster, wall 
plaster, etc., and also has begun making concrete building blocks, using sand 
and gravel found on its own land. For this reason Mr. Cameron is especially 
interested in all forms of masonry construction. In 1902 he was united in 
marriage with Mary Louise Moore, daughter of the late Robert Moore, for 
many years an extensive coal dealer in Rochester, N. Y. 

Mr. Cameron comes from Scotch parentage. His great grandfather, John 
Cameron, a native of Inverness, Scotland, married Catherine, a daughter of 
Alexander Cameron, of Argyleshire, Scotland, and soon thereafter came with 
his wife to America. They located in Geneva, where for a time he was en- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 69 

gaged in the mercantile business with Colonel Grieves. The year following 
(1805) he sold his interest to his partner and came to Caledonia, where he 
opened a store of general merchandise. This was the first and for some time 
the only store in Caledonia and was conducted by him until 1815 or '16. He 
died August 7, 1820, and his wife followed him June 8, 1849. There were 
eight children born to them: Angus, born July 10. 180S; Margaret, born March 
4, 1808; Mary Ann, born March 21. 1810; Alexander, born December 10, 1811; 
John Greig, born July 31, 1813; Caroline, born May 13, 1815; Jean, born 
March 25, 1817; and Charles, born August S, 1820. The son, John Greig, 
became a prominent lawyer in the West, and his son Angus, the father of 
Delancey, following in the footsteps of his father, became a lawyer of note in 
both St. Louis and Rochester. He later in life removed to Brooklyn, N. Y. , 
where he died in 1888. 



FRANK E. HOVEY, — Supervisor of the town of Avon, was born in Lima. 
N. Y. , September 1, 1856. His boyhood was passed on his father's farm in 
Lima and his education was obtained at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. His 
father, Calvin B. Hovey, at the time of his death in 1880, was possessed of con- 
siderable landed property which he had acquired through his own efforts during 
a lifetime of ceaseless toil. Frank E. Hovey married Estelle M. Sheldon, 
daughter uf R. T. Sheldon of Mendon, N. Y., in 1878, and their family consists 
of two children, Lucy S. , and Raymond E., the latter a student in the Roches- 
ter Business University. In 1889 Mr. Hovey moved to Avon and took the man- 
agement of the Herbert Wadsworth farm at Ashantee, serving in that capacity 
thirteen years. This is the home farm and embraces a large tract of land, 
mention of which is made more fully in the article on the general history of 
the town of Avon. He then purchased the farm on which he now resides. 
This farm consists of 142 acres of rich, productive, soil, well watered, well 
fenced and well tilled; and a beautiful modern residence with convenient stock 
and feed barns places this farm in rank among the best medium sized farms in 
the state. 



GARRET S. MILLER, — Of Tuscarora. N. Y., was born in the town of 
Mount Morris, February 15. 1840. His father, Bartley Miller, came to Tusca- 
rora from New Jersey in 1831 and settled on a fai m within two miles of that 
village. In 1869 he and his son Garret S. Miller bought the grist mills in 
Tuscarora owned by David LaRue and within a year from the date of purchase 
Mr. Miller died, leaving the entire care and management of the property to 
his son Garret, who without previous experience in the milling business soon 
found himself taxed to the utmost in successfully overcoming the many obstaciss 
peculiar to the trade of those early days. But endowed with his fatner's 
determined spirit he mastered these difficulties and soon placed the concern on 
a prosperous footing. He was for a number of years also engaged in buying 
and shipping stock and other enterprises which with his keen business judgment 
and careful management resulted profitably. He married Corintha Twining, of 



70 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Tuscarora, in 1872, and they have a daughter Mary who is the wife of Charles 
Sedam and has one son. Mr. Miller owns several farms in the vicinity of 
Tuscarora which he conducts in the same cRreful manner that he does his bus- 
iness and they are proving a source of satisfaction as well as profit to the owner. 



HENRY E. AVERILL, — A successful merchant in the village of Hunt's 
and town of Portage was born in that town May 7, 1853. His paternal grand- 
father, Daniel, a native of England, was born in 1785. When a young man he 
came to America and first located at Bridgeport. Conn., where he taught school 
and was afterward married. Some years later he came to Portageville and was 
one of the first teachers in that village, only one other having preceded him for 
one term only. He afterward bought a farm on which he resided until only a 
few years before his death, which occurred in Montreal at the age of seventy- 
tine. His son Latham, the father of Henry, was born in Portage in 1830. 
Early in life he followed farming but afterwards for a number of years he was 
engaged in lumbering in Northern Michigan. He was head sawyer in one of 
the largest mills in that state and at the outbreak of the Civil war was in 
charge of about three thousand men who were in a lumber camp on the Muske- 
gon river. When Fort Sumter was fired upon he with several hundred of his 
men went to Grand Rapids and enlisted in the Cavalry service. They were 
immediately sent to the front and were engaged with the enemy in the battle 
of Gettysburg. After the Rondout engagement and during the second day's 
battle, his regiment with two others were detailed to drive the rebels out of 
Hanover. They, however, ran into a trap laid by the enemy and were totally 
routed. Out of the nine hundred Union soldiers comprising his regiment only 
three hundred survived. Mr. Averill was wounded in the elbow and after 
lying on the battlefield forty-eight hours was taken prisoner but before being 
taken off the field was left as dying. He was afterwards found by his friends and 
taken to Hanover hospital and later to the home of a private family. He was 
laid up about nine months, received an honorable discharge and returned to 
Portage. He remained in Portage three years and went to Michigan, where 
he again engaged in the lumber business and where he resided until his death 
in 1901. He married Catherine VanAllen and four children were born to them, 
of whom Henry was eldest. Henry Averill married Clara D. Edmonds, of 
Hunts. He began his business career as a clerk in the store of Thomas S. 
Glover, of Warsaw, N. Y. In 1876 he returned to Hunts and in company with 
John Williams opened a store for the sale of dry goods, groceries, etc., and five 
years thereafter he purchased Mr. William's interest in the business and has 
since been the sole owner. He received the appointment of postmaster under 
the McKinley administration January 1, 1898, which cffice he still retains. 



TIMOTHY DELEHANTY,— Was born in Geneseo, August 10. 1863. He 
was educated at the state Normal School at Geneseo and later graduated from 
the Rochester Business University. In 1889 he became identified with the local 
plant of Belden & Co., produce dealers, and has since managed their large local 



BIOGRAPHICAL 71 

interests. They employ about sixty-five liands. In 1900 Mr. Delehanty was 
united in marriage with Anna M. O'Connor, of Rochester, and they have one 
daughter, Julia Adelaide. 



ROY A. PECK, — Editor and proprietor of the Caledonia Era, was born at 
Titusville, Pa.. September 25, 1875. When he was eight years of age his par- 
ents removed to Hazelton, Kansas, where he later obtained an education, after- 
ward entering the Ohio Valley Business College, at Marietta. Ohio, from which 
he graduated in 1895. The year following he came to Caledonia and for two 
years served as secretary and treasurer of the Caledonia Natural Gas Company 
and also acted as correspondent for three of the Rochester daily papers. In 
May, 1901, he opened a job printing office and began the publication of the 
Caledonia Era. a live, enterprising newsy paper, which under Mr. Peck's 
admirable management has attained to a place in the front rank of the newspapers 
of the county. His father, Alpheus H. Peck, at one time a farmer and once a 
successful merchant, is now living in retirement in Caledonia. He was born 
November 21, 1831, and was thrice married, his first wife being Eliza Kirk- 
patrick, a native ot Scotland, whom he married in 1853. She died in 1865 
leaving two children, Jane Isabelle, who married James C. Tennent, a capitalist 
of Caledonia, and Elbert B., of Indianapolis, Ind.. married Maud Weaver, of 
Adrian, Michigan. Mr. Peck again married taking for his second wife Car- 
oline Smith, to whom was born one child who died in infancy. Mrs. Caroline 
Peck died in 1868. His present wife, whom he married in 1873, was Eunice 
M. Kellog. a native of Pennsylvania, and they have one son, Roy A. The 
financial success and present good standing of the Caledonia Era, from a news- 
paper standpoint is due entirely to the careful and intelligent management of 
Mr. Roy Peck, who started the enterprise with a determination to succeed, 
Safely conducted it through the trying period of its earlier existence, and its 
advertising colun;ns today denote the confidence of the business men of the 
place in its qualities as an advertising medium. 



ISAAC B. KNAPP, — Who holds the responsible office of sheriflE of Living- 
ston county, was born and has always lived in the town of Ossian. Joel I. 
Knapp, his grandfather, was a native of New England, and came with his 
family to Livingston county in 1814, locating in Ossian, where he purchased a 
tract of forest land. The log house he erected at that time served as their 
home for many years and in it were born nearly all of their ten children. A 
frame building later took the place of the log structure as a home but the lat- 
ter building was not destroyed and is still standing. Their son, Harvey W. 
Knapp, the father of Isaac, followed agricultural pursuits all his life. When 
twenty-one years of age he began working by the month for Isaac Burrell. 
who later became his father-in-law. Mr. Knapp finally purchased a farm and 



72 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was for some years engaged in tlie lumber business. His wife, Elizabeth 
Burrell, was one of eight children of Isaau Burrell. an early settler of Ossian 
who was a lumberman and owned and operated a saw mill as well as being a 
farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp reared a family of three children: Mary 
Elizabeth, Margaret J., died in 1860, and Isaac B. Harvey VV. Knapp was born 
March 12. 1812. and died March 5, 1895. His wife, who was born August 13, 
1825, still survives him. 

Isaac B. Knapp was born January 6, 1861. He attended the district school as 
a boy and remained on the home farm until his marriage with Inez M. Hess, 
which took place February 1, 1881. Inez was born in Wayland, N. Y., and 
was one of five children of Alfred Hess, a native of Steuben county. Her 
grandfather was a prominent business man of Perkinsville and later became a 
resident of Dansville. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Knapp; 
Harvey S. , married Emma J. VanMiddlesworth June 17, 1903. She is a daugh- 
ter of Harrison Van Middlesworth. a substantial farmer and ex-superivsor of the 
town of Sparta. Eva married Henry Fries, of Ossian, June 25, 1892. Nora, 
Margaret, Dwight and Inez. Mr. Knapp is a luyal republican and for a num- 
ber of years has been prominent in the politics of the county. He has held 
various public offices, having served four years as Justice of the Peace and in 
1894 was elected supervisor of the town of Ossian, which office he held four 
years. In the fall of 1903 he was elected by a good majority to the office of 
sheriff of the county and is proving a most able and efficient official. 



WARREN D. SHULTS, — Of Mount Morris, was born at Avoca, Steuben 
county, N. Y., June 25, 1854. His education was obtained first at the district 
schools of Wheeler and Avoca, and later he took a three yeai course in the 
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. At the age of seventeen he entered the office of 
a produce dealer at Bath. N. Y. , where he remained until 1874. In 1877 he 
accepted a position as salesman and collector for a large produce house in New 
York and continued in that capacity until 1881, when he engaged in the produce 
business on his own account having an establishment, first on Reed street and 
then on Barclay street in New York. In 1887 he disposed of his business and 
returned to Avoca where he remained until 1891 when he became associated with 
the firm of Ferrin Bros. (Inc.,) produce dealers, and has since been the resi- 
dent manager of the Mount Morris branch. In 1887 he was united in marriage 
with Emma Frances Pierce of New York City. Mr. Shults is a member of the 
F. & A. M. Mount Morris lodge No. 122, and R. A. M. Chapter No. 137, Avoca 
Lodge No. 538 I. O. O. F. and Cyrene Conimandery No. 39 K. T. of Rochester. 



WILLIAM W. HUNT, — Of the firm of Hunt and Moses, has been identified 
with the business interests of Dalton for the past fifteen years. He was born 
in Oneida county. N. Y., September 3, 1850, and when two years of age nis 
parents removed to Nunda. He received his education at the Nunda academy. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 73 

after leaving which he entered L. B. Warner's dry goods store in Nunda as 
clerk and two years thereafter, in 1868, he tame to Dalton and engaged as 
bookkeeper for^Lyman Ayrault, a produce dealer, with whom he remained 
twenty years. In 1889 in company with G. E. Moses he established the grocery 
and dry goods business which they have since conducted in Dalton. Mr. Hunt 
is a staunch democrat and a firm adherent to the principles of that party, and 
has served his town and county very acceptably in various offices. He held the 
office of Supervisor for the town of Nunda four years. He was for fifteen years 
a member of the railroad commission and is now president of the Board of 
Education. In 1869 he married Ella A. Tuthill, of Nunda. They have one 
daughter, Grace M., who is the wife of L. A. Walker, of the firm of Olmsted 
and Walker, prominent attorneys of Perry, N. Y., and they have one son, 
Ralph Hunt Walker. Mr. Hunt is of English parentage, his father Thomas C. 
Hunt, having been born in England came to America when eighteen years of 
age. He settled in Oneida county and tor years followed the trade of black- 
smith but later engaged in farniing. He met his death in a railroad accident 
at Wesley ville, Pa., in 1866. 



THOMAS V. STEPHENSON, —A prominent harness manufacturer and 
dealer, of Avon, N. Y. , was born in Livonia, N. Y., January 6, 1866. When 
an infant his parents removed to Avon, where his father, Robert R. Stephen- 
son, purchased a tarm on which he has since resided. Thomas received his 
education at the public schools and in 1S91 purchased the George Nowlen stock 
of harnesses and in 1903 added to his harness business carriages and 
agricultural implements which has proved a profitable venture. He now 
occupies his own building; has a thriving business which he conducts upon 
thoroughly sound business pr.nciples and enjoys the entire confidence of the 
people with whom he has dealings. A Republican in politics, Mr. Stephenson 
has always taken a deep interest in the success of his party and has served in 
various local political offices, having never been defeated for any office to which 
he was nominated. He has served two years as corporation collector, three 
years as member of the Board of liducation and was recently elected to a second 
term of three years, and is now a member of the town board of assessors. He 
is a member of the Avon Springs Lodge No. 570 F. & A. M., and for the past 
fifteen years has been a member of the Avon Springs cornet band. He was 
married in 1893 to Alida J. Redmond, of Tuscarora and has two children: 
Frank H. and Lindale V. 

Mr. Stephenson's father came to America when a young man from South 
Scotland and for a time was located in New York, where he followed the trade 
of marble cutter. He came to Livingston county about 1860 and located at 
Livonia, where he engaged in fanning. He married Frances Staudenmeier, of 
Wurtemburg. Germany, and reared a family of six children, of whom Thomas 
was the youngest. He departed this life in February, 1883. His wife died 
four years previously. Of his six children only three are now living: Harry, 
who lives at East Avon; Frank and Thomas V., both of Avon. 



74 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

FRANK REUBAND, — Of Caledonia, was born in Wheatland, N.Y., in 1859, 
and was educated in the common schools of that place. In 1880 he commenced 
the study of fish culture as an assistant under Mr. Seth Green at the State Fish 
ponds in Caledonia and has from time to time been promoted until in 1900 he 
was appointed superintendent of the ponds, which position he now holds. Mr. 
Redband was married to Julia Green in 1888. Their children are Nellie, Ruth, 
Arthur, Florence and Jennette. He is a Mason and i member of the K. O. T. 
M. . and attends the First Presbyterian church. Thomas, the father of Mr. 
Redband, was born in England and married Mary Green, also of England. 
They came to this country at an early day and raised four children. 



HENRY B. CURTIS, — Of Geneseo, county clerk of Livingston county, was 
born in the town of Geneseo, in 1861. Coming from parents who were finan- 
cially in straitened circumstances and who could not lend him the slightest 
assistance toward a start in life, he literally fought his way from the very 
lowest round of the ladder. When fourteen years of age he secured employ- 
ment as clerk in a store at Moscow, and in 1884 at the age of twenty-three 
became part owner and continued in business until 1900 when the business por- 
tion of the town was destroyed by fire. At the age of twenty-two he was 
elected town clerk. In 1898 he received the nomination to the office of county 
clerk and with the cordial support of the citizens of Livingston county he was 
elected by a handsome majority and was re-elected to a second term in 1901. 
Mr. Curtis is peculiarly adapted to the position he holds. His executive ability 
is manifest in the various improvements he has inaugurated, including some 
notable changes in systems calculated to expedite the work and insure accuracy. 
Genial and obliging, prompt, efficient and thoroughly reliable, Mr. Curtis has 
a warm place in the hearts of all right thinking, intelligent citizens of Living- 
ston county. In 1895 he was joined in marriage with Inez V. Bottsford the 
youngest daughter of Eli and Amanda M. Bottsford of the town of Leicester. 



WILLIAM H. SWAN,— Of Mount Morris, was born at New Berlin, N. V., 
July 26, 1835. Wliile an infant his parents removed to Mt. Morris, where they 
resided at the time of theit death. Henry Swan, the father of William, was 
born September 12, 1802. He was an energetic, progressive business man. 
Upon his arrival in Mt. Morris in 1836 he secured the contract for building a 
portion of the Genesee Valley canal, then in course of construction. He after- 
ward entered mercantile life and some years later established a commission 
business in Mt. Morris, which he conducted until his death, which occurred 
August 3, 1867. His wife, formerly Sarah Maria Mills, a sister of the late 
Hiram P. Mills and daughter of William and Mary Mills, was b&rii Mar. 3, 
1815. She has one sister living, Mrs. George H. Bradbury, of Mt. Morris. 

William H. Swan received his education in the public schools of Mount Mor- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 75 

ris. He then entered his father's warehouse as his assistant and at his death 
succeeded to the business, which he ran until 1898. In 1885 he received the 
appointment of postmaster, which office he held during the Cleveland adminis- 
tration. Mr. Swan is now engaged in the news and confectionery business, 
which he started in 1901. May 8, 1862 he was united in marriage with Helen 
L. Fuller, daughter of Dr. Fuller, of Fredonia. She died January 8, 1867, at 
the early age of twenty-six years, leaving one son, Henry V. Swan, born Feb- 
ruary 14, 1863. A bright, intelligent, progressive young man, imbued with 
Christian qualities and just entering upon a life of usefulness, he had for some 
lime been a valued employee of The Whiting Manufacturing Co., in New York, 
and had every prospect for a successful career, when death severed earthly ties 
on February 14, 1903. Mr. Swan took for his second wife Emma L. Price, of 
Avon, N. Y. , the ceremony occurring June 10, 1868. She was born Oct. 29, 
1846. They have had two children, Elizabeth Bradbury born March 27, 1869, 
and died Feb. 28, 1875, and Frances Louise born January 4. 1879. Mr. Swan 
has served the village in which he lives in various offices. He has been a 
trustee and a member of the Board of Education for many years and was the 
first President elected after the place became incorporated. 



ALONZO D. BAKER, — A prominent produce and grain dealer of Dalton. 
N. Y., was born at that place February 16, 1841. His education was obtained 
in the common schools and his early life was passed on the farm of his father. 
Coming from New England stock he inherited that native shrewdness and 
natural aptitude for a business life which characterizes the New Englander. 
For thirty years he has dealt heavily in live stock and has been to no inconsid- 
erable extent the means of giving to Ualton its reputation as a stock 
center. He has also for the past fourteen years been an extensive wool buyer. 
Ten years ago he engaged in the grain and prt^duce business which he 
carried on in connection with the wool business. Thoroughly honest 
in all his dealings, Mr. Baker has the entire confidence of all with whom he 
deals and his success in business is but the natural result of this undeviating 
policy and the strict methodical manner in which he handles all matters per- 
taining to the business. In politics he is a strong democrat and while having 
neither time nor desire to hold office of a public nature he has the welfare of 
the party strongly at heart and in many ways quietly contributes to its success. 
As highway commissioner and town assessor he fulfilled the duties of the office 
in a hig'.ily commendable manner. He married Mary E. Ward of Grove, 
Allegany County, N. Y. , and they have had three children. Dorr A. mar- 
ried Esther Benson and died in 1900. Ernest married Esther Dowd and 
has two children. Plyn married Blanche Westbrook. Leonard Baker, the 
father, of our subject, was born on White River. Vermont and with his parents 
came to Livingston county when eleven years of age settling near Dalton. He 
learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed in connection with farming 
the greater portion of his life. He died in 1900 at the ripe age of eighty- 



76 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

seven. Alonzo Baker is the Vice-president of the Dalton bank and president 
of the Rural Telephone Company. He also owns several fine farms in the 
town ot Nunda, aggregating nearly 800 acres. 



GEORGE D. DOOER, — A prominent business man of Avon, was born in 
Canandaitjua, N. Y. , July 20, 1836. At an early age his parents moved to 
Avon, where he received his education, after which he engaged in the butcher 
business which has been his principal occupation through life. He has also 
been closely identified with the agricultural interests of the county and for 
many years has been largely engaged in raising stock. George Dooer, the father 
of our subject, was a native of England, coming to America with his wife in 
1834. Their eldest child. Joseph, was born on the sea while en route to this 
country. Upon their arrival tliey located in Canandaigua, where Mr. Dooer 
was for two or three years engaged in market gardening. George D. Dooer 
married Mary J. Campbell, daughter of Hiram Campbell, of Avon, N. Y. She 
died in 1892, leaving eight children: George E., married Jessie Knigbt, 
William J., Herman A. and Bessie are all unmarried; Maud E. , married A. A. 
Barnhart. of Avon. They have three children, and Mary Louise, James S., 
and Georgiana are unmarried. Mr. Dooer has long been identified with the 
political interests of the town of Avon and has held numerous offices of more 
or less note, both town and village. He has served both as assessor and col- 
lector of the town, each for two years, and for si-t years held the office of super- 
visor, performing the duties of that office in an intelligent and satisfactory 
manner. He has six times been appointed President of the village ot Avon and 
has for over twenty years served as village trustee and is also a member of the 
Board of assessors and the Board of Education. He was the first president of 
the Board of Water Commissioners upon its organization in 1887. 



MRS. MARGARET MALOY KEISLER,— Of the Keisler House, Caledonia, 
is a native of Caledonia. In December, 1875, she was united in marriage with 
Joseph H. Keisler, at St. Mary's church, Scottsville, N. Y. They purchased 
the Hotel Lakeville, one of the leading hotels of Lakeville. and conducted that 
hostelry until 1880, when they removed to Caledonia and for two years ran the 
New Palmer House at that place. They then purchased the Moss Hotel which 
they conducted until it was destroyed by hre February 6, 1891, when they 
erected the fine brick structure which they occupied as a hotel and named it the 
Keisler House. Thia is the leading hotel in Caledonia and is justly entitled to 
that distinction. It is nicely and tastily furnished througnout, has all modern 
conveniences, is kept scrupulously neat and clean and the table seivice is of the 
best. Mrs. Keisler has one daughter, Frances, a teacher in the village schools. 

John C. Maloy, until recently manager of the Hotel Keisler, was born at 
Caledonia, December 20, 1865. His education was obtained in the schools of 



BIOGRAPHICAL 77 

that place and the State Normal school, from which he graduated in 1888^ He 
taught one term in the Caledonia schools and accepted a position in a railroad 
office at Denver. Col., where he remained five years. In 1893 he returned to 
Caledonia and took the management of the Keisler House. He is a prominent 
member of the order of Red Men. the Big Spring Hook and Ladder Company, 
and the C. R. and B. A. 

April 1 1904, the Keisler House property was sold to John McMurray, a well 
known farmer of Caledonia, who is now conducting it in a manner entirely sat- 
isfactory to its many patrons. 



HYDE D MARVIN,— County superintendent of the poor, was born at 
Springwater, October 31, 1848. His early life was passed on his father's farm. 
His schooling was obtained in the public school of that place and later in the 
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y. His first occupation was in the 
capacity of a clerk for a dry goods firm at Ovid. Michigan, where he remained 
three years He then, in 1873, purchased a farm near the village of Spring- 
water which he still owns. Mr. Marvin is an ardent republican and an able 
and efficient worker along political lines and enjoys the entire confidence of the 
voters of Livingston county who placed him in the responsible position he now 
occupies, that of Superintendent of the Poor. His election to this office^occurred 
in 1901 He served as Supervisor of the town of Springwater from 18.2 to ,6. 
In 1872 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Becker, of Springwater. 
and they have a daughter, Mary. u ^ r,. „„ 

George C. the father of Hyde, came to Springwater when a hoy, from Otsego 
countv N Y Starting in lite at the lowest round of the ladder, his life was of 
necessity one of toil and hardship, but by perseverance he later acquired a com- 
petence and at the time of his death was possessed of considerable property 
He died in 1865 and his wife, Sarah Hyde, survived him by one y"r °nly. Of 
his four sons, Russell B.. Harvey H., and Addison G. , are dead, Hyde D. 
being the only living representative of this branch of the Marvin family. 



WILLIAM D PITT —A merchant of Mount Morris, is a native of New 
York City at which place he was born February 18, 1851. His father, William 
Pitt was born in Frome, Herford county, England, and for thirty years previous 
to his coming to America had resided in London. The old Enghsh custom o^ 
the son learning and following his father's trade was then in vogue, and William 
had taken up fhe trade which his forefathers had mastered and been p rfect ng 
for upwards of two hundred years, that of watch-making. In ^^^^ ',e sailed 
for America landing in New York after a stormy passage of six -^^l^s J""^'""^ 
He remained in New York several years, afterward removing to Ithaca and 
later to Groton, N. Y. , where he ended his days in 1868 

William D. Pitt received a practical education in the schools of Ithaca and 



78 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Groton. In 1880 he came to Mount Morris, where for some four years he was 
in the employ of the Genesee Valley Manufacturing Company, and in 1884 opened 
his present place of business. Mr. Pitt carries a stock of groceries, glassware, 
wall paper, etc., and enjoys the liberal patronage of many Mount Morris citi- 
zens. In 1882 he married Sarah C. Beach of Oakland, N. Y. They have one 
daughter, Margaret Louise. 



EDGAR MERRY, — Editor and publisher of the Dalton Enterprise, was 
born at Florida, N. Y., June 17, 1849. His early life until twenty-one years of 
age was passed on his father's farm and his education was obtained in the dis- 
trict schools of the neighborhood. The year in which he reached his majority 
he spent in travel through the West. He arrived in Chicago the day before 
the great fire of 1871 broke out and passed through a terrifying experience, 
when he and many others were forced to wade far out in the lake to escape the 
far-reaching effect of the flames. He returned to his native place and clerked 
in a grocery for a time and later acted as assistant in an undertaking establish- 
ment at Mount Morris, N. Y. In 1878 he came to Livingston county and for 
eight years ran a painting establishment at Mount Morris and in 1886 came to 
Dalton and established an undertaking and furniture business, which he very 
successfully conducted until 1893 when he sold out and purchased the newspaper 
and job printing plant he now owns. This paper, now called the Enterprise, 
was started in 1880 by a Mr. Orcott and was called the New P>a. It was after- 
wards changed to the Dalton Era, then to the Dalton Enterprise, then the 
Freeman and back to the Dalton Enterprise. It is a live enterprising newsy 
paper and its advertising columiis denote prosperity. In 1874 Mr. Merry 
married Elizabeth Eldrett, of Amsterdam, N. Y. and they have had four chil- 
dren, none of whom are now living. Eldrett, the eldest and an exceptionally 
bright young man with every prospect of a successful future, died December 2, 
1895, at the age of nineteen years. Charles died in infancy. Frank died 
April 3, 1887, aged seven, and Blanche died November 7, 1899, aged thirteen 
years. Mr. Merry is a Republican in politics and a conscientious upholder of 
the principles of his party. He has held the office of Master in the Nunda 
Lodge of Masons and is now Secretary of that order. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Merry have for many years been consistent members of the Methodist church 
and the former is now clerk of the official board and has held the office of sup- 
erintendent of the Sunday school for the past eleven years. 



FREDERICK H. WIARD, — Secretary and general manager of the Wiard 
Manufacturing Co., of East Avon, N. Y. , comes from one of the most promi- 
nent of pioneer families who were associated with the early history of Living- 
ston county. Thomas Wiard, his grandfather, was born in Connecticut and 
came to Livingston county at the beginning of the nineteenth century, taking 



BIOGRAPHICAL 79 

up his abode at Geneseo, where he remained twelve years following his trade of 
blacksmith. He then removed to Avon, where he purchased a farm and also 
conducted a blacksmith shop. His ingenuity and skill in the invention and 
manufacture of tools and implements was unquestioned and this ingenuity was 
transmitted to some of his sons, one of them Thomas, becoming known the 
world over as the originator of the Wiard plows. He married Susan Hall, of 
Connecticut, and nine children were born to them: Matthew. Henry, George, 
Thomas, William, Seth, Mary A., Margaret and Rachel. After some years the 
mother died and he took for his second wife Nancy Ganson. They had two 
children: Elizabeth and Nancy. Henry, the next eldest, who was the father of 
our subject, inherited from his father a liking for the workshop and under his 
tuition became a skilled mechanic. For thirty years he was identified with the 
manufacturing interest of the country as a maker of plows. The later years of 
his life were spent in quiet on his farm in Avon. He was twice married, his 
first wife, Caroline Palmer, daughter of David H. Palmer, of Avon, having two 
children: Frederick H. and Julia D. Julia married Lorenzo Wilbur and has 
one child, Harold Wilbur. Mr. Wiard's second wife was Amanda Landon. 
daughter of Luther Landon, of Avon. 

Frederick H. Wiard, under the influence of his father's training, grew to 
manhood with the inventive instinct strong within him. His early days were 
spent in the plow factory where he acquired a skill and thoroughness which 
amply fitted him for the position he now holds as the manager for the company, 
which manufactures a washing machine perfected and patented by him and hav- 
ing a sale in all the countries of the globe. Mr. Wiard began in 1890 in a 
limited way the manufacture of these machines at East Avon and during the 
ten years following the business increased to such an extent that he deemed it 
expedient to materially increase the capacity of the plant and in other ways 
arrange for the proper care and maintenance of this constantly growing enter- 
prise. With this end in view a company was organized in 1900 and incor- 
porated under the name of the Wiard Manufacturing Company, with Frank E. 
Hovey president, Frederick H. Wiard secretary and manager, and W. P. 
Schanck treasurer. The output is now upwards of one thousand machines a 
month and the factory is worked to the fullest capacity to meet its demands. 
The machines are sold entirely by mail, the company having no representatives 
on the road. Mr. Wiard married Adele Spencer, daughter of Henry Spencer of 
East Avon, and has four children: Robert, Maud, Fannie and Walter. 



DR. LEVI HAGADORN. — of Caledonia, is a native of Schoharie county, 
where he was born May 21, 1839. His education was obtained from the dis- 
trict schools of the neighborhood and his early life was passed on the farm of 
his father. From his earliest childhood Dr. Hagadorn has been a lover of fine 
horses and has owned many good ones. From 1862 to '72 he devoted his entire 
time to buying stock, principally horses, and shipping to the eastern market. 
He then took up the practice of veterinary surgery, having made a special 



80 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

study of the diseases of animals, for a number of years was actively engaged in 
a practice which extended over Otsego and adjoining counties and included 
many of the large dairy farms for which that region is noted. During this 
time the dairymen were suffering large annual losses through the death of stock 
during the winter months from a mysterious cause which the Doctor discovered 
to be microbes. He later discovered and patented a remedy which has since 
become widely known. In November, 1901, he removed to Caledonia and 
incorporated a company for the manufacture and sale of his microbe remedy, 
"Creloil." The company was incorporated under the name of The Caledonia 
Chemical Company with a capital stock of $10,000, which has since been 
increased to $40,000. The incorporators are Levi Hagadorn, James Tennent 
and James Bostwick. Dr. Hagadorn is the company's general manager. The 
factory is located m a commodious building on Main Street and is being 
operated to its fullest capacity and bids fair soon to develop into an extensive 
industry. 



JOSEPH D. LEWIS. — In the city of Philadelphia in the year 1793, Samuel 
Lewis first saw the light of day. As a boy he worked at the stone and brick 
mason's trade and became a skilled mechanic. In the year 1818, having become 
dissatisfied with city life, he turned his face westward, and having traveled over 
a large portion of Western New York, he decided on Livingston county and pur- 
chased a tiact of land in the town of York, where he built a log cabin and pre- 
pared a home for his family. In ccmnection with his farm work he worked at 
his trade for over thirty years. Many ot the stone and brick buildings in this 
vicinity were built by him, notably the south part ot the Big Tree Inn, which 
he built in 1825. In looking over his old accounts, it is interesting to note 
that he received one dollar a day for his labor, a day's work being from sunrise 
to sunset. 

He raised a family of twelve children, only one of whom, Joseph D. , is now 
living. The eldest son, Samuel, was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. The 
youngest son, Henry Hobart, at the age of nineteen, purchased his time of his 
father and started with a number ot others for California, reaching there after 
many hardships, and located at Sacramento. He remained there several years 
and amassed a considerable fortune, but lost a large portion of it by a flood in 
the Sacramento river and decided to return to the land of his birth. He took 
passage on a vessel and was within a week's sailing of New York when he was 
stricken with a fever and died, being buried at sea. 

Joseph D., the only surviving son, was born at York, April 13, 1833, and 
worked on his father's farm until 1854, when he engaged in buying and selling 
wool. In 1855, in connection with his wool business, he engaged with F. L. 
W. Mansfield in the manufacture of woolen goods at Cohoes, Albany county, 
remaining with him five years. In 1860 Mr. Lewis removed to Geneseo and 
has since devoted his time to the wool business in that vicinity. In 1864 he 
was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Jane Donnan, of York. Mr. Lewis 



BIOGRAPHICAL 81 

has ever taken a great interest in the historj' o£ his country and has a very 
large collection of curios and Indian implements and weapons. 



MONROE D. BAKER, — One of the leading architects of Mt. Morris, was 
born in the town of Nelson, Madison county, N. Y., January 2S, 1859. In 
1868 he removed with his parents to Mount Morris, N. Y. , and there attended 
the public schools. He attended the Normal school at Geneseo, graduating 
with the class of '81. He then entered the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, 
graduating with the class of '86. Upon his return from the University he 
farmed a partnership with his father under the firm name of A. M. Baker and 
Son, Civil Engineers and Dealers in vehicles, etc. In 1895 he was united in 
marriage with Miss Charlotte A. Goode, of Mount Morris. 



CHARLES S. LYNDE, — A prominent hardware merchant of Dalton, was 
born at Machias. Cattaraugus county, November 4, 1844. At the opening of 
the civil war and when only seventeen years of age he enlisted in Company D, 
lOSih Infantry. His company was stationed at Washington. His term of 
enlistment being for one year he re-enlisted and became a member of Company 
M, Second New York Mounted Rifles. This company was in active service at 
the front from the beginning of the struggle with the Southern forces until 
Lee's surrender at the close of the war. Soon after the date of his enlistment 
in this company they formed a part of the army under General Sheridan and 
participated in many notable battles, among which were the battles of Sputt- 
sylvania. Cold Harbor, North Anna, the Siege of Petersburg, both battles of 
Hatch's Run, Dinwiddle Court House, Five Forks, Farmville, Jetersville, and 
took a decisive part in the last engagement resulting in the surrender of Lee. 
During the battle of Dinwiddle Court House, Mr. Lynde was taken prisoner, 
but was released by the Union soldiers, the victors in the battle, after a brief 
captivity of one-half hour. He received his discharge at Petersburg, Va. , 
August 10. 1865. He then returned to Machias and took up the study of den- 
tistry and afterwards conducted an office in Machias and Franklinville. He 
then went west, and the year following he spant in travel through the western 
states, finally locating at Aurora, 111., where he conducted a hotel for some 
time. He also at a later date ran hotels at Jackson and Ionia, Mich., leaving 
the latter place in 1877. He came to Dalton and engaged in the hardware 
business with his biother James, with whom he remained until 1896, when his 
health failing, he sold his interest to his brother and in 1902 he again became 
the owner, this time the sole owner, of the business which he is now very suc- 
cessfully conducting. Mr. Lynde's marriage to Jennie Crane of Ionia, Mich., 
took place October 1, 1877, and they have had five children, as follows: Mamie 
E. A., now in the senior class at the State Normal school of Geneseo; Jennie, 
who was a twin to Mamie, died when two years of age; E. Maude, a teacher 



82 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

near Dalton ; John A., who assists his father in the store, and Blanche attends 
the Dalton school. Mr. Lynde has for many years taken a prominent part in 
local politics and in 1885 was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of 
Supervisor and during the second year was chairman of the board. He was 
one of the organizers of the Dalton G. A. R., was its commander for six con- 
secutive terms, and was at the head of the committee appointed to secure their 
new hall. He has been a trustee in the Dalton Methodist church for nine 
years. He has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his community. 
Thoroughly public spirited and with an unwavering confidence in the pros- 
perity of the village of Dalton, Mr. Lynde has at various times headed move- 
ments for the erection of modern buildings of a public nature. He was largely 
instrumental in bringing about the erection of the new Methodist church and 
was one of the leading spirits that gave to Dalton the new public school build- 
ing it so much needed. 



EMME LIGHT, — A native of Canada, was born at St. Edward, Lower 
Canada, November 28, 1847. His education was obtained at the district schools 
of the neighborhood, which he attended during the winter months, and in the 
summer season assisted his father in the care and management of the farm. In 
1861, when fourteen years of age. he went to Plattsburg, N. Y. , and during the 
three years following worked for J. W Bailey, a large nurseryman of that 
place. He then for a time worked in a saw mill in Plattsburgh. then took up 
the milling trade and eighteen months later secured a position as miller with 
the Boston Mill at Rochester, N. Y. , where he remained a number of years. 
He was employed at other mills in Rochester until 1874, when he c^me to 
Livingston county. He first located at Hemlock Lake, where he leased mill 
property and operated a grist mill until 1879, then came to Avon and purchased 
the site of the mill formerly owned and operated by Griffin and Dobney, loijated 
about three miles south of Avon village. This mill had shortly before been 
destroyed by fire. He erected upon this <;ite the present structure which is 
fully equipped with modern mill machinery of every description. In 1897 he 
opened a salesroom in the village of Avon, which he operates in connection 
with the mill. In addition to flour, feed and grain he also handles seeds and 
some produce. In 1872 he was united in marriage with Adeline Caswell, of 
Rochester, N. Y., and their family consists of John B., now superintendent of 
the mill, who married Jennie Harrington, of Rochester, N. Y., and has three 
children; Fannie, married Dennis Davin, a merchant of Avon, and they have 
two children; William, unmarried, is employed in the mill, as is also Frank, 
the next younger; and Addie and Harry are attending school in Avon. Mr. 
Light IS essentially a self-made man and a prosperous merchant. His early life, 
spent in hard unrequited toil on his father's farm, imbued within him the 
elements of industry which with natural thrift and an intelligent management 
of his business interests, has placed him among the leading business men of 
this vicinity. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 83 

EDWARD J. McLaughlin, — Of Caledonia, was born in Batavia, N. Y., 
September 10, 1868. He attended the public schools of that place and also 
learned the meat business, which he followed in that village until 1893, when 
he took the management of the Allen & Peet meat market on East Avenue, 
Rochester, N.Y., where he remained two years. He then removed to Caledonia 
where he has since resided. Upon his arrival here he purchased the old 
established meat business of Bostwick & Son, and he now enjoys a thriving 
trade which is largely owing to his thorough knowledge of the business and 
the esteem in which he is held by the citizens of Caledonia. 



JAMES B. FRAZER, — A well known citizen of Livingston county, was 
born in Springwater, February 26, 1S49. His grandfather, David Frazer, 
came to this section from Pennsylvania, cleared and subdued a portion of the 
wilderness, established a home and raised a large family. His son, David, Jr., 
the father of James B. , at the age of twenty-one purchased a farm in Sparta, 
which he successfully carried on for many years. He died in 1876, aged fifty- 
thiee. His wife, Maria Reamer, died in May, 1892, aged sixty-nine. 

James B. Frazer came with his parents to West Sparta as an infant and 
resided there until 1895. After his father's death the took possession of the 
homestead, to which he gave his attention exclusively until 1893, when he 
formed a partnership with his brother and established warehouses in Dansville 
for the sale of wagons and agricultural implements, since which time he has 
become identified with several successful business enterprises, among which is 
the hardware firm of Frazer, Green & Leadingham, of Geneseo, N. Y. He 
married August 20, 1874, Sarah VanMiddlesworth, of Cayuga county. N. Y. 
They have seven children, Nellie, Mary, Julia, Ethel, John, Grace and Mabel. 
Mr. Frazer has twice held the office of town collector and for ten years was 
supervisor of the town of West Sparta. He has also served as superintendent 
of the pour. He is a republican in politics, and well versed in the principles 
of his party. 



DR. CHARLES J. MILLS,- -A prominent and prosperous dentist of Mount 
Morris, is a native of Livingston county, having been born in the town of 
Springwater. January 12. 1844. His paternal grandfather, Jesse Mills, a native 
of Connecticut, left his home in the early part of the nineteenth century and 
journeyed westward. He located in Rochester, where he purchased real estate 
and passed the remainder of his days. Rochester at that time was but a grow- 
ing village and he was one of its early settlers. The land he purchased included 
that on which the Third Presbyterian church now stands and a large part of the 
property in that vicinity. He married a Miss Popeman, a native of France, 
where she grew to maturity and came to America as a music teacher. His son, 
Dr. Charles Mills the father of our subject, was born in Rochester, where he 



84 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

afterward received a thorough classical education. He also took up the study 
of medicine, but later studied dentistry in which he perfected himself and 
became one of the foremost dentists in Rochester. He was twice married, his 
first wife being Adeline Jennings, of !Macedon, a daughter of John Jennings, a 
native of Vermont, who migrated to Wayne county at an early day and settled 
at Macedon. Only one son, Charles J., was born to them. Mrs. Mills died at 
the early age of twenty-two. The son, Charles J., was cared for by an aunt 
until eleven years of age when the father was again married and he thereafter 
resided with them. Mr. Mills took for his second wife Harriet Chapman, of 
New York city. 

Dr. Charles J. Mills, our subject, first attended the district schools and 
afterwards the Rochester High school, which he left to enlist in the service of 
his country. On May 2. 1862, he joined Company E, 27th Xew York Infantry, 
which was immediately ordered to the front, their first engagement being the 
battle of Bull Run. After one year's service Dr. Mills was stricken with 
typhoid fever and was discharged. Upon his recovery he assisted Major 
Downey in raising Company E of the Thirteenth New York Volunteer Infantry 
and received the commission of second lieutenant. Preferring the cavalry 
service, he resigned and joined the Eighth New York Cavalry as sergeant of 
Co. M, remaining with that company until the close of the war. Sixty-eight 
different battles and skirmishes were participated in by this famous company 
and the Doctor was twice wounded. At the close of the war he witli his com- 
rades were present at the Grand Review, and he received his discharge in June, 
1865. He then returned to Rochester and began the study of dentistry. He 
first located at Lima, this county, where he resided until 1882, when he came 
to Mt. Morris, where he has since achieved success in the practice of his 
profession. Mr. Mills was several times appointed Aide-de camp on the Depart- 
ment and National staff, and in 1898 was chief mustering officer of the Depart- 
ment of New York, G. A. R. He has twice held the office of President of 
the Livingston county G. A. R. He was joined in marriage with Anna J. 
Artman, daughter of Abram Artman, a citizen of Sparta, on July 16. 1S67. 
Dr. Mills is a member of Union Lodge F. & A. M. of Lima, and the Mt. 
Morris Chapter. He is also a member of the Genesee Valley Lodge A. O. U. 
W. , and is Past Commander of J. E. Lee Post, G. A. R. 



OTIS L. CROSIER, — An influential citizen of the town of Portage, re- 
siding at Oakland, N. Y., was born at Searsburg, Bennington county, Ver- 
mont, December 14, 1832. His father, Joseph Crosier, also a native of that 
place, was a farmer and by trade a carpenter. In 1854, when twenty-one years 
of age, Otis came to Livingston county, locating at Mount Morris and for four 
years peddled goods through the surrounding country. He then traveled on 
the road for a commercial house for about four years, and in 1862 at the out- 
break of the Civil War enlisted in Company H, 136th Regiment New York 
Volunteers under General Wood. Among the many stirring engagements in 



BIOGRAPHICAL 85 

which his company took part was the battle of Gettysburg at which time Mr. 
Crosier was taken prisoner. He however escaped a few days later while being 
conveyed to Libby prison. He was shortly after this made wagon master of 
the train, which position he held until the close of the war, receiving his dis- 
charge in June, 1865. He then spent a year or two in Vermont and New 
Hampshire and returning located at Portage and for two years acted as travel- 
ing salesman for a harness oil concern. In 1868 he purchased a one-half in- 
terest in the foundry and agricultural manufacturing business of Henry Car- 
ter at Oakland, N. Y. , and five years later acquired the. entire business which 
he has since owned and which his son John S. now carries on. Mr. Crosier 
is a strong republican in politics and has served his town and county very 
acceptably in various offices. In 1885 he was elected a member of the Board of 
Supervisors. He has served as Highway Commissioner two years. Justice of 
the Peace two terms, town clerk three years and town assessor one year. Mr. 
Crosier has conscientiously and carefully administered the duties of the several 
offices to which he has been elected and has well earned the entire confidence 
of the community in which he has so long resided. He is a member of the G. 
A. R., and his membership with the Masons dates back to 1857. His mar- 
riage to Martha F. Lyon, of Portage, took place in 1869 and they have three 
children. John S. married Mattie Whitney, who died June 30. 1903. leaving 
one son. Dr. RoUin O., a practicing physician of Binghamton, married Eliza 
Wilson. Lottie L. married Rev. Frederick A. Hayward and they have one 
son. 



JAMES ANNIN, Jr., — Of Caledonia, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1850. 
When two years of age his parents removed to LeRoy, N. Y. where he after- 
ward received his education. In 1872 he turned his attention to a fish culture 
and at once established a fish hatchery at Caledonia, locating the same on the 
Campbell farm, on the west side of the famous Caledonia Spring creek. Today 
Mr. Annin's hatchery is the oldest private hatchery in the United States. He 
makes a specialty of raising fingerlings or yearlings, of Brook, Brown, Rain- 
bow and Lake trout. The trout eggs are sent to all parts of this country and 
many sections of the world. Private preserves in the Adirondacks and else- 
where are stocked each year from this hatchery. In 1880 Mr. Annin made an 
exhibit of trout eggs and fish hatching apparatus with the Fisheries Associa- 
tion, of Germany, in connection with the World's Fair held at Berlin in that 
year, for this exhibit he received a very beautiful diploma. From 1895 to 
1900 Mr. Annin was superintendent of all the New York State Fish hatcheries, 
and it is largely owing to his experience and management that they have been 
brought" to their present high standard. Mr. Annin was married in 1877 to 
Jeanette Campbell, of Caledonia. Their children are James C. Harry K. 
Marguerite and Howard. Joseph Annin, a native of Scotland, came to LeRoy, 
from Cayuga county N. Y.. in 1808, and had five children. His eldest son, 
William LeRoy Annin, was the first male child born in LeRoy. after that town 



86 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

recieved its name. His fourth son James Sr. , was bom at LeRoy in 1828 and 
in 1848 married Priscilla Keith, of Bos^ton, Mass. Peter Campbell, Mrs. 
Annin's grandfather, acquired from the Pulteney estate, in 1799, the property on 
which the Campbell and Aiinin families now reside. The first religious service 
of any kind, ever held in the town was held in the Campbell homestead. In 
1802 at the Campbell homestead, a^embled neighbors, who organized themselves 
into a religious and civil society. 



JOHN O. VAXDERBELT. — Of Geneseo, X. Y., a former manufacturer 
and dealer in harnesses and saddlery, and now conducting a livery and omnibus 
business, was born in Mansfield, Amsterdam county, N. J., March 1. 1826. 
His father, Cornelius Vanderbelt, a native of Milford, N. J., was a blacksmith 
by trade and was also noted as an expert in breaking colts and training horses 
for the turf. He made a specialty of manufacturing hand-made snaps which 
were quite celebrated at the time and much in demand. He died in 1833 at 
the age of thirty-two. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Olp, was 
a daughter of John Olp, also of New Jersey. Of the three children born to 
them, only one survives, John O. , the subject of this article. After the death 
of her husband. Mrs. Vanderbelt with her son removed to Mt. Morris, making 
their home with the former's parents on a farm which he had purchased near 
that village. 

John O. Vanderbelt passed his early days on this farm and received his edu- 
cation in the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of sixteen, he 
began learning the harness making trade at Mt. Morris and the year following, 
in 1843, he came to Geneseo. where he finished his apprenticeship. In 1848 he 
opened an establishment of his own and has since that time been identified 
with the business interests of Geneseo. Mr. Vanderbelt is widely known as 
the owner of a flourishing livery and stage establishment in Geneseo, which he 
has conducted a number of years. On December 31, 1849, Mr. Vander- 
belt married Helen M. Reed, a daughter of Mortimer Reed. They have had 
in all six children, as follows: Delia M.. now a widow; Elizabeth R. , the wife 
of A. R. Scott, editor of the Republican at Geneseo, having three children: 
John A., a druggist in Rochester, who married Lucy Maples, Mary, who died 
at the age of twenty-four, an accomplished young lady especially skilled in 
music; Charles R. a dentist in Rochester; and Hattie, who died at the age 
of three years. Mr. Vqnderbelt is a musician of considerable repute, having 
led the village band for many years. 



EDWIN B. OSBORNE, — Mount Morris, was born in Tompkins county, N. 
Y., January 22, 1853. His education was obtained in the Trumansburg village 
schools and also at the Poughkeepsie Business University. At the age of 
eighteen he took a clerkship in a hardware store in his native place, where he 



BIOGRAPHICAL 87 

remained eight years, during which time he acquired a thorough knowledge of 
the hardware business in all its branches. In 1883 he came to Mount Morris 
and purchased the hardware business which L. C. Brigham established in 1850 
and which Mr. Osborne has since profitably conducted. In 1871 he was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary Jackson, of Dunkirk, N. Y., and their family con- 
sists of five children: Jackson E. , Donald H., and Harold T., Clinton P. and 
Blanche H. 



FRED T. BRINKERHOFF — Until recently the leading photographer of the 
village of Nunda, N. Y., was born in the town of Mt. Morris, June 27, 1880. 
His early life was passed on the farm assisting his father until he became of 
age. As a boy he became interested in photography and early evinced an apti- 
tude for the profession. He became skillful as an amateur, producing some 
very excellent work. Upon reaching his majority he purchased the photograph 
establishment of F. E. Hewett at Xunda, which proved a profitable invest- 
ment. On November 1. 1903 he sold the photograph business to W. M. Robin- 
son who is conducting it at the same location. Mr. Brinkerhoff is now engaged 
as machinist with the Foot Manufacturing Company of Nunda. In 1902 he 
was joined in marriage with Lida Carney, a daughter of James Carney, a 
prominent farmer of Nunda. Mr. Brinkerhoff is a member of Nunda Tent, No 
2S2, K. O. T. M. 



ARCHIBALD WASSON— Was born in Buffalo. N. Y. , February 8, 1860. 
His education was obtained in the excellent public schools of that city. His 
father, Archibald Wasson, Sr. , was a native of Livingston county, having been 
born in Leicester where he spent the early years of his life. He followed book- 
keeping as an occupation for some time in Leicester, then removed to Cuyler- 
ville, N. Y. . where in company with Captain Delano he was for a time engaged 
in the mercantile business. Fire, however, destroyed their establishment and 
Mr. Wasson removed to Rochester, where for a number of years he served the 
Genesee ^'alley Canal Packet Company as its Rocliester agent. He continued 
in that capacity until the abandonment of the canal as a water way when he 
moved to Buffalo where he passed the remainder of his days. 

Archibald Wassun, our subject after completing his education, was for sever- 
al years engaged in hotel work in New York, Brooklyn, Chicago and St. Louis, 
and came to Mt. Morris in 1888 where he opened and still conducts an establish- 
ment for the sale of groceries. Mr. Wasson is a clean cut, active, enter- 
prising business man. He carries an inviting stock of staple and fancy 
groceries and intelligently caters to the better class of Ml. Morris trade. 
For the past five years he has assisted the New York Tribune in 
their laudable work of furnishing the little street waifs of New York a summer 
outing, where, away from the dirt and turmoil of a large city with an abun- 



88 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

dance of wholesome food, clean surroundings, aiid pure, healthy air to breathe 
they thrive and gain daily the strength they cannot acquire amid tenement 
surroundings. Mr. Wasson cares for about one hundred of these children each 
year. June 22, 1892, he was united in marriage with Amanda E. Perry, former- 
ly a teacher in the Mount Morris High schools. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wasson 
are members and supporters of the Methodist church in which the former has 
held the office of trustee the past ten years. He has also served as superinten- 
dent of the Sunday school for eleven years. 



BENJAMIN E. JONES, — Postmaster of Nunda, was born in the town of 
Portage, November 5, 1875, and received his education at the Nunda High 
school. In the fall of 1891 Mr. Jjnes was appointed deputy postmaster under 
H, C. Ellwood, republican, and also served under C. J. Swain, democrat, 
until ls99, when he received the appointment of postmaster, which office he 
still holds. Mr. Jones is a republican in politics and has always been keenly 
alive to the interests of that party and has been more or less identified 
with the party in the local field. As postmaster he fills the require- 
ments and performs the duties to the entire satisfaction of the commun- 
ity. He is a Master Mason, being a member of Keshequa Lodge, F. &■ A. M. 
No. 299 and the Nunda Lodge K. O. T. M. His marriage with Minnie 
Crotser, of Scottsburg, took place in July, 1898. 



THEODORE K. OLMSTEAD,— Cashier of ■ the Genesee Valley National 
Bank of Geneseo, N. Y. , was born at Lakeville, Livingston county, September 
16, 1836. His father, Lucius F. Olmstead, who was a native of \'ermont, was 
born March 10, 1796. Lucius F. Olmstead when a young man settled at Cayuga 
Bridge, N. Y. , and constructed two miles of the Seneca canal at that place. In 
1835 he erected the saw and flour mills at Lakeville, which he operated until 
1854. These mills are still known as the Olmstead Mills. In 1858 he removed 
to Geneseo, where he lived in retirement until his death, October 15, 1868, at 
the age of seventy-two. His wife, Emeline Willard, was born at Cayuga 
Bridge, November 1, 1805, and was a daughter of Loring Willard, of that place. 
They were married April 9, 1822, and became the parents of nine children, 
namely: LoringW., born March 12, 1823, died January 4, 1868, aged forty-five; 
Francis A. and Lucius Asher died in infancy; V. Francis E, , born December 
6, 1838, died September 29, 1S72; Franklin W., born December 15, 1831, died 
1868; William H.. born March 25, 1828, died December 25, 1848; MaryL., 
wife of A. W. Daniels, of Geneseo, born October 3, 1825, died December 20, 
1902; Charles E. D., born September 14, 1846, died at St. Paul, Minn., May 6. 
1899, and Theodore F. The mother died April 4, 1887, aged 82 years. 

Theodore F. Olmstead the sole surviving member of the family, received his 
education at the ciimmon school and the Canandaigua Academy. February 24, 



BIOGRAPHICAL 89 

J858, he entered the Genesee Valley National Bank as bookkeeper and teller, 
and June 25, 1881, was promoted to assistant cashier, which he held until 
December 17, 1884, when he was appointed to his present position, that of 
cashier. He has also been a director in the bank since 1877. Mr. Olmstead's 
executive ability and strict integrity are highly appreciated in Geneseo, where 
he has held numerous offices of trust. From 1870 to 1875 he served the county 
as its treasurer. He is secretary and treasurer of Temple Hill Cemetery and a 
member of the Board of Water Commissioners, of which he has been secretary 
and treasurer. He has also been a member of the Board of Health and for 
several terms served as village trustee. Fur sixteen yeais he was secretary and 
treasurer of the Geneseo Gas and Electric Light Company, and for a number 
of years was a director of the Geneseo Glove and Mitten Factory. On May 
13. 1861, Mr. Olmstead married Laura E. , daughter of the late Dr. Daniel 
Bissell. They have had but one child who died in infancy. 



TIMOTHY C. STEELE — Of Mount Morris, is a native of Hamilton, On- 
tario, having been born at that place August 26, 1858. When seven years of 
age his parents came to this place where they have since resided. Mr. Steele 
received a good common school education, after which he learned the broom 
making trade which he followed nine years. He then during the two years 
following clerked in a grocery store and while serving in that capacity acquired 
a thorough knowledge of the grocery business. Possessed of an ambitious 
spirit, Mr. Steele established himself in the grocery business in Mt. Morris in 
188S, which he has since conducted upon enterprising and progressive lines. 
In 1879 he was united in marriage with Susan Sturm, daugliter of Morris Sturin, 
of Dansville, N. Y. They have four children: George E., James LeRoy, 
Beatrice and Dorothy. 



JOHN C. WITT, — One of the leading citizens of the town of Mount Morris. 
was born at Schenevus, Otsego county, February 28, 1835. Isaac Witt, the 
paternal grandfather, migrated from New Hampshire to Maryland, Otsego, county 
New York, where he sought to establish a home for his family in the midst of 
the primeval forest. He bought a tract of wooded land and with the help of 
his sons succeeded in his efforts in clearing the land and bringing it to a state 
of cultivation. Here he passed the remainder of his days. His son. Samuel 
Witt, the father of JohnC. , after his marriage, removed to the town of Worces- 
ter, Oisego county, where he purchased a hotel, which he owned and managed 
until his death, which occurred when nearly eighty years of age. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Susan Gary, was a native of Vermont and a daughter of 
Isaac Caryl, a pioneer settler of Schoharie county. 

John C. Witt began his business career as clerk in a general store and cne 
year later embarked in business for himself. He was engaged in the mercan- 



W HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

tile business in Otsego and Schoharie counties until 1863, when he came to Liv- 
ingston county and tor a number of years was engaged in various enterprises in 
Nunda, and Dansville. In 1878 he became the owner of the farm in Mount 
Morris which he now occupies, a portion of which lies within the limits of the 
village. He at the same time purchased a boot and shoe store which he con- 
ducted a year or two and sold, and has since devoted his attention to his agri- 
cultural and stock raising interests, which he carries on at his several farms, 
one of which comprises fifty acres of the Genesee flats and is very rich and 
productive. Mr. Witt has been twice married. His first wife, Catherine Moak, 
of Schoharie county, died in Canaseraga in 1872. In 1874 he was united in 
marriage with Helen Baylor, of Mount Morris, and they have one son Caryl. 
An earnest Democrat, Mr. Witt has always been accorded a seat in the councils 
of his party. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors, 
which he filled with honor five terms. 



HON. WILLIAM Y. ROBINSON',— Member of assembly for this district, 
was born at West Sparta, December 14, 1843. His education was obtained at 
the common schools and the Nunda Academy. At the age of twenty-one he en- 
gaged in the drug and book business in the village of Nunda and has conduct- 
ed that business up to the present time. Mr. Robinson was elected a member 
of the Board of Supervisors in 1S79 and was re-elected the two succeeding 
years. He was elected a Member of Assembly in 1885 and 1886 from Living- 
ston county and was again elected to the same oflice in 1902. , 



JOHN F. DONOVAN, — Supervisor of the town of Mount Mc.rris was born 
in Madoc, Canada, August 3, 1859. When'two years of age his parents removed 
to Belleville, Canada. He attended the public schools of that place until nine 
years of age, when upon the death of his father in 1S69, he came to Mount 
Morris, where he attended a night school one season which completed his ed- 
ucational advantages. He at once procured employment with M. J. Noonan 
as an apprentice, where he learned the trade of cigar making and incidentally 
acquired a thorough and practical knowledge of the tobacco business in all its 
branches. He remained with Mr. Noonan seventeen years, when in 1886 he 
opened an establishment of his own in Mount Morris for the manufacture and 
sale of cigars and tobaccos. The wholesale department of this business is 
yearly increasing in magnitude and covers the territory embraced in Livingston 
and the adjoining counties. In 1877 Mr. Donovan was united in marriage with 
Theresa Bauer, of Mount Morris, and they have seven children: John ?rancis, 
Ruth, Louis, Hildegard, Edward, Mary and Gertrude. Mr. Donovan is in 
every way a self-made man. With little opportunity for schooling he began 
"paying his way'" at the early age of ten, and with a steadfast purpose at 
heart to be successful he has, through energy, ability and a strict application of 



H 



BIOGRAPHICAL 91 

business principles established a business which ranks today among the solid 
concerns of the village. Mr. Donovan has for a number of years been prom- 
inent in political circles. He has three times been elected to the office of sup- 
ervisor for the town of Mount Morris and holds that office at the present time. 
He has held the office of town clerk for several years and was clerk of the board 
of education five years. 



CHARLES AUSTIN, — A prominent agriculturist of Geneseo was born 
December 8, 1844. His parents, at that time resided on the Wicks farm near 
the village of Geneseo. He was educated at Temple Hill Academy which was 
followed by a course in the Rochester Commercial College. His father, Joseph 
Riley Austin came from Connecticut, with his parents in 1S13. The journey 
was made with an ox team and two ox carts strapped together. They forded 
the Genesee river at Rochester where the Main street bridge is now located. 
Russel Austin, the grandfather of Charles, was the first sheritt appointed after 
Livingston county came into existence. He also served as supervisor and 
superintendent of the poor. Joseph Austin was born in 1812. He, for a num- 
ber of years, conducted the Big Tree dairy farm for the Wadsworths, later pur- 
chasing the Wicks and finally the farm our subject now owns and occupies, 
lying in the eastern part of the village within its limits. Joseph Austin mar- 
ried Agnes Elizabeth Wylbasky, a native of Russia, who came to America when 
eight years of age. They had one son Cnarles. Joseph Riley Austin died 
January 25, J880, his wife having preceded him five years. Charles Austin, 
with the exception of two years spent as a clerk in a stationery store in Roch- 
ester, has always followed farming and dairying. He was joined in marriage 
with Prances A. McVicar of Conesus, N. Y. , December 12, 1867. Two chil- 
dren have been born to them, Lizzie E. who died when six years of age and 
Julian R. a conductor on the street* railway in Rochester. He married Sarah 
J. Tiffany of Medina, N. Y. , June 30, 1903. Independent in politics Mr. Aus- 
tin favors the old time Republican. He has held various elective offices among 
them that ot constable which office he held several years. He was for several 
years an assistant in the County House and also the Craig Colony for Epilep- 
tics where he remained two years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Austin attend the Epis- 
copal church of Geneseo. having been members of that church and society for 
the past sixteen years. 



BARNEY BEUERLEIN,- — A prominent merchant of Mount Morris is a 
native of Rhein, Prussia, Germany, where he was born July 2, 18SS. In 1872 
his father, Frederick Beuerlein, with his wife and four children, viz. Freder- 
ick, Jr., Barney, Michael and Elizabeth, took passage on the vessel, "Donan" 
at Bremen bound for America, where, at New York, they landed after a stormy 
passage of two weeks. Previous to leaving his native soil, Mr. Beuerlein had 



92 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

been a farmer and immediately on his arrival at New York he proceeded with 
his family to Dansville.N. Y., where he secured a farm and passed the remain- 
der of his days in quiet and contentment. 

Barney Beuerlein was then seventeen years of age, and farm life becoming 
distasteful to him he secured a position with a Dansville clothing merchant, 
with whom he was employed four years. In 1877 he came to Mt. Morris, and 
with Nicholas Johantgen engaged in the clothing business until 1882 when Mr. 
Beuerlein purchased his partner's interest and has since with the able assistance 
of his two sons conducted the business alone. He was married in 1880 to Miss 
Rosa Zwerger, of Rochester, N. Y. who died in 1885, leaving two sons, Fred- 
erick and Carl, who assist their father in the management of his business. He 
was again married in 1886 to Celia Myers, of Rochester, N. Y. , wlio died in 
1900, leaving three children; Agnes, Urben and Julia. Mr. Beuerlein took 
for a third wife Mrs. Catherine MuUin, of Mt. Morris, whom he married in 
October of 1902. 



JOHN FITCH, — A well known citizen of Oakland, in the town of Portage, 
was born September 20, 1823. His father Azel Fitch came to Oakland, at that 
time a part of Allegany county, in 1817. He came with Deacon Messenger 
and felled the first timber ever cut in that school distiict by a white man. He 
erected a saw mill and also built a grist mill, which was later run by Deacon 
Messenger. For a number of years he conducted a general store the first to be 
opened in Oakland, and ran it until 1851 when he engaged in tlie timber busi- 
ness, floating logs down the river to Rochester. He was the first supervisor 
elected in the town of Nunda when that town was a part of Allegany county. 
He was afterward elected to the Assembly from Allegany county and secured 
the passage of the bill authorizing the construction of the Genesee Valley 
canal. In 1840 he was appointed census taker of Allegany county and in that 
work his son John assisted. He married Mary Hill of Armenia. N. Y. and six 
children were born to them of whom John was the youngest. Of the members 
of this family all are dead excepting John and William Wayne (named after 
General Wayne) who now resides in California. In 1851 John Fitch took the 
store formerly conducted by his father and ran it four years. In 1856 he 
opened a wagon and blacksmith shop in Oakland, which he has successfully con- 
ducted until recent years. He married Anna M. Sweetman. a native of Dublin, 
who came to America with her parents when a child. The family located in 
Canada and in 1834 came to Portage. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch have been blessed 
with three children. Fredrica, now living in San Francisco. Cal.. George Azel. 
who resides in Washington and Mary married Thomas E. Bridge who recently 
died in the Klondyke. She has two children. John Fitch has been a life long 
Democrat and has at various times occupied elective offices. He held the 
office of Justice of the Peace for many years and was Supervisor of the town of 
Portage five years. For several years previous to the closing of the Genesee 
Valley canal Mr. Fitch held the office of superintendent of that canal from 



BIOGRAPHICAL 93 

Rochester to Olean and closed it up when it was decided to abandon it as a 
water way. Thus it was that the son closed the canal that the father was 
instrumental in opening. Later when the question of a railroad along its 
course was agitated, he with O. L. Crosier and the late J. M. Griffith, both of 
Oakland were delegates to Albany for the purpose of influencing legislation 
towards securing a railroad and were successful in their efforts. Mr. Fitch is 
a member of Kishequa lodge No. 299 F. & A. M. of Nunda. 



TRUMAN A. HILL.— Late of Mount Morris, was a native of Vermont, 
having been born at Sunderland Bennington county March. 1832. When four 
years of age his parents removed to Cataraugus county, N. Y., and a few years 
thereafter took up their residence at Wethersfield, Wyoming county, where his 
father purchased a farm. As a boy he attended the district schools of the 
neighborhood and later graduated from the Attica High school. He then 
assisted his father in the care of the farm until 1852 when he went to OakvUle 
Canada and there learned the trade of machine and pattern making. Mr. Bill 
was intensely interested in his trade and made it a constant study. He was 
careful and economical and during his apprenticeship saved some four hundred 
dollars from his wages. In 1855, with two others, he opened a foundry and 
machine =hop at Bradford. Canada, which they operated two years, when the 
shop was destroyed by fire. He then spent some time in the western states 
and in 1860 came to Mount Morris as foreman of the machine shop of Colonel 
Joseph Bodine, where he perfected his invention of the Bodine ^"rb.ne Water 
Wheel in which he has since held a half interest. In 1869, he wth Colonel 
Bodine embarked in the manufacture of stoves and farm machinery at JeRer- 
Ton Ci'tv Mo , which they conducted several years, Mr. Hill finally disposing 
of his int'erest to Col. Bodine. He then returned to Mount ^1°"'%^"^ ^^^ 
employed by Sleeper and Rockefellow for several years, during which tin e he 
nvented the "Missouri Grain Drill," which this firm has since manufactured 
nd p"t O" the market in quantities. In 1880 the firm of Sleeper and Rocke 
fellow was organized as a stock company and Mr. Hill became a ^^^c^. ho\6er. 
H was made foreman of the shops and retained that position -" 'l^^^. ^h^ 
he retired from business. November 20, 1855 he married Mary E- W"lcott and 
three children were born to them. His wife's death occurred May 17 1870 
His second marriage took place January 21, 1878 to ^-f^ J^^J^^'^"',,"/ 
Wethersfield, a si.ter of his first wife, and one child was '^^^^ ""^^.'"•^,^^'j, 
Hill died April 25, 1904 and is survived by his wife and four children. Albert 
T., Frank E., Edith M., and Eva E. 



CHARLES W WINGATE,-Of Avon, was born in the town of Rush, 
Ap'ntwS. His father George Wingate, is a native of England ^.n^ 
been born at Lincolnshire. He came to America in 1856 and settled at Rush 



94 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

where he conducted a farm for many years. He is now leading a retired life 
at Avon village. Charles W. Wingate was born and reared on a farm and has 
made progressive farming a study. For the past thirty years he has managed 
successfully the large 340 acre farm known as the "Storey"' farm, owned by 
Major William A. Wadsworth. This farm is devoted largely to dairying and 
is well adapted to that purpose. Mr. Wingate is a supporter of the Democratic 
party and has for years been an active worker and a prominent factor in local 
politics. He has for the past six years held the office of highway commissioner 
for the town of Avon. His marriage with Lenor Wilson, daughter nf Moses 
Wilson, of York, took place in 1887. They have two children. Lillian and 
Raymond. 



RICHARD M. JONES,- — A prominent and prosperous agriculturist of the 
town of Geneseo, was burn at Springwater, March 13, 1836. His father who 
also bore the name of Richard, was a native of New Hampshire. He learned 
the trade of clock making; and upon reaching his majority left his home in 
Pittsford, N. H., and came to New York state, locating in Ontario county, 
where he conducted a fo'jndry and also worked at his trade. He married Lucy 
A. Hickock daughter of William Hickock, of Ontario county. She was born 
in West Bloomfield and became the mother of twelve children, all of whom 
lived to maturity — Joseph, Carlos, Lucinda, John H., Caroline, Catherine, 
Myron R., Richard M., Henry C, Emily, James S. and Lucy. Tlie mother 
died in 1890 at the age of eighty-four years. Mr. Jones removed to Spring- 
water, Livingston county, shortly after his marriage and there resided and 
worked at his trade until his death in 1846. 

Richard M. Jones was but ten years of age when his father died and the 
family, being in straightened circumstances, he was obliged to seek employ- 
ment to aid in their support. He worked by the month for neighboring farm- 
ers until the outbreak of the civil war, when following the first call for volun- 
teers he enlisted in Company A, Third New York Cavalry. This was the first 
volunteer company of cavalry mustered in the United States service. Mr. 
Jones was with the Union Army during the three years course of the war, and 
his company engaged in nearly all the notable campaigns and battles during 
that trying period. He was once wounded by a ball which grazed his forehead, 
and twice had his horse shot from under bim. He was honorably discharged 
at Jones Landing on the James river, July 17, 1864. He returned home and 
for a time worked land on shares and afterward rented one of the Wadsworth 
farms, for nearly twelve years. In 1884 he purchased the farm he now owns, 
situated two miles east of the village of Geneseo, consisting of one hundred 
and twenty acres of rich, productive land. In 1865 he married Amanda A. 
Jennings, daughter of John Jennings of Springwater. They have two children, 
Caroline E., and Richard. Mr. Jones is a member of A. A. Curtis Post No. 
392 Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been commander. A Repub- 
lican in politics, Mr. Jones has served his town in various capacities and was 
elected a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1894. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 95 

JOHN M. PROPHET,— Of the firm of Winters and Prophet, of Mount 
Morris, is a native of New York, where he was born July 29, 1856. The schools 
of that city and later the University uf New York furnished liim an excellent 
education. He became identified in a business enterprise there with Mr. John 
C. Winters, also a native of New, York, and in 1879, having disposed of their 
business in that city, they came to Mount Morris and established the canning 
factory, which they have since developed into one of the largest concerns of its 
kind in the country, embracing as it does plants in Geneseo and Oakfield, N. 
y., equipped with modern machinery and having a combined capacity of 
10,000,000 cans of fruit and vegetables per annum. Four years ago this com- 
pany erected and installed a plant for the manufacture of tin cans used in their 
business. These are made in Mount Morris and furnish employment to many 
hands. John Prophet, the father of John M., came from England with his 
parents when si.\ years of age and became a resident of New York city, where 
he later became a successful merchant. His death occurred in 1868. His wife 
who survived him, formerly Ann Eliza Brady, was a descendant of the Brady 
family who settled in New York over two hundred years ago and were prominent 
in New York social and business circles. Her brother, Hon. William T. Brady 
for several terms held the ofTice of mayor of New Y'ork and was active in poli- 
tics during the early fifties. John M. Prophet married Margaret H. Knapp, 
of New York, in 1881. They have had eight children, of whom seven are liv- 
ing. The eldest, Margaret H., died in November, 1897, at the age of sixteen. 
Those living are John M. Jr., ;in assistant in his father's office, Clara Louise, 
Ann E., Wilson B., Marion H. , Eleanor B. and Marjnrie K. Mr. Prophet has 
always been thoroughly alive to the welfare of the town in which he resides, 
has taken an active interest in its government and is an anient supporter of 
public enterprises. He has held numerous public ofliicps, including those of 
trustee, and president of the village. In politics, he is a republican. He is a 
member of the Episcopal church of Mount Morris in which he has been warden 
for many years and is now senior warden. 



WILLIAM GUY MARICHAM,— Of Avon, N. Y., comes from one of the 
oldest of New England families. About the year 1660 Deacon Daniel Markham 
the first of this family of Markhams emigrated to America, from England, and 
settled at Cambridge, Mass. William Markham, the grandson of Deacon Daniel 
and great-grandfather of our subject, married Abigail Cone Wiley of East 
Haddan, Conn., in June, 1761. They removed to the western part of New 
York state and settled in what was at that time the town of Hartford, now the 
town of Rush, about five miles north of the present village of Avon. Eight 
children were born to them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Markham died about the 
year 1790. Their eldest son. Colonel William Markham, married Phoebe Dexter 
in 1775. They reared a family of ten children of whom Guy, the father of 
William Guy, was the eighth. Colonel Markham built the present family 
residence in 1804 and this is one of the few old landn)arks still standing, a 



% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

representative of the substantial homes of the early pioneers. Guy Markham 
married Eliza Williams, a daughter of John and Mercy (Weeks) Williams, 
descendants of an old colonial family. 

William Guy Markham was born at "Elm Place,"' the family homestead, in 
the town of Rush, September 2, 1836. His education was acquired in the Lima 
Seminary, after which he engaged in farming. In 1858 he engaged in the 
breeding of thoroughbred Durham cattle and in 1872 began making a specialty 
of American merino sheep. In 1876 he designed and prepared the American 
Merino Register, the first register of individual pedigrees of sheep ever pub- 
lished. He was elected President of the New York State Sheep Breeders and 
Wool Growers Association in 1877, succeeding Dr. Henry S. Randall, and has 
held that office continuously to the pre»ient time. In 1879 he was elected the 
first President of the American Merino Sheep Breeders Association and held 
that office five years. 

He held the office of secretary of the National Wool Growers Association, 
from 1876 to 1883. and was re-elected to the same office in 1894. The interests 
of those important associations were represented by Mr. Markham, who con- 
ducted the argument, for them, before the Tariflf Commission in 1883. In the 
latter part of the seventies he began the exportation of sheep to foreign coun- 
tries, and in 18/9 selected two hundred thoroughbred sheep for the Japanese 
government, which he delivered in person, afterward visiting China, India, 
Italy, France, Germany England and Australia in the interests of sheep breed- 
ing. Resulting from his long experience and excellent judgment Mr. Mark- 
ham has been frequently appointed as judge of cattle and sheep at the principal 
fairs of the country, and at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, in 1893, he 
acted as judge of American sheep. His exhibition of Rambouillet sheep from 
Prussia was regarded as the principal feature of the merino sheep exhibit at 
that fair. Mr. Markham has always aimed to breed to the highest standard of 
excellence and his success is but the natural outcome of years of intelligent 
labor and study. Mr. Markham has been Vice President of the State Bank of 
Avon since its organization, and is Secretary and Treasurer of the Pfaudler 
Company, one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the state. In 
1880 he was married to Josephine Foote, daughter of Warren Foote, of Rush. 
They have one daughter, Mary. Mr. Markham is a member of the Masonic 
order and the Knights Templar. 



THOMAS CLARK, — Of Caledonia, N. Y., was born in Wayne county, 
December 24, 1857. While he was still a child his parents removed to Scotts- 
ville, Monroe county, where he received his education in the district schools. 
At twenty years of age he accepted a position in a hotel at York as clerk, 
which he held until 1895, when he removed to Caledonia where he established a 
meat market, which he has since conducted with excellent success. From 1899 
to 1900 Mr. Clark conducted the Spring Creek hotel which he made famous by 
a series of fish dinners which were participated in from time to time by many 



BIOGRAPHICAL • 97 

people of note from Rochester and other cities. In 1883 Mr. Clark was joined 
in marriage with Mary O'Neil, of Scottsville. Their only child died when 
three years of age. Mr. Clark's father and mother were both natives of Ireland, 
where they were also married before coming to America. They arrived in 
New York about 1850 and immediately proceeded to Wayne county where they 
resided for a number of years. 



NATHANIEL P. COVERT, — A prosperous and well known agriculturist 
of the town of Ossian, is a descendant of one of the early pioneers of Living- 
ston county. His paternal grandfather, Frederick Covert, left New Jersey, 
his native state, and journeyed westward during the latter part of the eigh- 
teenth century. He located in the town of Ossian and was. it is supposed, the 
first settler in that town. In the midst of the primeval forest he erected a log 
cabin and began the work of clearing and reducing the land to a state of pro- 
ductiveness. The cabin was finally succeeded by a plank house and this in 
turn by a comfortable frame dwelling, in which he passed the remainder of his 
days. He reared a family of ten children, all of whom grew to maturity. 
His son, Frederick Jr., after reaching his majority purchased a farm in the 
town of Ossian, three miles west of the village of Dansville on which he resided 
until his death, which occurred in his sixty-seventh year. He mairied Ann 
Porter, daughter of Nathaniel Porter, the former owner of the farm, who 
acquired it from the government. 

Nathaniel Porter was a native of New Jersey, and when a young man came 
to Livingston county, first locating near Dansville. later coming to Ossian, 
where be purchased two hundred acres of forest land. Here he and his wife 
reared a large family of children and passed their remaining years, finally dis- 
posing of it to their son-in-law, Frederick Covert, Jr., and it is now owned by 
Freeman Covert, one of his sons. Nathaniel P. Covert is one of two sons of 
Frederick Covert, Jr., He was born on the farm in Ossian April 8, 1832, and 
during his early life assisted his father in its care and management. Later he 
purchased a farm in Ossian on which he has since resided. He makes a 
specialty of fine stock, in the raising of which he has been very successful. 
His farm is one of the best in the county, with a handsome residence and com- 
modious buildings for the storing of hay and grain, and housing of stock, and 
the land is constantly kept in the highest state of productiveness. He married 
Mariette Lemen, daughter of Thomas Lemen, a well known farmer of Ossian, 
and they have had four children, two of whom are now living Nellie Rowena 
married Bert A. Rowe, a farmer of Minnesota, and James L. , married Carrie 
McXinch, daughter of Gould McNinch of Ossian, and they have a daughter 
Ethel. Mr. Covert is a Republican in politics and in the years 1876 and 1877 
represented his town as a member of the county Board of Supervisors. 



98 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

OLIVER D. CLARK, — Was born at the Clark homestead, Geneseo, N. Y., 
April 13, 1858, and received his education at the Geneseo State Normal school, 
graduating in the class of 187-t. He then entered the Rochester University, 
graduating in 1884. From there he went to the Johns Hopkins College, grad- 
uating in 1889, and finished his schooling at Columbia University in 1893. 
His school days were interspersed with teaching. In 1884 and 1885 he taught 
as principal in the schools of Victor, N. Y., and from 1885 to 1888 at Baldwins- 
ville, N. Y., as principal. His last and present engagement as a teacher is at 
the Brooklyn High School as Professor of Biology and Natural Science. July 
6. 1888 he was united in marriage with Elizabeth H. Buzzell, a daughter of 
Charles H. Buzzell, a resident of Rushville, N. Y. They have had three chil- 
dren: Oliva L. , who died at the age of four and one-half years; Elizabeth A., 
born February 15, 1890; and Helen L., born March 2, 1895. Isaac A. Clark, 
father of the subject of this article, was born in Germantown, Pa., March 27, 
1816. In the early part of his life he was a school teacher and was the author 
of a series of mathematical works. He received his education at Temple Hill 
seminary and the Canaiidaigua Academy. On December 5, 1849, he was 
married to Sarah Durfee, a daughter of Oliver Durfee, of Palmyra, N. Y. 
They had five children: Lucina D. , who died in August, 1864; Oliver D., 
Elizabeth R., born July 23, 1862, married William H. Payne, :M. D. , a profes- 
sor at the Michigan University; and Lucy D. , born July 10, 1865, married 
William C. Albertson of New York, and they have one child, Robert D. Mrs. 
Payne and Mrs. Albertson are both graduates of the Geneseo State Normal and 
of the University of ^lichigan. The death of Isaac A. Clark occurred Decem- 
ber 13, 1899, the week of their golden wedding anniversary. 



MICHAEL C. BRADLEY, — A prominent dentist of Avon, N. Y., was born 
at Holley, Orleans county, N. Y., March 11, 1867. While an infant his parents 
removed to Rochester, N. Y., where later he attended the city schools. In 
1885 he commenced the study of dentistry with Dr. Buchanan, of Rochester, 
remaining with him until November, 1889, when he commenced the practice of 
his profession at Avon, N. Y. Realizing the need of a better education, he 
decided to enter the Buffalo University, where he took the dental course and 
graduated in 1899. During his college course he continued his practice, divid- 
ing his time between his office and the University and studying evenings, 
thereby being enabled to keep up with his classes. February 2, 1889, Dr. 
Bradley was united in marriage with Miss Frances Agnes Wartman, a resident 
of Rochester. They have four sons, Harold Wartman, Percival Gould, Merton 
Herkimer and Courtney Simmons. 



WILLARD P. SCHANCK, — A prosperous farmer and dairyman of the 
town of Avon, was born at Greece, Monroe county. March 28, 1862. He 
attended the Union schools of Pittsfoid and later the Rochester University. In 
1883 he purchased the John Hillman farm of 125 acres situated one mile east of 



BIOGRAPHICAL 99 

Avon, on which he has since resided. This is in many respects a model farm. 
Naturally rich, the soil is kept in the highest state c£ productiveness by artifi- 
cial and natural fertilization. The farm is well stocked, Mr. Schanck having 
bred and imported Ayrshire cattle for a number of years now has one of the 
finest herds of pure bred stock in the country. October IS, 1884, he married 
Hannah A. Loughburrough, of Pittsford, and they have had one daughter Lura, 
who died and was buried on her fifth birthday in 1891. His paternal grand- 
father, John Schanck, was a native of Pleasant Valley, New jersey, and served 
as captain in the Revolutionary war. So vigorous was he in the discharge of 
his duties that a price of tifty guineas was pUtced upon his head by the British 
government. He married ilaria Dennison, of Pleasant Valley, and ihey had 
thirteen children, of whom nine were sons. Hendrix, the eighth son, was 
born and reared a farmer. He married Sarah Schanck, of Freehold, N. J., 
and afterward removed to Brighton, (now a part of the city of Rochester,) 
where he purchased 150 acres of land a large portion of which he devoted to the 
culture of peaches, and for many years was known as the "Peach King." They 
had eleven children, all of whom lived to maturity. They were Peter, Mary, 
Sarah, Lafayette, Elizabeth, John, Gertrude, Cassie, William, Henry and 
Adelia. John, the sixth son, was born at Pleasant Valley, in 1825. He mar- 
ried Mary Jane Pardee, of Irondequoit, Monroe county, and had two children, 
Sarah and Willard P. Sarah married C. A. Seaman, a citizen of Honeoye 
Falls, where thev now reside. 



LOVETTE P. WEST, — A former well known citizen of the village of 
Lakeville and town of Livonia, was born December 24, 1841. His grandfather, 
Hezekiah West, a native of Connecticut, was killed at an early age by, the falling 
of a tree. His widow and nine children then removed to the state of New 
York. Erastus West, the third eldest of the family, was born in Hartford, 
Conn. At an early age he developed a decided talent for mechanism and 
secured a position in a factory in Pennsylvania. While engaged at this place 
he invented a carding machine which was made in the factory and put on the 
market in quantities. In 1815 he journeyed by wagon to Livonia and upon 
their arrival found only a few white families in the locality, which was still a 
favorite hunting ground of the Indians. Soon after their arrival in Livonia, 
Mrs. Suphronia Bucklin West died, leaving three children: Perry, DeForest 
and Experience. Shortly after the death of his wife Mr. West returned to 
Pennsylvania and married Lucy M. Burns, who was born in that state May 6. 
1800. The young bride accompanied her husband to his home in Livonia on 
horseback. Nine children were born to them: Lovette, Ziba H. , Covil G. 
who died at the age of nineteen, Lucy M., Elisha, Jonathan B., Frank G., 
Erastus N. and Thomas Henry. The father died at the age of seventy and 
the mother was eighty-eight years of age at the time of her death. February 
23, 1888. Lovette P. West obtained his early education in the schools of 
Livonia and later took a course in Poughkeepsie, "Eastman" Business College. 



100 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

He afterward became travelling salesman for the firm of Johnson and Company, 
with whom he remained eighteen months. He then purchased the interests of 
the other heirs to his father's estate. For three years he occupied the position 
of foreman of a manufacturing concern in Jeffersonville, Indiana. On return- 
ing to Lakeville he embarked in a mercantile enterprise which he carried on 
successfully for eleven years. Mr. West was the prime mover in accomplishing 
the building of the railroad from Lakeville to Conesus Lake Junction, which has 
been of inestimable value to the community. This road, of which he became 
President, was in 1886 sold to the Erie Railroad Company. In 1869 he married 
Hattie M. Dimmick, daughter of Shubael Dimmick. of Susquehannah county. 
Pa. Mrs. West's paternal grandfather was an officer holding the rank of Cap- 
tain in the Revolutionary army. Mr. and Mrs. West have reared five children: 
Harry F., Erastus L. , Charles S. , Florence L. and Livingston D. Mr. West 
was a republican and cast his first vote for President Lincoln. He has held the 
office of postmaster, at Lakeville and for many years served as Justice of the 
Peace. He was a valued member of the order of Masons, having joined that 
society many years ago. His death occurred March 6, 1904. 



EVERETT DOTY,— Of the firm of Belden and Company Incorporated, has 
been a resident of the village of Geneseo since 1882. His father, George W. 
Doty, was born in Hamlin, Monroe county, N. Y. He married Phebe B. 
Whipple, a daughter of Job Whipple, also of Monroe county, to whom was born 
one son, E. Everett. George W. Doty died in 1864 and his wife. Phebe B. 
Whipple, died in 1898. E. Everett Doty was born at Hamlin. N. Y., July 1, 
1862. He attended the public schools of the neighborhood and later took a 
course in the Brockport Xormal school. When nineteen years of age he came 
to Geneseo and entered the office of Belden and Company, produce dealers as 
clerk and later became a member of the firm. He was joined in marriage, 
June 30, 1887, with Mary Mclntyre, a daughter of Levant C. Mclntyre. of 
Batavia, a former president of the First National bank of that place. Four 
children have been born to them. Lawrence E., born in 1889. Harold A., 
born in 1892, Kenneth M., born in 1896 and Robert L., born in 1903. In 1897 
the firm of Belden and Company Incorporated was organized and Mr. Doty 
became president of the new company, which office he still holds. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Ooty are closely identified with the Presbyterian church of Geneseo, 
of which they have been members for many years. 



JOHN L. WHITE. — ^Was born in the White homestead at Mount Morris, 
April 18, 1869. His father, George White, having lost his parents, sailed with 
his brother from Ireland when only nine years of age and his brother thirteen. 
They landed in New York and came first to Ramsey's. N. Y., where they secured 
employment and remained working on various farms until 1851 when George 



BIOGRAPHICAL 101 

came to Mt. Morris, where he purchased land and established a home. With 
keen insight, he chose for his location the rich bottom land lying near the vil- 
lage, this soil so rich and productive, under his management soon paid for 
itself and he was enabled to purchase more land, which he did from time to 
time and the farm today comprises over 600 acres, all under a high state of cul- 
tivation, and owned and managed by his two sons, John L. and George. His 
family consisted of a wife and five children: George, Mary, John L., Alma 
and Rachel who died in 1881. John L. White married Florence L. Brown, of 
Rochester, and they have two children. Donald Freeman and an infant. 



JOHN M. McVICAR, — A prominent citizen of Conesus, N. Y., and dealer 
in wagons and agricultural implements at that place, was born May 6, 18S8. 
His early education was received at the Conesus school and was followed by a 
course in the State Normal school at Geneseo, N. Y. After leaving the Nor- 
mal he devoted some seven or eight years to teaching, after which he engaged 
as a clerk in a Conesus store where he remained about twelve years. In 1899 
he purchased a lot, erected a building and embarked in the agricultural imple- 
ment business which has proved a financial success and has developed into one 
of the largest implement concerns in the county. Mr. McVicar has also 
achieved some prominence in the field of local politics. He is now serving a 
second term as town clerk and in the fall of 1903 was a candidate on the Demo- 
cratic ticket for the office of sheriff and although defeated he is deserving and 
received much credit for the clean, vigorous campaign he waged. He has been 
identified with the K. O. T. M. , as its record keeper since its organization in 
1895. His marriage to Miss Grace E. Sanford, daughter of James V, Sanford 
of Newark, N. J., occurred in 1884 and they have two sons, George and Ken- 
neth Both Mr. and Mrs. McVicar are members of the Universalist church, 
the former having been trustee of the church for the past fifteen years. His 
father John McVicar, was also a native of Livingston county, having been 
born 'in the McVicar homestead near Scottsburg, N. Y. For seventeen years 
he conducted a hotel at Conesus and also speculated in live stock which he 
shipped to the eastern markets. Ke was an energetic, enterprising citizen an^d 
was well known throughout this section of the country. He died November ^ 
1899, aged 76 years. His wife, formerly Elizabeth Thorpe, of Conesus, is still 
living and makes her home in that village. 



HARLEM G. CHAMBERLAIN,— A retired farmer and well known citizen 
of the town of Mount Morris, was born in West Sparta, March 20, 1838^^ His 
grandfather, John Chamberlain a native of Vermont, emigrated to the Empire 
state and settled in Cayuga county. He married Lydia Horsford, also a native 
of New England, who after the death of Mr. Chamberlain resided with her son, 
Harlem G. Sr., the father of our subject. Harlem G. Chamberlain, Sr. was 



102 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

born and reared in New England. When a young man he came to this county 
and purchased eighty acres of timber land in West Sparta. There he erected 
a log cabin in which he and his young wife began their married life and in 
which were born nine of their eleven children. He cleared and improved his 
farm, encountering all the difficulties and obstacles under which the early pio- 
neers labored, and in time replaced the log cabin with a substantial frame house 
in which he resided a number of years. He subsequently purchased a farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres at Union Corners, in the town of Mount Morris, 
where he remained until his death, which occurred at the age of seventy-three. 
His wife, formerly Anna Bush, a native of Cayuga county, survived him. Nine 
children were born to them, namely, Emily, Orsamel, Amplius P., Albert O., 
Alonzo B., Lavina B. , Lucetta L. , Harlem G., and Lucinda R. Harlem G. 
Chamberlain obtained an education in the public schools of Mount Morris. 
He assisted his father on the farm, remaining with him until the latter's death, 
when he removed to the village of Mount Morris, where he resided and at the 
same time was engaged in farming on lands lying within the limits of the vil- 
lage. In 1877 he disposed of that property and purchased the farm on which 
he now resides, consisting of one hundred and ninety-three acres of the rich 
bottom land of the valley. This land he has brought to the highest point of 
productiveness. In August 1862, Mr. Chamberlain enlisted in Company F., 
136th New YorU Volunteer Infantry. This was one of the most active of the 
New York regiments and took part in twenty-three engagements. He received 
an honorable discharge at the close of the war in June, 1865. He was joined 
in marriage with Emma A. Sherwood, a daughter of Rev. Abijah Sherwood, a 
Baptise minister of Tioga county. Pa. There have been born to them four 
children; Anna, Fanny, Ella and Carl. Mr. Chamberlain, while still residing 
on his farm, is not now its active manager, having a few years since delegated 
that work to other hands. 



JOHN H. HUGHES, — Manager of St. John hotel, Nunda, N. Y. , is a native 
of that village, where he was born May 16, 1855. He early became identified 
with the business interests of the town, having in 1877 established a restaurant 
in a portion of the building he now occupies as a hotel. A few years later 
larger accommodations were secured adjoining the rest;jurant and the place was 
converted into a hotel and named the St. John. This hotel enjoys a most lib- 
eral transient trade and also provides for a large local patronage. September 
15, 1880, Mr. Hughes was joined in marriage with Miss Margaret Fitzgerald, of 
the town of Portage and they have one son, John F. Mr. Hughes has for years 
been prominent in local politics and is an active worker for the success of the 
Democrat party. 



JAMES E. LOCKINGTON, — A successful cigar manufacturer and whole- 
sale tobacco dealer, of Lima, N.Y., was born in that village September 4, 1854. 
After obtaining an education in the common school he engaged with D. E. 



1 



BIOGRAPHICAL 103 

Walker, a cigar maker of Lima, as an apprentice and remained with him a num- 
ber of years. In 1877 he purchased the cigar manufacturing business, tlien 
owned and conducted by A. Crandall and Company, to which in later years he 
added the wholesaling of tobacco, and has since managed the business with a 
degree of efficiency and force that placed it at once upon a solid financial foot- 
ing and resulted in an enlargement of his field of operations and consequent in- 
crease of trade. His goods may now be found in the leading establishments 
of Livingston and adjoining counties. In politics, Mr. Lockington is a demo- 
crat and has devoted considerable of his time and talents in an able performance 
of the duties of the various offices to which he has been elected. He was twice 
elected to the office of Supervisor of the town of Lima, for two terms he served 
as sheriff's deputy, and for five years he has held the office of town collector. 



FRANK FIELDER, — Cashier of the Citizens Bank of Dansville and one of 
the prominent and influential citizens of that place, is a native of England, hav- 
ing been born at Brighton, England, in July 1834. His paternal grandfather, 
Richard Fielder, of Tenterden, Kent, England, was the owner of the famous 
old Woolpack Inn of that borough, where were held the county assises. His 
paternal grandmother was Catherine Cage Fielder, of Milgate Park, Bearstead 
near Maidstone, Kent. When Frank was a lad of thirteen years, his father, 
Charles Lawrence Fielder, with his family consisting at that time of Eliza 
Hooker Fielder, his wife by second marriage and four children; Charles Sid- 
ney and Alfred, aged respectively eighteen and ten years, Rowena an infant 
and Frank; came to America and located at Islip, Long Island, where they 
remained for a time and removed to Fowlerville, Livingston county. Frank 
Fielder received a practical education in the public schools and later engaged 
as clerk in a store at Fowlerville. During the years 1857-8 and 9 he was em- 
ployed by the firm of H. C. Blodgett and Company of Rochester. N. Y. , and the 
two years following he was engaged in the mercantile business for himself at 
Islip. In 1862 he came with his family to Dansville, where he has since resided. 
For a number of years Mr. Fielder was in partnership with his brother, 
Charles S., in the dry goods business in Dansville, and after the latter's death 
he continued the business which under his management prospered and grew to 
large proportions. The failure of the old First National Bank in 1887, and 
previous to that the closing of the Dansville Bank, had left the village without 
banking facilities of any kind, a condition of affairs not only inconvenient but 
dangerous to the business interests of the place, therefore the establishment of 
a reliable banking institution became imperative. Mr. Fielder with the co- 
operation of several of the leading business men of the town took the matter in 
hand and with characteristic energy proceeded in the organization of a bank- 
ing company. As a result the Citizens Bank of Dansville was established, with 
a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, and at the first meeting of the board of 
directors Mr. Fielder was selected as cashier, a position he holds today and is 
eminently fitted to fill. Under his careful conservative management, this bank 



104 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

holds a position in the front rank <>£ similar institutions in the state. Mr. 
Fielder has always taken an active interest in educational matters. He was 
formerly a trustee of the Dansville Seminary, and took a leading part in the 
contest which culminated in the establishment of the free school system for 
Dansville in 1883, Since that time he has been a member of the Board of 
Education, of which he has been presiOent for several years. He was largely 
instrumental in the establishing of the Livingston Circulating Library in 1874 
and became president of its board of trustees. In 1894 he, with others, 
succeeded in converting this library into a free public library. 

Mr. Fielder is a valued member of the Livingston County Historical Society 
and in 1894 served that society as its president. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fielder 
are members of the Presbyterian church, the former having held the position 
of trustee or elder for many years in that church. Mr. Fielder has twice been 
married. In 1860 to Ortha O. Beach, who died in May 1879, leaving three 
children, Ortha Belle, now a teacher of English literature in the East Denver, 
Colorado, high school. Frank Sidney married Martha feller Irwin, of Albany, 
and is now a successful physician in New York city; Josephine married Bur- 
roughs Edsall, of Colorado Springs, Colo. Burroughs and Josephine Edsall 
have three children, Clarence Sidney, Thomas and Catherine Belle. Mr. Fielder 
was married to his present wife, formerly Mrs. Adelaide Swift Carpenter of 
Falmouth Mass., in August 1886. 



HERBERT J. SCHMITZ, — A native of Prussia, was born December 31, 
1845. His education was begun at the Gymnasium of Germany from which he 
graduated in 1863. Four years later he came to America, locating in New 
York, where he secured employment with a firm of importers. In 1872, owing 
to ill health, he decided to spend a year on a farm near Saratoga, N. Y. , and 
the following year he accepted the position of teacher of French and German at 
Ingham University, LeRoy. N.Y. , remaining there until 1875. when he returned 
to Germany and finished his University course, later receiving the degree. P. 
H. D., at Strasburg. In the winter of 1877, he was tendered the position of 
principal uf Ingham University, which he accepted and continued in that 
capacity four years. He then resigned to accept the position he now occupies 
in the State Normal School at Geneseo, N.Y., as teacher of chemistry, physics 
and natural science. Dr. Schmitz was married in 1881 to Anna M. Smith, 
daughter of Timothy A. Smith of Watertown, N. Y. 



FRANK J. ALVERSON, — A prominent attorney of Dansville, N. Y., was 
born July 20, 1867. In 1887 he entered the law ofl^ce of J. M. McNair of Dans- 
ville, as a student, remaining with him about three years. He then studied 
with John A. VanDerlip and later with Bissell and Foss. He was admitted to 
the Bar at Rochester in April, 1893 and has been in active practice at Dansville 



1 ■ 



■'■raHflf- -M 




BIOGRAPHICAL 105 

since that time. In March, 1891 while still pursuing his studies, he was elect- 
ed Justice of the Peace. He has also served two terms as police justice. July 
19, 1893, Mr. Alverson was united in marriage with Maria Remmel, daughter 
of Frederick Remmel, a business m.in of Corning. N. Y. They have one 
child, Donald, born June 12, 1900. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 
115, F. and A. M., and Dansville Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M. 



AMASA HARWOOD MARTIN,— The eldest child of Alexander and Ruth 
(Harwood) Martin, was born at North Blnomfield, N. Y. , June 19, 1824, and 
died September 23, 1898 on the farm, in the town of Lima, where he had lived 
for hfty-three years. He was a resident of that town for more than seventy 
years, and was well known as a progressive farmer and successful business man. 
His hospitable home and its surroundings, indicate his interest and delight 
in that which tends to make life enjoyable, and amid such surroundings his 
years were passed. He received his education at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. 
After leaving school he engaged in mercantile pursuits but subsequently adopt- 
ed the more congenial occupation of farming. He was a member, and liberal 
supporter, of the Universalist Church at North Bloomfield and for many years 
was trustee and treasurer of the Society. He was also trustee, and for several 
years president of the board of trustees, of the Clinton Liberal Institute at 
Fort Plain, N. Y. He was married. May 16, 1854, at Hague, Lake George, 
N. v., to Julia Ann, daughter of Nathaniel and Charlotte (Harwood) Garfield; 
of this marriage there were three children, Jane Elizabeth (Mrs. George W. 
Atwell.) Alexander who married Mary B. Houghton of Little Falls, N. Y. , 
and Dean Garfield, who married Martha Windecker, of Little Falls, N. Y. 
Mr. Martin was of New England ancestry. His paternal grandfather. Stephen 
Martin, was born at Norwich, Conn., January 26, 1761; in May 1777, at the age 
of sixteen years, he enlisted at Mansfield, Conn., in the Continental Army, 
and was discharged in 1780; he married March 27, 1782, Bethiah R. Barrows of 
Mansfield, Conn. Alexander Martin the ninth child of this marriage and fath- 
er of Amasa H. , was born at Paris, N. Y., January 10, 1800, and died, in the 
town of Lima. August 8, 1877. He married. March 26, 1823, Ruth Harwood 
who died July 21. 1875; she was the daughter of Simon and Ruth (Hall) Har- 
wood of Pittsford, Vermont. For almost a century the home of the family 
has been in the town of Lima, and four generations have been identified with 
its history. 



ALFRED L. VANVALKENBURG, — One of the leading merchants of Dans- 
ville, N. Y. , has been identified with the business and social interests of Dans- 
ville since 1895. He was born in Wayland, April 25, 1861, and a liberal educa- 
tion which included a course in the Geneseo State Normal school, amply pre- 
pared him for a successful business career. He first conducted a general mer- 



106 HISTORY OP"^ LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

chandise business at Cuylerville, N. Y., until 1889 when the Singer Sewing 
Machine Company appointed him as their representative with headtjuarters at 
Cleveland, Ohio. In 1895 he established his present business in Uansville, 
which has since developed into one of the largest musical establishments in 
Western New York. In 1883 he was united in marriage with Cora S. Johnston, 
of Geneseo. N. Y., daughter of the late Lawrence Johnston, of Webster, N. Y., 
and their family consists of a son and daughter, Earl W. and Mazie R. Mr. 
VanValUenburg is prominently identified with a number of social organizations. 
He is at present Prophet of the order of Red Men, a member of the Maccabees, 
Odd Fellows, Haymakers, Sons of Veterans and the Protective Fire Company 
No. 1. Mr. Van Valkenburg is a thoroughly public spirited citizen, progres- 
sive in his ideas, and a valued member of the business fraternity of the village 
of Dansville. 



PROFESSOR L. N. STEELE,— Principal of the Mount Morris High school. 
has held that important office since the fall term of 1896, coming here from 
Lyons, N. Y., where he had served two years as vice principal of the public 
schools of that place. Prof. Steele was burn at East Bloom Held, N. Y. . in 
1868. His education was begun in the East Bloomfield Union school, after 
which he entered the Normal school at Brockport, N. Y. , graduating in 1889 
and in 1893 he graduated from Hamilton College. His thorough educational 
training, together with a systematic course of self culture, has well fitted hinv 
for the responsible position he occupies. The Mount Morris High School of 
today comprises nine grades and a high school with thirteen teachers in all, 
and from 520 to 540 scholars in regular attendance. The academic department 
has more than doubled in attendance since 1896, when Prof. Steele became Prin- 
cipal. In 1897 an addition was built to the main building — which allowed an 
increase of three grades over six, the former number — two recitation rooms a 
library and an office for the superintendent. The present preceptress is Miss 
Laura Mills Latimer, a graduate of Syracuse University, and lier assistant is 
Miss Fannie Baker, a graduate of the Geneseo Normal School. 



CHARLES W. GAMBLE, — A prominent attorney of Mount Morris was born 
July 23, 1869. His preliminary education was obtained in the High School of 
that place and later he entered the University of Rochester, graduating from 
the classical course of that institution in 1892. He then took up the study of 
law with his father with whom he remained three years as a student, when 
after having been admitted to the bar he became a partner. Upon the death 
of his father in April, 1896, Mr. Gamble succeeded to the entire practice. In 
June, 1897, he was joined in marriage with Miss Myda Welch, and they have 
two children: Dorothy Shull, and Katherine Harriet. Mr. Gamble has held the 
office of Justice of the Peace seven years and has served as police justice of 



BIOGRAPHICAL 107 

the village. He has also served as railroad commissioner fur the town of 
Mount Morris two years. He is one of the enterprising young attorneys of the 
county and has met with merited success. He is a member of F. & A. M. 
Lodge No. 122, Bellwood I. O. O. F. and the K. O. T. M. His father, the late 
Thomas G. Gamble, was an energetic, forceful attorney, prominent in political 
and social circles. He was born in the town of Groveland, this county, Decem- 
ber 21, 1834. His wife, formerly Harriet Wisner was a daughter of Ira Wis- 
ner, of Nunda, and a niece of the late Reuben P. Wisner, who achieved prom 
inence as a lawyer in this county. 



WILLIAM KRAMER, — One of Dansville's progressive and public spirited 
citizens, is a native of Germany, Gettresbach, province of Hessen IJarmsladt, 
being the place of his birth, and July 31, 1842 being the date. Bernard Kra- 
mer, his father, learned the trade of cooper, which he followed in his native 
country until 1847 when he came to America bringing his eldest son, Adam 
with him. He settled for a time in Dansville where he worked at his trade 
until 1849 when he and his son went to New Orleans, and while there his sight 
became impaired and he returned to his family in Germany. In 1856 after 
recovering his sight he returned with his wife and children to Dansville where 
he followed his trade till the time of his death in April, 1872, at the age of sev- 
enty-two. His wife whose maiden name was Eva Elizabeth Freidel was a 
native of Germany and died in Dansville, aged seventy three. They had five 
children, as follows; Adam who died in California in 1858; Catherine, who 
married Louis Hess, of Ottawa, 111; Fred, George and William. 

William Kramer came to Dansville at fourteen years of age and soon secured 
employment, first as clerk in a grocery store and later in a clothing store. In 
1862, filled with patriotism and a strong desire to assist in the protection of 
his adopted country's honor he enlisted in Company K 130th Regiment New 
York Infantry. This regiment in the fall of 1863 was mounted and united with 
the cavalry forces of the Potomac and thereafter known as the First New York 
Dragoons. Mr. Kramer was promoted to Corporal in 1862, to sergeant in 1863, 
and to sergeant-major in 1865. He was wounded the 10th of May. 1864, by a 
minnie ball at Beaver Dam Station, Va. , which necessitated his confinement in 
a hospital for six weeks. At the close of the war he received his discharge at 
Cloud's Mills, Va. in July, 1865. He then returned tu Dansville and accepted 
a position as clerk in a clothing store, where he remained until 1872. when he 
formed a co-partnership with his brother Fred and established a clothing busi- 
ness in the Krein block under the name of Kramer Bros. William Kramer pur- 
chased his brother's interest in the business in 1886 and continued alone until 
1893 when he admitted his son Fred as a partner, the firm name being William 
Kramer and Son. Mr. Kramer married Margaret Huber, of Dansville, and 
their family consists of six children, four of whom are living: Mary E. who 
married Edward C. Schwingel of Buffalo, N. Y. : Fred L. ,CarlB. , and 
Florine. William died at the age of eighteen and a twin sister at the age of 



108 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

three months. Mr. Kramer is a member of the Masons Lodge and Chapter, 
and tlie Odd Fellows. He has been commander of Seth N. Hedges Post G. 
A. R., and officer of the day. For several years he has been a member of the 
Roard of Education and has served his village, town and county in various 
capacities from corporation clerk to supervisor. He is president of the Mer- 
chants and Farmers' National Bank of Dansville. 



LEWIS C. O'CONNOR, — A prominent attorney, and postmaster of Geneseo, 
was born at LeRoy, N. Y. , January 17, 1870. When four years of age his 
parents came to Geneseo, where he later acquired his preliminary education in 
attending the village schools and the State Normal. In 1890 he entered the 
offices of Hon. Kidder M. Scott and Lubert O. Reed, then district attorney, as 
a law student, and in September, 1893, entered the law department of the Uni- 
versity of Michigan. He was admitted to the bar in 1894 and opened an office 
in Geneseo. In politics Mr. O'Connor is a Republican and for a number of 
years has been a prominent factor in the local field. He served the town of 
Geneseo as clerk seven years and for four years as police justice of the village. 
In May, 1898 he was appointed postmaster under the McKinley administration 
and was reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1902. He was united in mar- 
riage with Elizabeth F. Bryant in August, 1902. Mr. O'Connor is one of the 
active, enterprising progressive young professional men of the county. Zeal- 
ous in the performance of his duties as the Government's agent, and handling 
intelligently and in the main successfully such legal problems as are placed in 
his hands. 



WILLIAM COGSWELL, — A highly esteemed citizen of Dansville, and pro- 
prietor of an extensive lumber yard at that place, was born in Dansville, Octo- 
ber 3, 1850. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Cogswell, was a native of Con- 
necticut, where was born and reared his son, Daniel Jr., the father of our 
subject. At middle life, Daniel Sr., removed with his family to Schuyler 
county, N. Y., where he bought and improved a farm on which he passed the 
remainder of his lite. He was twice married, the father of William being a 
child of his second union. Daniel Cogswell, Jr., passed his early days on the 
farm of his father in Schuyler county. Some sixty years ago he came to Liv- 
ingston county and located at Dansville, where for years he owned a grocery 
store. In 18SS he began dealing in lumber which he sold to the wholesale 
trade in Rochester, and four years thereafter he established the business now 
being carried on by his son William. He continued as active manager of this 
business until his death in February 1876. at the age of fifty-seven years. His 
wife, formerly Miss Hattie Owen, of Schuyler county, died November 12, 1904. 
Of their children, Mary, now deceased, married Jacob J. Gilder, Elura married 
Henry C. Fenstermacher, and William married Mrs. Malissa Sprague of Alex- 



II 



BIOGRAPHICAL 109 

ander, N. Y., on December 28, 1904. and now lives at the homestead on West 
Avenue, Daniel Cogswell, Jr., was prominent in political and religious mat- 
ters. He was an ordained minister of the Advent church and preached in 
Dansville and surrounding villages. He was for many years a Justice of the 
Peace. He also served as village trustee, assessor and Highway commissioner. 
William Cogswell has successfully carried on the lumber business since the 
death of his father. Ke also like his father has been prominent in political 
matters. He has served for twelve years as both village and town assessor, 
and for many years was a member of the Protective Fire Company and is now an 
honorary member though exempt from active duty. He is also a member of 
the Maccabees and the local order of Red Men. 



CHARLES W. WOOLEVER,— Of Dansville, N. Y., was born in Mount 
Morris, July 2. 1848. His Hrst business experience was with the late L. C. 
Bingham in the hardware business at Mount Morris, with whom he remained 
two years. In 1865 he engaged as clerk in a drug store where he remained un- 
til 1872 when he accepted the position of supei intendent of the Wyoming Coal 
and Mining Company near Evanston, Wyo. He remained with this company 
one year, when seeing a favorable opening for a drug store at Evanston he re- 
signed his position and established a drug business at that place which he con- 
ducted six years and sold out. He then for a short time ran a drug store in 
Chicago, and in July, 1879, came to Dansville and purchased the drug business 
formerly owned by Hamilton and Parmelee which he has since conducted. Mr. 
Woolever has always been actively identified with the political interests of the 
neighborhood. He has served as town clerk, town auditor, and for ten years 
was a member of the village Board of Education. He is a member of Phoenix 
Lodge No. 115 F. & A. M., of which he is Past Master. In 1876 he married 
Mary S. Durr of Dansville, and their family consists of five children: Sophie, 
Jane L. , Mae F., Elizabeth and Fannie L. 

THE WARD FAMILY — About the year 1760 George W^fd, with his wife, 
Mary Greer, and son Thomas, left their home, in Djfrhatn, England, and 
sailed for America. They settled at Hanover. B ^l^ it r county, Pennsylvania, 
near the city of Harrisburg. Thomas was born in England in 1759. He 
enlisted and served in Wisner's regiment through the Revolutionary war. In 
1796 he came to Livingston county and located on a tract of land in what is 
now the town of Groveland, eight miles south of the village of Geneseo. He 
married Mary Howd and five children were born to them; John, Samuel, 
Thomas G., Elizabeth and Ann. John, the oldest son was born in 1794, 
married Olivia Watrous, January 2, 1831 and had five children: Mary Ann, 
Augusta, Olivia A.. John W. and Henry Dana. Olivia Watrous was a daugh- 
ter of Captain Josiah Watrous, a noted officer of the state militia and a soldier 
in the war of 1812. He was a descendant of Jacob Watrous who, in 1647, had 



110 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

assigned him a tract of land embracing what is now the city of New London, 
Connecticut. 

John Ward became prominent in the early hibtc>ry of the county. In 1822, 
when Livingston county was first contemplated, five of the leading men of this 
region namely, Myron H. Mills, Charles H. Carroll, \V. H. Spencer, Daniel H. 
Fitzhugh and John Ward, met and drew up a petition that resulted shortly 
thereafter in the formation of the new county. To John Ward was intrusted 
the conveying of the document to Canandaigua where it was deposited with the 
county clerk. He made the journey on horseback, and a leather pouch at his 
side encased the petition. These five men then formed a body to promote the 
interests of the county, and they performed a noble work along the lines of 
progress, at a time when the future growth and prosperity of the county 
demanded intelligent and concerted action on the part of its leaders. These 
men have all passed away but much of the fruits of their labors still remain 
and stand as monuments to their zeal and industry. John Ward wa= appointed 
postmaster, February 15, 1819, and was the first to hold that office in the town 
of Groveland. He resigned the office November 3, 1829. He remained in 
Groveland until 1848 when he sold the farm to Patrick Gilbrath and removed to 
the village of Geneseo, where he resided until 1863 when he purchased a farm 
in the town of Leicester. In 1867 he disposed of his farm in Leicester and 
purchased the place in Avon now occupied by his son John W. He resided 
on this place until his death which occurred August 22, 1867. An interesting 
family relic of Colonial days is a back comb, made of pure turtle shell, which 
was worn by Mary Howd Ward at General Washington's funeral and is now in 
the possession of her grand-daughter, Miss Clara O. Dake, of Rochester, N. Y., 
and the family clock, brought from England, by George Ward in 1760 and 
carried overland from Pennsylvania to the new home in Groveland, and is now 
owned by William Ward Dake. This clock has been in continual service for 
upwards of two hundred and fifty years and is. today, the equal of modern 
clocks as a time keeper. 

John W. Ward was born in Geneseo, October 14, 1844. He attended the dis- 
trict school and a course in the Temple Hill Academy completed his education. 
When fifteen years of age he engaged as clerK in a Geneseo store where he 
remained until 1863, when he removed with his parents to their farm in the 
town of Leicester, remaining there until the spring of 1867 when the family 
removed to Avon, locating on the place now occupied by John W. Ward. In 
1874 he engaged with the Rochester Scale works, as salesman, with whom he 
remained fourteen years. He then became salesman for the Hawley Salt Com- 
pany, of Warsaw, N. Y. , and one year later engaged with the LeRoy Salt Com- 
pany. In 1898 that company passed into the hands of the National Salt Com- 
pany, and in 1902 was reorganized as the Empire State Salt Company. 
Mr. Ward has retained his position with this concern during its changes in 
ownership, and continues to represent its interests on the road. On September 
30, 1869 he was joined in marriage with Amelia D. Lindsley, daughter of 
Solomon Lindsley of Livonia, N. Y. , and they h^ve one son, Allen W. born 
November 7, 1871, who resides in Avon. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 111 

Mary A. Ward married Dr. Jabez W. Dake of the town of Portage, January 
16, 1851. The ceremony was performed in Geneseo by Dr. Ferdinand Ward. 
Dr. J. W. Dake was born at Hunt's Hollow, in the town of Portage, in 1829. He 
was a graduate of the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, and first took up the study 
of medicine in the Geneva Medical College, an Old School institution, from 
which he received his certificate. He afterwards entered the Western Hume- 
opathic College, Cleveland, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1860. He prac- 
ticed, first in Warsaw, N. Y. , where he remained several years, and removed 
to Albion. Dr. Dake, after a few years, was compelled, on account of ill 
health, to retire from active practice, and returned to his old home among the 
hills of Livingston county, where he lived a quiet life for some years in 
Nunda, N. Y. On restoration to what seemed permanent health, he returned 
to Rochester, N. \'. , and opened an office in the Powers Block, but a few years 
later was obliged to give up the confinement of office practice, and became con- 
sulting physician for H. H. Warner, and in his interest travelled through most 
of the states of the Union. 

An elder brother of his father. Dr. Jabe^ P. Dake, who was born April 22, 
1788, was the hrst physician of Nunda, riding on horseback, through valleys 
and forests, over hills, and fording streams in ministering to the sick. He 
died in 1846 in Nunda, where a monument marks his resting place. 

Mr. and Mrs. Dake reared to maturity a family of six children: namely, 
Mrs. W. G. Humphrey, Clara O., Henry J., George C, William Ward and 
Charles Alonzo. The last two named being of the well-known firm of the Dake 
Drug Company, of Rochester, and all reside in that city. Dr. Dake died in 
Rochester, February 1, 1886. This branch of the Dake family ara descendants 
of George Dake (Deake), who came from Wales with his parents and two 
brothers and located in Massachusetts. One brother remained in that state, 
the other removed to Connecticut and George settled in Westerly, Rhode Island. 
His son Charles located at Greenfield, Saratoga county, N. Y., in the summer 
of 1770 and that place, until comparatively recent years, was known as Dake- 
town. Charles Dake married Anna Gould, who after the battle of Bennington, 
labored for hours in supplying the wounded and suffering soldiers on the field 
of battle with water, and her name now appears on the roll as a patriot of the 
Revolution. Both Charles and his son William were soldiers in the Revolu- 
tionary war, and were with Washington at Y'orktown. 

William Dake, a grandson of Charles and the father of Jabez W., was born 
July 25, 1792, in Saratoga county. He settled in the town of Portage and was 
one of its earliest pioneers, coming there in 1820. He married Orpha Miller 
of Greenfield, Saratoga county, and reared a family of five sons and one daugh- 
ter; Charles Alonzo. Jonathan A., Clarissa E., William G. , Jabez W., and Ben- 
jamin F. It is said of William Dake that he was strong mentally and physi- 
cally and frequently held offices of trust and honor in his to\vn and county and 
passed away beloved by all who knew him. 

Charles Alonzo Dake, son of William and Orpha Dake, was born in Green- 
field, N. Y. , March 8, 1819. He graduated with high honor at Lima Semin- 
ary and entered the Buffalo Medical School, going from there to the Cleveland 



112 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTv..^ .,..)UNTY 

Medical College from which he graduated in 1853. He then entered the 
Hahnatnann Institute and graduated from there in 1856, after which he located 
in Warsaw, N. Y. , where he practiced medicine for many years. He was the 
first Homeopathic physician to practice in Wyoming county. In 1866 he 
retired frotn active professional life to his home in Irondequoit, N. Y. , where 
he now resides. He married Maria Roberts of Oak Hill, N. Y., and has one 
son, Reuben Dake, who has for many years been one of the best known and 
most progressive men, both in the religious and political life in the town. 

Dr. Jabez P. Dake. Sr., elder brother of William, had five sons, four of 
whom were physicians, Chauncey M. Dake, located in Geneseo. N. Y., being 
the first Homeopathic physician in the town, where he lived and practiced for 
twenty years. He married Harriet Cady of Nunda, N. Y., and had one son; 
he went to Irondequoit, N. Y. , in 1862. 



PETER W. KERSHNER,— The well known representative for Belden & 
Co., wholesale grain dealers, has been a resident of Dansville since 1854, at 
which time he came with his parents from Wayland. His father, Philip 
Kershner, was a prominent and successful farmer having inherited energy and 
thrift peculiar to the early Dutch settlers. His father, the grandfather of our 
subject, came from Pennsylvania in the early part of the past century and set- 
tled in the town of Wayland, Steuben county, where he cleared his farm and 
raised a family of children to maturity. Peter W. Kershner was born in Way- 
land, April 12, 1849. He received a common school education at Dansville and 
assisted his father on the farm until 1889 when he embarked in the grocery 
business which he conducted two years and in 1891 entered the employ of Bel- 
den S: Co., as manager of the Dansville branch of their establishment and 
occupies that position today. Mr. Kershner is a member of the Dansville 
Lodge of Masons, the K. O. T. M., and the Order of Red Men. He has been 
thrice married, his first marriage occurring in 1874 with Louisa Engert, of 
Dansville. They had two children, Anna E., a graduate of the State Normal 
school, has for the past three years held the position of preceptress in the 
Bolivar, N. Y. High School. Bessie died in infancy. Mrs. Kershner died 
March 31, 1885. He took for his second wife Frances C. Kershner, who died 
September 18, 1897. His present wife was Miss Mary Kriley, formerly of 
Dansville. but at the time of marriage residing at Bolivar, N. Y. 



CHARLES J. KELLY, — Attorney, of Mount Morris, was born at that place 
June 24, 1879. His education thus far has been confined to the public schools 
of that village, from which he graduated in 1896. He then entered the office 
of C. W. Gamble and began the study of law, remaining with Mr. Gamble until 
March, 1902, when he opened offices and began the practice of his profession. 
Success attended him from the beginning, as in the short time he has been 



II 



BIOGRAPHICAL 113 

practicing he has handled several important cases. With a natural aptitude 
for the legal profession Mr. Kelly seems gifted and in every way qualified to 
become a successful participator in many a hard fought legal battle. 



THE BRADNER FAMILY. — In the year 1715 John Bradner left his home 
in Edinborough and came to America. He settled in Cape May, N. J., where 
he remained until 1721 when he removed to Goshen, N. Y. Three years 
previous to his leaving home he graduated from the University of Edinborough 
and soon after his arrival in America was ordained a Presbyterian minister at 
Philadelphia. Pa. Rev. John Bradner was the head of this branch of the 
Bradner family in America. He married Christina Colvill, a daughter of Prof. 
Colvill. of Edinborough University, and reared a large family of children. 
His son John, married and passed his life as ^ farmer in Goshen, N. Y. Josiah. 
a son of John, married Lucy Ranney of Rome, N. Y.. in 1790, and settled on 
a farm near Utica, X. Y. Two children were born to them, Lester and Lucy. 
Lucy married John Smitli, of Ogdensburg. Lester was born in 1791. Early 
in life he served a clerkship in a store at L'tica and in 1813 came to Dansville, 
where for four years he conducted a grist mill and also operated a distillery. 
He then purchased a farm of six hundred acres near Dansville and also engaged 
heavily in the mercantile business, conducting at one time five stores in as 
many different localities in Allegany and Livingston counties. He was a pro- 
gressive man, successful in his undertakings and a leader in the social and 
political life of the community. His name figures prominently in the chron- 
icles of the early history of the town of Dansville and the county of Living- 
ston. He married in 1817 Fanny Hammond, a descendant of Isaac Hammond, 
who was one of the founders of Newton. Mass. Amariah Hammond was born 
in 1773 and came to Dansville from Westmoreland county. Pa., in 1795. He 
took up a tract of six hundred acres of land, all of which lies within the limits 
of the village. He was the first settler and erected the first dwelling house in 
the village, a log cabin built in 1796. He was a son of Captain John Ham- 
mond, a Revolutionary soldier and a nephew of Lebbeus Hammond, the noted 
Indian fighter, of whom su much has been written. He married Catherine 
Cruger. a daughter of General Daniel Cruger, and had two children, Fanny and 
Minerva. The latter became the wife of James Faulkner, another early settler 
of Dansville. Lester Bradner Sr. , died in 1872. Lester Bradner, the only 
surviving member of the family of Lester and Fanny Bradner. was born 
November, 1, 1836. He attended the Dansville schools as a boy and later 
entered Yale University from which he graduated in 1857. He then engaged, 
for some fifteen years, with the Illinois Central Railroad at Chicago, after 
which he returned to Dansville, where he has since resided. He was joined in 
marriage, in 1865, with Lucy Charmley, of New Haven, Conn., and they have 
one son. Rev. Lester Bradner. Jr., a graduate of Yale, and now rector of St. 
John's church at Providence, R. I. 



114 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

D. FOLEY, — A successful merchant of Dansville, and one of its enterpris- 
ing citizens and property owners, has been a resident of Dansville practically all 
his life, coming here with his parents, when an infant, from Rochester, where 
he was born November 17, 1837. He received his schooling and passed his 
early life in an uneventful manner, finally drifting into a clerkship in a 
grocery, at which he worked until 1872, when he purchased a one-half interest 
in the Thomas Earls grocery and six years later bought out Mr. Earls' interest 
from which time he has been exclusive owner. Mr. Foley has always taken a 
deep interest in politics, believes implicitly in a Republican form of govern- 
ment and casts his vote tor representatives of that party. He has a number of 
times been elected to the office of Corporation Trustee. His marriage with 
Miss Celia Tierney, of Dansville, occurred April 21, 1862. Mr. Foley is a 
valued member of the Livingston County Historical Society. 



SCOTT \V. CRANE, — A rising young attorney of Livonia, was born in 
the town of Springwater, January 29, 1873. His early education was acquired 
in the district schools and included a one-year course in the Geneseo State Nor- 
mal school. He then taught school for several terms and in 1895 entered the 
Livonia High School at Livonia from which he graduated in 1896. He 
immediately took up the study of law in the office of F. B. Beecher, of Atlanta, 
N. Y., with whom he remained some time, afterward continuing his studies 
with E. S. Brown, a prominent attorney of Cohocton. He was admitted to 
the bar January 1, 1901, when he formed a copartnership with E. W. Brown, 
of Livonia, which was dissolved in 1902, Mr. Crane accepting the position of 
managing clerk for the law firm of Herendeen and Mandeville, of Elmira, N.Y. 
He remained with them until December of that year, when he returned to 
Livonia and opened his present office. January 31, 1902, he was joined in 
marriage with Laura Anna Stark, a graduate of Elmira College, with the 
degree of A. B. Intelligent, energetic and forceful, Mr. Crane is rapidly making 
a name for himself in this community and his increasing clientage is evidence 
of his ability as a lawyer. 



WILLIAM II. DICK, — One of Dansville's prominent shoe manufacturers 
and well known citizens, was horn at that place February 13, 1848. For a 
number of years after reaching his majority he assisted his father as clerk in 
his boot and shoe store. In 1877 he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where for 
several years he was engaged as clerk for the North Star Boot and Shoe House. 
He then returned to Dansville and purchased of his father the retail boot and 
shoe business which he had established many years before. He conceived the 
idea of a hand-woven warm shoe for house wear and in 1882 in a small way 
began their manufacture. This enterprise developed rapidly and in 1885 he 
disposed of his retail store and devoted his entire attention to the factory 
which has since grown to such an extent that it now ranks as one of the im- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 115 

portant manufacturing concerns in the village. Mr. Dick is also prominent in 
social circles; lie is a member of Plioenix Lodge F. and A. M. , Canaseraga Lodge 
I. O. O. F. and a charter member of the Protective Fire Company, organized 
in 1876. He was president of this company for several years and was the first 
exempt fireman to receive a certificate. Several years ago the Village Improve- 
ment Company was organized and Mr. Dick was elected its secretary. The 
object of this society was the beautifying of the village, improving the parks 
and inducing the property owners to care for their lawns and buildings. This 
society accomplished a grand work during the period of its existence, for which 
much credit is due its members. In 1880 Mr. Dick was joined in marriage 
with Grata Fritz, daughter of Elias Fritz, an old resident of South Dansville. 
Conrad Dick the father of William, was a native of Germany and with his wife 
<:ame to Dansville about 1845. He immediately engaged in the retail shoe 
trade, whicli he carried on successfully until it was purchased by his son. Mr. 
Dick is now largely interested in Western real estate that engages much of his 
attention. 



FRANK PARET MAGEE, ^Assistant cashier of the Citizens Hank at 
Dansville, N. Y. , was born in the town of Groveland August 21, 1862. His 
education was obtained at the Geneseo State Normal school. Professor Blakes- 
lee's school at East Greenwich, R. I., and included a two years' course at 
Lehigh University. He was for a time engaged as teacher in the district 
school at Groveland and also assisted his father in the care of the farm. In 
1885 he accepted a position with the Pennsylvania and Santa Fe railroads in the 
<:ivil engineering department, where he remained two years. He then came to 
Dansville and took the position of bookkeeper with the Citizens Bank and 
has since been promoted to assistant cashier. In 1895 he was joined in mar- 
riage with Lillie Brayton, daughter of Samuel Brayton, a retired business man 
of Dansville. They have two children, Margaret, born in March, 1898, and 
Henry Brayton, born in Februarj*, 1901. Mr. Magee is a member of, and holds 
the office of Master in, Phoeni.\ Lodge F. & A. M., and is a member of Dans- 
ville Chapter R. A. M., the I. O. O. P., and Dansville Union Hose Company. 



ALBERT C. OLP.— Attorney, of Mount Morris. In 1831 Daniel Olp came 
with his family to this county from Mansfield, Warren county, N. J., and set- 
tled on land which he liad previously purchased in the town of Mount Morris. 
The journey to the new home was performed with teams. The log cabin into 
which he moved was a primitive structure, made of hewn timber and covered 
with "shakes" from the forest trees. In time, however, the log cabin was 
superseded by a commodious frame structure and other improvements rapidly 
followed. His only son, John, succeeded to the property, introduced new ideas 
in farming and became a successful modern farmer. In his business life he 
was scrupulously honest, full of energy and industry, and an indefatigable 



116 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

worker. A staunch Democrat thoroughly posted on the political questions of 
the day and a ready talker, he was always ready and willing to support the 
principles of his party. Noven}ber 26, 1845, he married Eliza Rockfellow. of 
Mount Morris, who died August 28, 1859, leaving two sons and two daughters. 
Mr. Olp again married in 1865 to Elizabeth McKelvey, by whom he had two 
children, Frank J., and Albert C. She died June 7, 1894. Frank J. met death 
by drowning in the Genesee River July 11, 1889. 

Albert C, our subject, was born at Mount Morris, August 31, 1876. He 
attended the Mount Morris High school, graduating in 1895. He then entered 
the law office of J. M. Hastings, of that place, with whom he studied until 
February, 1899, when he was admitted to the bar. He continued with Jlr. 
Hastings as managing clerk until April 1, 1900. when he opened an office for 
the practice of his profession at No. 34 Main street. He is a member and mas- 
ter of F. & A. M. Lodge No. 122, and Mt. Morris Chapter No. 137 R. A. M. 
and a member of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church. He has 
served as Justice of the Peace and is now village attorney and clerk of the 
Board of Education. He has served as secretary of the Democratic county 
Central Committee, and is president of the Active Hose Company, and Vice- 
president of the Livingston Club. 



WALTER E. GREGORY, M. D., — One of the managing physicians of the 
lackson Health Resort of Dansville, N. Y. , is a native of Reedsville.Wis., where 
he was born September 18, 1857. He acquired his preliminary education in 
the graded schools of Wisconsin and Missouri and graduated from the Wiscon- 
sin High School at the age of twenty-one. In 1882, failing in health, he came 
to the Jackson Sanatorium where twenty-five years before, his uncle Levi Cot- 
tington, had been restored to health. Placing himself under the cai;e of Dr. 
James H. Jackson he faithfully followed the directions laid down for him and 
in six months was able to engage in light enijiloyment. He continued making 
himself useful in various ways until the fire of 1882, when he became superin- 
tendent in the business office. In 1886 he entered the medical department of 
the University of Buffalo, graduating in 1889 on the honor roll. He at once 
became a member of the staff of physicians at the Jackson Sanatorium. Dr. 
Gregory comes of a family of physicians, two of his father's brothers and one 
of his m.other's, being well known and successful physicians in the West. In 
April, 1889, he married Miss Helen C. Davis, of St. Andrews, Quebec, and the 
same year they both became stockholders and directors in what was then known 
as Our Home Hygienic Institute and have since been active coadjutors of Dr. 
Jackson. Mrs. Gregory, as Miss Helen C. Davis, came to the Sanatorium in 
1882 as cashier, a position she held until appointed treasurer, which office she 
now holds. She has for several years successfully conducted classes in the 
Delsarte system of physical culture. Cherry Knell, situated a little to the 
south and east of the Sanatorium is the home of Dr. and Mrs. Gregory, and 
their family consists of a daughter, Beatrice H. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 117 

GEORGE W. ATWELL,— Lawyer of Lima, N. Y., the third to hear the 
name, was born at that place February 22, 1852. He was educated at Genesee 
Wesleyan Seminary, Genesee College and Amherst College, from which last 
institution he was graduated in 1874. Choosing the legal profession he studied 
with Hon. Edwin A. Nash, then of Lima, N. Y., now Justice of the Supreme 
Court, and was admitted to the bar in October 1877. In April, 1878, he opened 
an office at Lima where he is still located. During the years of an active prac- 
tice he has found leisure for various contributions to family and local history. 
As a member of the Masonic fraternity he has long been prominent, and 
in 1897-99 was honored with the appointment of D. D. Grand Master. He 
married September 28, 1887 Jane, only daughter of Amasa H. and Julia A. 
(Garfield) Martin of Lima, N. Y. 

ANCESTRY. 

The surname is derived from the Saxon words A/te, at the, and IVelle, well, 
and was assumed at an early date. In the 17th century a branch of the family 
settled in the State of Connecticut where Oliver Atwell was born Marcli 1, 
1755. At the age of twenty years he enlisted in the Connecticut Line and 
served throughout the Revolutionary war. On the 2d of June 1781 he mar- 
ried Jerusha, youngest daughter of David and Hannah (Willard) Smith, a de- 
scendant of Samuel Smith, one of the original settlers of Hadley, Mass., by 
whom he had three sons and three daughters. He was pensioned April 14, 1818 
and died at Westhampton, Mass., March 19, 1846. His only suviving son 
George W. Atwell, the first of the name, was born at Hadley, Mass., No- 
vember 26, 1789. He was educated at Dartmouth College. In 1817 he removed 
to Lima, N. Y., where for ten years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. 
On the 22d of July 1818 he married Martha Howard who was born December 
15, 1788 and died November 28, 1863, and was a descendant in the fifth genera- 
tion of John Howard of Duxbury, Mass. Of this marriage there were born two 
sons, Silas Cook and George \V. In 1827 he retired from trade and purchased 
the farm south of the village of Lima, where he passed the remainder of his 
life and which for three quarters of a century was the home of the family. He 
was an energetic, successful man of affairs, widely known and highly esteemed 
for his sterling integrity and business ability. He died at Lima, May 13, 1852. 
His son George W. Atwell, the second of the name, was born at Lima, January 
28, 1822. He was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Canandaigua 
Academy. Possessing an unusual talent for music he was for many years a 
conspicuous figure in musical circles. He married December 30, 1847, Mary 
Ann, daughter of James and Harriet (Yorks) Gillin of Little Falls, New Jersey, 
who was born April 21, 1827 and died August 30, 1876. Of this marriage there 
were born two sons George W.. the present bearer of the name, and Silas John, 
who was born OctoDer 10, 1856 and died August 18, 1904. He married secondly 
in January, 1878, Mary H. Doolittle. He died at Lima October 27, 1901. 

For nearly ninety years the family has been connected with the history of 
the Town of Lima, and during that period the name, borne for three genera- 



118 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

tions, occurs frequently in the annals of the Town, associated with public 
affairs and the best interests of the community. 



HENRY E. HUBBARD, — One of the foremost manufacturers of Dans- 
ville, N. Y, , came with his parents to that village in ISfil from Unadilla. 
N. Y.. where his father, Henry Hubbard, had been engaged in the manufacture 
of well curbs. Previous to that, from 1853 to 1857, the family resided in Nor- 
wich, N. Y., v.here Mr. Hubbard ran a furniture manufactory. Upon their 
arrival in Dansville Mr. Hubbard established a plant for the making of well 
curbs and horse pokes, which he successfully conducted until 1876, when he re- 
moved to Painesville, Ohio, where he now resides, and his son, Henry E. 
Hubbard, succeeded to the business. 

Henry E. Hubbard was born in Newport, N. H., November 4, 1852. His 
education was obtained at the village schools and the Dansville Seminary. 
Upon leaving school he entered his father's factory, and during the years in 
which he worked as an assistant he thoroughly learned every detail of the busi- 
ness and in 1876 purchased the plant of his father. He new manufactures chain 
pumps and wood tubing, the sale of which keeps the factory in operation thft 
entire year. His marriage with Ida D. Squires, daughter of Byron T. Squires, 
a former able lawyer of Dansville, occurred April 14, 1875, and their familj' 
consists of a son and daughter, William Arthur and Katherine Eggteston. 
Katherine is a graduate of the Geneseo State Normal school and is now an in- 
structor in the Teachers' training class at Haverling High School, Bath, N. Y. 
William is a practical jeweler, having followed that trade for several years. 
Mr. Hubbard traces his ancestry in a direct line back to the year 1000. At 
the beginning of the si.'iteenth century his ancestors came from England and 
bore a share of the privations and dangers incident to the troublous times of 
the early colonial days. 



CHARLES F. MORRIS, — Practicing attorney of Livonia, was born in the 
Morris homestead at Webster's Crossing, near Wayland, N. Y., September 14, 
1874. His early education was obtained in the Wayland Union schools, from 
which he graduated in 1895. From that time until 1897 he assisted his father 
in the care of the farm. He then took up the study of law, for which he had 
been preparing himself. The first two years he studied with E. W. Brown, of 
Livonia, and the year following with Judge Clark, of Steuben county. During 
the Pan-American fair in Buffalo in 1900 he was a member of the Pan-American 
police force. He then returned to Livonia and entered the office of E. W. 
Brown as partner, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1903. Mr. Morris is 
an enterprising young man and is starting in his professional career with every 
prospect of future success at the bar. In politics he is a strong Republican, is 
well posted on the fundamental principles of his party and keeps in touch with 
the leading issues both local and national. He has served the town of Spring- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 119 

water as Justice of the Peace one term. His father, Arthur Morris, a promi- 
nent farmer of Springwater, also conducts a thriving business in the line of con- 
tracting and building. 



ANDREW McCURDY — Few families have been more closely identified 
with the town of Ossian and the village of Dansville than the family of James 
D. McCurdy. The father of the subject of this sketch David McCurdy, 
James' father, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in the month of September 
17S9. He married in Ireland Miss Nancy McCoy who bore him three children, 
James and Rebecca and a child that died in infancy. 

James was born in Cavan, Parish county, Antrim, Ireland, October 1, 1783. 

The family emigrated to America September 23, 1786. Landing at New- 
castle on the Delaware river they proceeded to Georgetown, Lancaster county, 
Pa., where the daughter Rebecca was born March 16. 1787. 

David McCurdy was a manufacturer of Irish linen and it is not known how 
long they remained at Georgetown. He affiliated with and became a member 
of the Octarara Presbyterian church and being a skillful player of the violin and 
a fine singer was then acknowledged leader in church music. His wife died 
and was buried in Georgetown. He took for his second wife Jeanett Graham 
by whom he had six sons and four daughters. Some time after his marriage 
he removed to Washington county, Pa., where a part of the second family was 
born. From there he removed with his family to near Mansfield, Richland 
Co., Ohio, where he died in 1834. 

Cornelius McCoy a brother of David McCurdy's first wife married in Ireland 
the widow of John McCurdy, whose maiden name was Margaret Farrier. They 
emigrated to America in the year 1788. After residing in Northumberland 
county, Pa., about seven years they removed to what is now Dansville and pur- 
chased, in 1795, three hundred acres of land, part of which has since been in- 
cluded in the village corporation. This was the first land surveyed and they 
were the first white settlers in that locality. Their marriage being productive 
of no surviving heirs Cornelius McCoy entered into an agreement with David 
McCurdy whereby his son James, then about twelve years of age was to live 
with and work for him until he reached his majority and so doing should be- 
come his heir. There were three stepchildren in the McCoy family; David, 
James, and Mary. From these sprung many descendants who filled important 
offices in both church and state. On becoming of age the adopted son James 
inserted the letter D in his name. 

On July 5, 1810 James D. McCurdy married Jane McNair, a daughter of 
William McNair, of what is now the town of Groveland. She was born in 
Northampton county, Pa., December IS, 1785 and died February 11, 1875. They 
began housekeeping on a part of the McCoy farm where they resided about four 
years. Nine children were born to them, namely: William, born August 11. 
1811, died September 29, 1884; Rebecca, born March 25. 1814, died December 23. 
1898; David, born November 11 . 1816; Sarah, born March 10. 1819, died No- 



120 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

vember 13, 189-t; James born March 21, 1821; Xaiicy, born March 24. 1823. 
died August 7, 1824; Andrew born January 31, 1826; Margaret, born December 
21, 1828; Jane, born May 22, 1831, died September 7. 1831. 

Mr. McCurdy removed with his family to the town of Ossian, two miles west 
of Diinsville, in 1814, where he had purchased a tract of land heavily timbered 
with pine and oaU. This farm he proceeded to clear and subdue, and being 
possessed of a robust constitution he ultimately succeeded in bringing the land 
to a state of productiveness. Mrs. McCurdy became one of the first members ot 
the Presbyterian church of Ossian organized by the Reverend Robert Hubbard 
of Dansville. He gradually added to his possessions until he had acquired up- 
wards of one thousand acres of land, all lying in the immediate vicinity of his 
original purchase in Ossian. Mr. McCurdy's educational advantages were lim- 
ited to brief periods of attendance at the district school and by adding thereto 
a strict course of home study, mostly by the light of pine knots at night, 
he acquired a good education for the times. He also took up the study of 
surveying in which he perfected himself to a degree. He was a decided and 
active anti-Mason and figured prominently during the Morgan excitement. Some- 
what of a leader in politics he served his town in various public offices from 
pathmaster to that of supervisor, which office he held during the years of 1834-5. 

During the war of 1812 General Smyth issued a call for volunteers to cross 
over and invade Canada. James D. McCurdy with a company under Captain 
David Porter proceeded to Buffalo and while embarking to cross the river a 
musket was fired on the American side which seemed to apprise the Canadian 
forces of the movements of our troops, as the bugle immediately sounded on 
the Canada shore. There being several thousand troops the under officers called 
a halt, and upon consultation decided to apply to General Smyth for orders, 
upon which the general was not to be found. Whereupon the attempt was 
abandoned and all returned to their homes. Some time subsequently General 
Smyth passed through Dansville. Putting up at the tavern many called to see 
him, but all were refused. William Perrine, a revolutionary soldier who had 
accompanied the volunteers to Buffalo with the baggage train, appeared with a 
loaded musket and asked for an interview, being also refused he remained on 
the stoop to intercept him in the morning. General Smyth learning the situ- 
ation early got on his horse and by a back way was some distance up the street 
before discovered. The volunteer sentinel thus foiled discharged his firearm 
after him. 

Contrary to tlie prevalent custom of the time in which he lived, James D. 
McCurdy at an early period in life adopted the principle of total abstinence 
from all intoxicating liquors, strictly adhering to this position. His sons all 
followed his worthy example. 

Being one with his neighbors in their loggin-bees and raisings, cutting out 
roads, building school houses and churches, contributing fifty dollars towards 
the erection of the first Presbtyerian church in Dansville, which was burned 
March 31, 1854. Literally supporting preachers of those early times, though 
not a member of any denomination, the strongest element of his character was 



BIOGRAPHICAL 121 

his independent religious convictions. A diligent reader of the Bible he en- 
deavored to conform to what he believed to be its teachings, which finally led 
him to differ from the common view, believing man to be but a mortal dying 
creature obtaining future life onl}- by a resurrection from the dead by faith 
and obedience to the gospel of Christ. To inherit the earth redeemed from 
the curse as their everlasting abode which condition is to commence at the 
second coming of Christ, in which faith he died February 16, 1861. 

Of the children of James D. McCurdy William, Rebecca, David, James and 
Andrew married and their children reside mostly in and near Dansville. Will- 
iam married, first Hetty Lemen of Ossian, and to them were born four children, 
two of whom grew Ik maturity and married, William now of Dansville and 
Henrietta of Bradford, Pa., (recently died). He took for his second wife Mary 
Leiii»n of South Dansville, who bore him four children, two of whom now sur- 
vive. Lemen of Fentonville, Mich., and Rosa of South Dansville, Steuben 
county, N. Y., both married. His third wife was Martha Phelps of Steuben 
county who died leaving no issue. 

Rebecca married Edward Rathbun of Ossian, and four children were born to 
them, two of them are now living and married, Jane of Ossian and Edward of 
the adjoining town of Nunda. 

David married Lydia Lemen of Ossian and had eleven children seven of whom 
are now living. Jane of Dansville, Franc of Tuscarora, Livingston county, 
Charles of Philadelphia, Pa., Sarah of Buffalo, N. Y., Ida and Mariette of Dans- 
ville, and Cora of Jersey City, N. J. 

James married first Elizabeth Porter of Ossian. who died leaving no issue. 
His second marriage was with Lucinda Kinney of Ossian, and six children were 
born to them; Charles, Mable. Lucinda, Bertha and Margaret. Five now 
living. 

Andrew married Jeanette Scott of Ossian. She was born December 3, 1827. 
To them were born three sons and two daughters. 

Lawrence S. married Susie Murphy and tliey have si.\ children. 

Fred E., a civil engineer of Dansville, N. Y.. (unmarried.) 

Margaret J. married William H. Acomb who died March 29, 1903, leaving 
a widow and four children. 

James E. married Rose Schlick of Dansville, and has one daughter. 

Alice May married Dr. J. W. Cowan, a dentist of Geneseo, N. Y., to them 
were born three children two of whom, Margaret Jeanette, and Paul are now 
living. 

In April, 1819, James D. McCurdy sold to James McCurdy, McCoy's stepson, 
one-half of the McCoy estate to which he had become heir by the will of Cor- 
nelius McCoy with a provision that he should pay to his sister Rebecca one hun- 
dred dollars. This property still remains in the possession of the descendants 
of James McCurdy. McCoy died May 8, 1809, aged forty-seven years. When 
it became necessary for the settlers to select a place to bury their dead the 
old graveyard now so beautifully laid out in walks was filled with oak grubs, 
which had to be cut off below the surface in order to ensure their death, which 
job James effectually accomplished by the direction of his uncle. 



122 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Some time after the Revolutionary war there came to the vicinity of Dans- 
ville a man by the name of Benjamin Kenyon. a captain from the Hessian army 
who had fought with the British. He settled on what is the Gregory farm in 
West Sparta and was designated as Captain Poag. This man, detested and 
shunned, was noticed one day driving some cattle past the McCoy home going 
south. Out of curiosity to see where they were taken the three boys of the 
McCoy family the following Sunday took t'.ie trail through the woods to the 
narrows at the mouth of the gorge near the present Porter grist mill which was 
then only wide enough for one creature to pass at a time, proceeding on they 
discovered the cattle contentedly grazing on the rushes which grew plentifully 
in the valley as it broadened out. 

It did not take the boys long to put their own cattle through the narrows to 
participate in the luxurious find. So they called the place Poag's Hole and from 
them the name became universal. Captain Poag subsequently resided there. 
What became of him I am unable to state. (This place is known as Poag's 
Hole to this day), the gorge is about three miles long through which the Can- 
aseraga creek flows. At the southern extremity is a rise of at least 100 feet to 
the summit level where the water flows south to Arkport. In the upper end of 
the gorge is what is called a milk spring which at times ebbs and flows casting 
up very fine white sand. It frequently disappears and is seen to rise again 
at some little distance with renewed energy. 

Wild animals were numerous, at one time, James the adopted son, went for 
the cows which frequented this valley; he found them and also discovered 
seven bears sunning themselves lying on a bank. I well recollect of hearing 
my father tell of counting twenty-two deer at one time which congregated with 
the cattle at the stack where they were fed hay, somewhat emaciated by 
consequence of long continued snow no one molested them under such circum- 
stances. Hogs would frequently come home badly torn and disabled by bears 
which would watch until one was found separate and alone and then make his 
attack. This quickly brought the whole herd to the rescue and the bear had to 
flee for his own safety. 

Indians from Squawkie Hill and Mount Morris made yearly hunting excur- 
sions to the hills south of Dansville. Their principal path led directly past 
McCoy's house, with whom they became very friendly. 

Their mode of traveling was one behind another which in many places had 
depressed the ground six inches below the surface. On returning home the 
squaws always carried the burden on their backs with a strap across their fore- 
heads. 

On their path were found resting places so fixed that the loads could be 
rested without taking them from their backs. The Indians burned those lands 
every year to make tender and inviting forage for the deer. 



SIRENO F. ADAMS, attorney of Dansville. N. Y. , was born in the town 
of Conesus, July 21, 1871. His education was obtained at the district schools 
and at the Geneseo State Normal School. In 1889 he removed to Chicago 



BIOGRAPHICAL 123 

where he remained three years, and then returned and resumed his studies at 
Geneseo. In January, 1895, he entered the law office of Fred W. Noyes as a 
student where he remained ten years. 

His father, Philip T. Adams, was born at East Bloomfield, N. Y., April 17. 
1832, He married Julia French, oldest daughter of Sireno French, at that time 
the general agent of the Orient Insurance Company at Chicago. 

Five children were born to them, Jennie M., now wife of John H. Egan of 
Caledonia, X. Y. , Richard W., who married Alice B. Grant, and who now re- 
sides at Dansville, two daughters Jessie F. and Emily L., who died early in 
life, and the subject of this sketch. 

In February 1905, Mr. Adams opened an office in the Kramer Block at Dans- 
ville and having a large acquaintance in and around Uansville and having had 
a wide experience in the work of his chosen profession, his success is assured. 



CHARLES A. WORDEN— The firm of Worden Brothers of Dansville, N. 
Y., is a well known firm throughout Western New York, being one of the larg- 
est and most e:!tensive dealers in monuments and mausoleums in the state, 
Major Walter Worden, the paternal ancestor, was born in Rhode Island in 1753. 
He served through the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. His son 
Captain Walter Worden, who was born in 1775, was also a soldier in the war 
of 1812 and died from the effects of a wound received at Queenstown. Hiram 
H., a son of Captain Walter, was born at Manlius, N. Y., in 1801, married 
Louisa Graves and reared a family of eight children. He was a prominent 
Mason, having been a member of that order for seventy years. He died at the 
age of ninety-two. Charles A. Worden, his fourth son and the father of our 
subject, was born at Oswego in 1829. He learned the trade of marble cutting 
and became an expert workman and designer. He engaged in the monument 
business at Manlius and also ran an establishment of the kind in Fayetteville, 
N. Y., previous to his removing to Dansville. He married Eliza A. Sweeting, 
daughter of John Sweeting, of Syracuse, N. Y., and five children have been 
born to them. Ella married L. A. Stevens, Charles A., Fred E., Louisa 
married Ray Ackerman of Syracuse, and Addison W. Mr. Worden died in 
February, 1896. Charles A. and Fred E. Worden comprise the firm of Worden 
Bros. Charles A. was born at Manlius, N. Y. , October 10, 1859. Early in life 
he began learning the trade of marble cutting in his father's establishment. 
When twenty-one years of age he took charge of the business at Manlius and 
Fayetteville, which he managed until 1885 when they came to Dansville. They 
reorganized the business and began work on a larger scale and have since grad- 
ually extended their field of operations and expanded their works. Their pro- 
duct is now shipped to all parts of the United States and their weekly pay roll 
amounts to about one thousand dollars. In 1880 Charles A. Worden married 
Jennie M. Morley, of Manlius. They have had two children, Leslie who died 
in 1900 aged sixteen years, and Arthur M., born August 24. 1887. Mr. Worden 
is a member of Phoenix Lodge. F. and A. M. Fred E. Worden was also borr> 



124 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

at Manlius. N. V.. June 30, 1864. He became a skilled workman under the 
tuition of his father. He married Grace Clark, a daughter of Ezra \V. Clark, 
of Conesus. 



JOHN D. COFFEE, — Attorney, of Caledonia was born in Medina, N. Y. , 
January 18, 1866. His education was obtained in the public schools of that 
place and the State Normal School of Geneseo, from which he graduated in 
1885. He then entered Williams College and graduated from that institution 
with the class of '89. The following year he spent as a student in the Albany 
Law School, and from there entered the law office of Judge Chester, of Albany, 
with whom he remained one year, and was admitted to the Bar in 1891. He 
removed to Rochester and for a few months was engaged in practice in the 
law office of Congressman Perkins, after which he opened an office in the Pow- 
ers building, and practiced in the courts of Rochester until his removal to Cal- 
edonia in 1897. He was joined in marriage with Ruth M. Loveridge, of 
Cuba, N. Y., in 1869, and they have three children, Agnes Loveridge, John 
Morgan and Buela. Mr. Coffee has held the oflice of Yice President of the 
First National Bank, of Caledonia, since its inauguration. 



MRS. REBECCA E. WHITEMAN,— Is a member of one of the oldest 
families in Livingston county. In the early part of the nineteenth century 
Telemachus demons came from Rome, Oneida county, to Sparta to live with 
his sister who resided at that place. Upon reaching his majority he started 
out to earn his own livelihood by working for neighboring farmers. By indus- 
try and the practice of strict economy he was at last able to purchase a small 
farm to which from time to time he added until his estate finally covered an 
expanse of four hundred acres. Mr. demons was one of the earliest settlers 
in the town and as the population increased and the country became more set- 
tled he was recognized as the leading spirit in all matters of a public nature 
and for many years held the office of Justice of the Peace. He finally sold his 
farm in Sparta and removed to Dansville where he purchased a home and there- 
after resided until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Rhoda Rob- 
erts, was a daughter of an early settler of Springwater. Twelve children were 
born to them, seven of whom are now living: Mary, Lydia, Rebecca, Samuel, 
Abner, George, and Eliza. Mrs. demons died in 1884 at 83 years of age. 
Rebecca demons was joined in marriage in 1845 with Reuben Whiteman, a 
son of Jacob Whiteman, a farmer of the town of Sparta. Jacob Whiteman 
was of German parentage and a native of Pennsylvania. He came to ,Sparta 
in 1824 and purchased a farm on which he always resided. Reuben Whiteman 
was educated in the district school and upon reaching his majority pur- 
chased a farm in Wayland, Steuben county, where he lived until 1852, when 
he came to Dansville and established a lumber yard, which ha conducted until 
his death in 1888. His career as a business n:an in Dansville was a successful 




Norman Seymour. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 125 

one and being a shrewd financier and a careful manager he rapidly accumulated 
a competence. To Reuben and Rebecca Whiteman were born five children, 
two of whom are now living, Alonzo J., and Clara J., who married A. Lester 
Gibbs and has one child. 



NORMAN SEYMOUR. 
Obititarv from the Mount Morris Uxion of February 25, 1892. 

Our community was greatly sliocked on Sunday evening to hear of the sud- 
den death o£ Norman Seymour, which occurred at seven o'clock, at his resi- 
dence at the head of State street, where he had lived for thirty years. He 
had been in perfect and splendid health until Thursday morning, when an attack 
of bowel difficulty, which was thought only temporary, developed into a condition 
which prompt and active treatment by his physician failed to alleviate. It was 
decided on Sunday that his only chance for life lay in an operation, which was 
performed by Dr. Dodge of this village, and Dr. Lauderdale of Geneseo, assist- 
ed by Drs. Povall and Earle. When the necessity of the operation was told to 
Mr. Seymour, he met the news with the greatest calmness and nerve, and re- 
plied, without a question, that he was ready. The operation was pronounced a 
success by the surgeons. The patient's pulse had kept up unusually well 
through it, and it was generally and immediately felt that his life was saved, 
but despite this he died- in one hour and a halt from the shock produced by 
the operation, never fully recovering his consciousness after the etherization. 

Norman Seymour was born in Herkimer, Herkimer county, on the 16th day 
of December, 1820. He was the son of Norman Seymour of West Hartford. 
Conn., who was own cousin of Henry Seymour, the old Canal Commissioner, 
and the father of Governor Seymour. They both went from Connecticut into 
Herkimer county about the same time. The then Norman Seymour, Sr., 
afterwards lived' in this village for many years, and died here in 1859, aged 
seventy-seven years, and it was his intention, being a deeply religious man, to 
educate his two sons, Norman and McNeil, for missionaries. McNeil who 
afterwards became a distinguished lawyer of this place, and whose untimely 
death in 1870 is still remembered, was sent through college; and so would have 
been Norman but for the state of his health, which absolutely prevented the 
training and lite which his marked literary ability naturally preferred, and 
towards which, during all the years of his business life, he continually turned. 

His sister, Mary Seymour, having just become the wife of the late Judge 
Hastings, he came here as a young man of eighteen to visit her, and this led 
to his life residence in Mount Morris. 

In 1843 he married Miss Francis H. Metcalf, a daughter of Henry Metcalf, 
of Keene, N. H., who, after her father's early death, had lived with her uncle, 
the late James R. Bond, in his residence on State street, from which she was 
married, and which for the past fifteen years has been the home of Mr. Sey- 
mour's son, Norman A. Next year he would, therefore, have celebrated his 



126 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

golden wedding. He was also a brother-in-law of the late Edward Salmon P. 
Chase, Secretary of the Treasurj- in Lincoln's Cabinet. 

It was interesting to hear Mr. Seymour describe his first coming to Mount 
Morris in a &tage from Canandaigua. From that year until this, he has been 
an active, interested, go-ahead business man of Mount Morris. For the last 
twenty-five years, and until he retired from business three years ago, he had 
been a hardware merchant, and when he left the store, which he purchased forty- 
six years ago. and owned at his death, he had been man and boy fifty years 
under the same roof. But during all this time the real interest of his life was 
ill that literary work which could De presented to the public by an oration or an 
historical address. He was an eloquent speaker, and he had the faculty of only 
touching upon interesting topics, and struck at once to the key note of the sub- 
ject. For this reason, in the old nays, though the Mount Morris bar had 
strong men, he was selected often to make addresses. He gave the oration at 
the time of Lincoln's funeral a;rvices here, also the oration on the return of 
the soldiers from the war, and the historical address at the opening of Living- 
ston Hall. He gave once the annual address before the pioneer picnic at Silver 
Lake, and as recently as 1890 he gave one before the same society on Mary 
Jemison, the white woman. He gave an annual address once before the Genesee 
County Historical Association and a great many others before various 
associations of a pioneer and historical character. He was a member of the 
Albany Institute, a life member of the New York Historical Society, and 
honorary member of many others. He w^s one of the chief promoters oi the 
"Livingston County Historical Society, was once its president and for many 
years its secretary, never missed its annual meetings and made numerous ad- 
dresses before it, among others, one on the late John R. Murray of Murray 
Hill, who was a man he admired and prized, ^nd who reciprocated his friend- 
ship. The last address delivered by Mr. Seymour was at the meeting of the 
County Historical Society in this village last month, at the Seymour Opera 
House, when he read an article upon the late Dr. Ames. 

Not many now, save old residents, can recall, nor perhaps have ever heard of 
the old Mount Morris days — the days of the canal, the old toll bridge 
across the river, of riding down to the second lock on the packets, as they left 
here at seven p. m. on the ringing of the bell on the old Howard Athenaeum. 
Of those days, when Mr. Seymour was an ardent, keenly-observing man, he 
had innumerable anecdotes and recollections that would have filled a volume. 
He was, too, a witty man, saw the ludicrous side of things, as well as the ser- 
ious, a capital judge oi character, sized men up in an instant, though never say- 
ing much about them, and with a wonderful memory that retained until his 
l:ist day, the impression of every incident of his life; he could talk for hours' 
until one saw vividly again the old characters and the old days. 

During all the years, over thirty, when Mr. Hugh Harding was the editor 
of this paper. Mr. Seymour contributed to it constantly. He wrote for it and 
for the Rochester Democrat, under the pen name of Robert Morris, the obitu- 
aries of his friends and acquaintances and historical articles, year in and year 



BIOGRAPHICAL 127 

out, until tlie memory of man runneth not to the contrary. It was a standing 
joke with his friends that he had the obituaries written and pigeon-holed of 
every one. ready to be drawn at sight. He once prepared a long one of his 
wife, which he used to read in her presence, with great merriment, to his 
friends. He probably was the best ptjsted man in the county on all matters of 
its historical lure; an authority and a reference on all such topics, and his 
interest in them was undying and never flagged. 

He was an ardent Republican from the birth of that party until he died, and 
attended, as a delegate from this county, the first State convention at which it 
came forth. He greatly admired Horace Greeley, and took the Log Cabin and 
Tribune for forty years. He knew Mr. Greeley, and used to tell the story of 
once when riding from here to Perry with him in the dead of w^inter, very 
cold, and snow filling the cross-roads, how, when half way over, Mr. Greeley 
started up with, "Good God I Mr. Seymour, I have left my lecture," and they 
had to return here for his satchel. 

He was once collector of the port in the old canal days, and once postmaster, 
member of the Board of Education, trustee of the Presbyterian church, of the 
village, of the Cemetery Association from its organization, and member of its 
e.xecutive board. He was one of the three commissioners who selected its present 
beautiful location, and threw all his influence to have that site chosen instead 
of enlarging the old cemetery, as was talked. 

Mr. Seymour was fond of his home, fond of the country, fond of this beauti- 
ful valley of the Genesee, and he seldom went away from it. In 1882 he spent 
the summer in Europe, which he greatly enjoyed, and he made several public 
addresses, after his return, on his travels, for the benefit of local organizations, 
and had he lived he would have gone again. 

He had a broad mind and generous heart; in business honest; among 
friends sincere, a citizen of pure conscience, reverencing law, and devoted to 
the public weal; a thorough gentleman, bearing himself gently to every man, 
whether of liigh or low estate. He filled a useful and distinguished place 
among the people in whose midst his life was spent, and by his death they 
have suffered a great loss, socially as well as in a public sense. 

He was a religious man by temperament, though not caring much about 
theology, but early united with the Presbyterian church. He was a man utterly 
without any nonsense about him. No fad or freak ever could get any lodge- 
ment in his mind, and society, which he enjoyed greatly, had no gradations 
for him. His tastes were simple and elementary. He attached a proper value 
to money, but that was all. He enjoyed life immensely in that true and 
elementary way through which real and lasting pleasure can only come. No 
one ever saw him look bored or tired of life. He was honesty itself. The 
idea of taking advantage of any one, or advancing himself at the expense of 
any one, never entered his mind. He was always ready to do more for any one 
else than himself, and gentle and simple things gave him pleasure. 

During nearly fifty years of his married life no human being ever heard him 
.say one harsh or unkind word to his family; no, not one! 



128 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

He never gossiped; never said an unkind word of any one in his long life; 
never gave a thouglit to the schemes and bickerings of men no more than if on 
some other planet they rose and fell; but he was nevertheless ambitious, and 
considering his gentle and literary temperament, and his early assuming all 
the responsibilities of life, he was a successful and a happy man. His perfect 
health contributed also to this. He was a great walker, fond of tramping with 
his grand-children; of a nervous, quick temperament, and to within one week 
his step was as active, and his figure, if you did not see the gray hair and face, 
like a man of twenty-five. 

Mr. Seymour was greatly saddened by tl>€ sudden death in March, 1891, of 
his only grandson. George Seymour Howell, who was a junior in Harvard Col- 
lege, and between whom there was great sympathy and affection. He bowed 
his head to let the terrible grief roll over him, and he used often to say that 
it seemed as if the great waves would bear him down. During all this past 
year, two or three times each week, he could be seen walking alone up the 
hillside to the cemetery, where he would sit down and mourn for one whose 
gentleness was akin to his own, and who saw with him the tender and ludicrous 
side of life. Here on the seat he \vould sit while far away rose up the mighty 
hillsides of our beautiful valley — signs to him of the eternal, immutable, silent 
majesty of nature, that knows not that it exists itself, or is a part of any 
beauty. 

Spring is nigh at hand, but 

''His share of all the pomp that fills 
The circuit of the summer hills 
Is, that his grave is green." 

Still the honest, manly, gentle, unasking heart has hot beat in vain. Its in- 
fluence will not be lost; and let us, in concluding, quote his old, favorite obii- 
uary couplet — quote it, alas! for him, now in turn: 
"Sow with a generous hand. 
Pause not tor toil or pain; 
Weary not through the summer heat. 

Weary not through the cold spring rain. 
But wait 'till the autumn comes 
For the sheaves of golden grain.'' 

Mr. Seymour's wife and his four children survive him, Mary S. Howell of 
Albany, wife of George R. Howell, State Librarian; Henry H. Seymour, at- 
torney, of Buffalo; Norman A. and Edward C, of this village. Also two sis- 
ters. Mrs. Lydia Hinman and Miss Catherine M. Seymour of Mount Morris. 

His funeral was held on this (Thursday) afternoon at the Presbyterian 
church, where Rev. Dr. Parsons gave a feeling and admirable funeral address. 

The honorary pall bearers were: Hon. O. D. Lake, H. E. Brown and Lyman 
Carr of Mount Morris; Chas. Shepard of Dansville; Archibald McLean and 
Hon. \Vm. Hamilton of Caledonia, and Theodore Swan of Groveland. 

The active pall bearers were: M. B. McNair, George S. EUicott, J. M. Proph- 
et. Jerome A. Lake. Frank H. Sleeper and M. B. Turpin. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 129 

From the New York Sun, February 23, 1892. 

Norman Sevmour of Mount Morris, Livingston county. New York, died at 
his home on Sunday, after a surgical ojjeration. He was in his seventy-first 
year. Few men in Western New Yorl^ were as widely known among the old 
residents as was Mr. Seymour. He had made a special study of the history of 
the Genesee Valley, including the region from Glen Iris to the Rochester Falls 
and Charlotte. He was the author of numerous papers concerning Mary Jem- 
ison, "The White Woman"; Red Jacket, and the Six Nations and their 
treaties and warfare in Western New York; and in the last twenty-five years 
few meetings of historical societies in Livingston and adjacent counties have 
taken place without addresses from him on the early history of the towns in 
which they were held. At the time of his death he was secretary of the Liv- 
ingston county Historical Society, and had almost completed a voluminous his- 
tory of Livingston County, for which he had gathered a rare collection of pam- 
piilets, prints and original manuscripts of the eighteenth century. Mr. Sey- 
mour was native of Herkimer, in this state, and went to Mount Morris early 
in life. He retired from business some time ago and devoted his time to his 
historical work. 

Rochester DEMocR.'i.T .\nd Chronicle, February 23, 1S92. 
Norman Seymour died at Mount Morris on Sunday evening, at the age of sev- 
enty-one years. He had been a resident of Mount Morris more than half a 
century, and was one of the most prominent and widely-known citizens of the 
place. His illness lasted only four days, he having enjoyed perfect health up 
to Wednesday of last week. He was engaged in the hardware business in 
Mount Morris for many years, retiring about three years ago. He was a man 
gifted with rare literary ability, and distinguished himself as an eloquent pub- 
lic speaker and fine writer. He was regarded as authority on all matters of 
local history, and for many years had been gathering material for a county 
history, which he intended to publish. He wasoneof the promoters of the 
Livingston County Historical Society, in which be had always taken a deep in- 
terest. Mr. Seymour was a man of broad mind and generous heart; in busi- 
ness honest; among friends sincere; a citizen of pure conscience, reverencing 
law, and devoted to the public weal: a thorough gentleman, bearing himself 
gently to every man. whether of high or low estate. He filled a useful and 
distinguished place am'^ng the people in whose midst his life was spent, and by 
his death they have suffered a great loss, socially as well as in a public sense. 



130 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

JOHN ROGERS MURRAY. 

HY NORMAX SEYMOUR. 

The civilization of this far-famed Genesee Valley has reached a turning 
point, and already the thoughtful enquirer can look upon its new era. From 
being the once wild frontier of western progress, it has become a wealthy and 
reposeful land within the borders of a rich and progressive slate. The splen- 
did type of men produced by that early pioneer civilization on this and other 
frontiers, has passed or is fast passing away. This valley will never again 
bring forth such men as appear on the necrology of this society. The causes 
that produced them and influenced them to pass their lives here, no longer exis^, 
and their prototypes are only found either in our large cities whither the best ef- 
forts tend, or in the far west on what is now the frontier of this irresistible tide of 
human progress. The same scenes that were enacted in the Genesee Valley in 
the early part of this century are now being enacted, with little differences in 
Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and with but slight variations the same type 
of men, whose lives we meet from time to time to commemorate here, will be 
produced there. They, in time, will pass away, and then the cities or the re- 
gions around about will absorb the ambitious and best of the country, as they 
are doing here in this generation. If any one douhts this statement, let him 
compare the past of the country with its present. We are richer, now, we 
have more conveniences, more comforts, more labor saving machines, but 
where are the successors to the famous men of the necrology of this society? 

Of all the talented and spirited men that were first attracted to this valley 
in its early days, one of the most famous and well-known v.as the late John R. 
Murray of Murray Hill, Mount Morris, who died, beloved and universally la- 
mented, at Mount Morris, November 1, 1881, after a short and painful illness 
of Bright's disease, aged seventy years. Mr. Murray was born in the city of 
New York, October 15, 1811, and was the son of the late John Murray of that 
city, the owner of that portion of the city known as Murray Hill, and also one 
of the original owners of tlie ''Mount Morris tract." and also one of the most 
extensive landholders in tlie state. H is grandfather, Robert Murray, was an 
early resident of New York, receiving his deeds on parchment almost directly 
from George III., and was one of the largest ship owners in America. His 
residence was the headquarters of General Washington in that city in 1776. 

About the year 1838 John Rogers Murray removed from New York to the 
beautiful residence north of the village of Mount Morris, and long known as 
Murray Hill. It is said that Talleyrand, the famous French traveler, about 
the year 1800, visited the Genesee \'alley, and as he stood on the eminence in 
front ol the Murray Hill residence remarked, "that he had traveled the world 
over, but had never seen sucli a magnificent prospect as the one that lay before 
him.'' Possessed of a generous and noble heart, Mr. Murray's public and pri- 
vate benefactions knew no bounds, and for two of the finest churches in West- 
ern New York, Mount Morris acknowledges herself indebted to his munificence. 

The subject of this brief sketch graduated at Yale College in the class of 



II 



BIOGRAPHICAL 131 

1830, and in 1880 attended the half-century meeting of his class, at New Haven, 
Conn. He was a great reader, and his extensive library, well filled, contained 
the choicest literature and the noted periodicals of the time. He was pre-em- 
inently endowed with a discriminating taste for beauty, symmetry and order. 
He loved to do good, and unostentatiously bestowed his gifts without stint. 
To the poor he was a friend indeed. He most ardently hated all shams, affec- 
tation and hypocrisy. His was a character in which blended all those traits 
which make a man, viz. intelligence, uprightness and patriotism. He loved 
his country, its institutions, its interests. Party ties had no hold upon him. 
He was an earnest christian, a constant attendant upon the ministrations of 
the church. His christian life was anchored in his unswerving faith in the 
truths of the Bible and earnest belief in the religion of the Fathers. He was a 
close observer, and very correct in his judgment of men. Upright in all 
things, he despised dishonesty in every form, and was outspoken for truth, 
good morals and purity. He usually declined all public positions, and, if ac- 
cepted, he faithfully honored them, and earnestly sustained all private and pub- 
lic enterprises by his influence and means. 

About the year 1862. after disposing of what might properly be called his 
almost baronial residence, at Mount Morris, he removed to Dobbs Ferry, on the 
Hudson, thence, in 1866, to the beautiful inland village of Cazenovia, wheie 
he continued to reside until the year 1878. In this year Mr. Murray met with 
the greatest loss that can befall a man of his seclusive nature, in the death of 
his wife. She was a daugher of D. W. C. Olyphant of New York City, an ac- 
complished, rare and high-spirited lady ; and the man who never wavered under 
the loss of his magnificent fortune years before, never recovered from the 
effects of the loss of this his almost life companion. Her remains were buried 
in St. John's churchyard in Mount Morris, in the month of March, 1878, and 
from that time Mr. Murray took up his residence again in that village wherein 
he and his wife had lived together so many years — in that home which I have 
spoken of as almost baronial. It lay upon the banks of the Genesee River, 
many hundreds of acres in extent, and its Knglish-like park was laid out with 
that beauty and taste in landscape gardening which Mr. Murray's most perfect 
taste dictated, and which, even to-day, stands a splendid evidence of the cul- 
tured and elegant mind that fashioned it. 

His last days were those of great suffering, but he was patient and uncom- 
plaining — most beautifully ilustrating the power of the Christian's hope. He 
often said "he thanked (Jod he was in His hands, and if it was His will he was 
ready to die. His work was done, but he regretted he had accomplished so 
little for mankind." 

The courteous, dignified and noble man has departed. The last member of a 
family famous in the early history of the state and of our country has passed 
away. 'On whom will his mantle fall"' 

"Why weep ye then for hitn who, having run 
The bound of man's appointed years, at last 
Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labor done. 



132 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Serenely to his final rest has passed, 

While the soft niemnrj- of his virtues yet 

Lingers like twilight hours when the bright sun has set." 

Mr. Seymour wrote the fcllowing letter to Mr. Uavid Gray of the Buffalo 
Courier, which is interesting as a brief description of Mr. Murray's funeral; 

"We are all very much gratified by your editorial, or rather obituary notice, 
of Mr. Murray. It was very pleasant to see in a paper which to an extent is 
removed from the influences and associations of this beautiful Genesee valley, 
this notice of one who has honored and beautified it so much. But I think I 
must demur in a degree to your analysis of his character, so far as it referred 
to a cynicism which was caused by his pecuniary troubles. I do not think he 
was cynical: certainly, if he was, it was nut caused by his reverses. His was 
a character simple to the last degree, though encased in culture and breeding. 
His manner wasalways brusque and abrupt, and he detested shams of all kinds; 
but he was not cynical, though one who had never known him in the pomp and 
glory of Murray Hill might suppose that his hauteur was the result of his re- 
verses. His old friends, however, saw no difference or change in him. 

"You can fancy the beauty of this village and of his late residence, and 
the approaches to his former estate, tinged with the tints of autumn, beneath 
as warm a sun and amidst as soft an air as ever blessed an ideal autumnal day. 
Even the roads were hidden from view by the red leaves that have fallen by 
the wayside. Down around the road that passes through the miniature valley, 
hard by his late home, amidst this profusion of dying foliage, upon a simple 
bier carried by his old friends and followed by a long train of mourning ac- 
quaintances, his remains were carried to the beautiful church of St. John, the 
Evangelist, which his generosity had built; and there, in the beautiful church 
yard and beneath the yew trees.' shade, he was laid beside, the wife whom he 
had loved so well, and who was so worthy a consort of so brave a spirit. It 
W-4S a simple and touching scene." 



A. O. BUNNELL. 

BY JOHN A. SLEICHER — EDITOR OF "LESLIE'S WEEKLY." 

No newspaper man in the state of New York, and probably none in the 
United States, is more widely known and more generally loved than A. O. 
Bunnell, the editor of the Dansville, N. Y. , Advertiser. For over half a cen- 
tury (1852-1902) the smell of printer's ink has been upon his garments Born 
in Lima, Livingston county, N. Y., March 10, 1836. he moved to Dansville at 
the age of fourteen, and at sixteen became a printer's apprentice. In 1860. he 
founded the Dansville Advertiser, and has ever since remained its editor and 
publisher. The paper typifies the man. It is a beautifully printed paper — 
clean and wholesome in its contents, elevated in its moral tone, and powerful 
in its widely exerted influence. But this is not surprising, for Mr. Bunnell 
inherited the best of American tendencies. He was the third of five ciiildren 



*\ 



BIOGRAPHICAL 133 

of Dennis Bunnell, four of whom are living — Miss D. B. Bunnell, a rebident of 
Dansville; Mrs. Mary Bunnell Willarcl of Brooklyn, N. Y. , and Major Mark J. 
Bunnell of Washington, D. C, constituting the other surviving members of 
the family. 

Dennis Bunnell was the youngest of the seven sons of Jehiel Bunnell of 
Cheshire, Conn., a revolutionary soldier and a member of an old and leading 
family. Jehiel Bunnell's wife was one of the Hitchkiss family, prominent in 
the early history of Connecticut, A. O, Bunnell's mother was Mary Baker, 
daughter of James Baker, a sturdy pioneer woodsman and hunter, whose wife, 
Mary Parker, was the elder sister of three celebrated pioneer Methodist circuit 
preachers of western New York — the Rev. Messers. Robert, Samuel and John 
Parker. All these ancestors are dead, Dennis Bunnell entering into his rest in 
1885 and Mary Baker Bunnell in 1881. 

Mr. Bunnell has never sought public preferment. The love of his profession 
has kept him loyal to it. In the congenial atmosphere of the printing office, 
as boy and man, he has taken his greatest delight and rcdlized his highest am- 
bitions. Modest and retiring by nature, he has still, by the force of his char- 
acter, become a leader in his profession. For thirty-four years he has been 
secretary and treasurer of the New York Press Association, and much of the 
success of this influencial association — probably the most progressive and vigor- 
ous of its kind in the country — is concededly due to his ability, energy and 
industry. In grateful recognition of this fact, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
his connection with the organization, his associates presented to him a superb, 
solid silver tea set. costing over five hundred dollars. He became a member of 
the New York Press Association, on its reorganization, after the war, in 1865, 
and three years later was chosen its secretary, continuing in that office ever 
since. 

On the organization of the Republican Editorial association of the state of 
New York, January 10, 1894, in which Mr. Bunnell was deeply interested, his 
associates unanimously chose him as secretary and treasurer of that body. In 
July, 1894, the National Editorial association, at its annual meeting at Asbury 
Pdrk, elected Mr. Bunnell as president of that great body of editors, in which 
oftice he served until January 24, 1896. On that day, the members of the 
association, after the convention proceedings held in St. Augustine, Fla. , 
presented to their retiring president, a handsome cane and a set of souvenir 
gold and silver orange knives and spoons. In accepting this handsome gift 
Mr. Bunnell captivated his hearers by his most feeling and felicitous words. 
He sa i d : 

"Dear Brother Herbert, Dear friends all: By this art of yours, you have 
touched mv heart more deeply than ! can find words to tell. I feel like one 
awakened from a deep slumber. The vagaries of sleep, the wonderful fantasies 
of dreams seem not more unreal than that the poor boy who entered a country 
printing office a few years ago should be so honored by the chosen representa- 
tives of twenty thousand newspaper men of this great nation. You have 
touched with romance the plain life of a country editor. I love my profession. 



134 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

I love my brother editors, and I love the editors' wives, and I shall love them 
all more and more because of this occasion. Under the magic spell of memory 
the walls of my humble home will often expand to an infinite distance to in- 
clude you all and become articulate with your kind words of love and esteem. 
That this gift includes my true and honorable wife, dear to me as are the 
ruddy drops that visit this glad heart, makes the gift doubly dear. Forgive 
me that my heart is too full to say more. " 

No member of the National association is more beloved than Mr. Bunnell 
and no president of that body ever presided with more dignity and satisfaction 
than he. As special representative of the Pan American Exposition company. 
Past President Bunnell's effort at New Orleans in 1900 secured the convention 
of the National association for Buffalo in 1901. When the National Republican 
Editorial association was organized at Philadelphia, June 18, 1900, largely 
through the efforts of Mr. Bunnell and some of his associates in the New York 
Republican association, Mr. Bunnell was chosen secretary and treasurer, a place 
which he still holds. He has also been president of the Livingston County 
Press Association; was one of the organizers, in 1877, of the Livingston County 
Historical society, of which he has been president and is now one of the coun- 
cilmen; was active in the organization of The Coterie, the oldest literary 
society of Dansville in existence, and, in fact, has been foremost in every 
movement for the development of the literary tastes of the community. He 
has been trustee of the Dansville seminary, is deeply interested in its High 
school; is one of the directors of the Dansville & Mt. Morris railroad, and for 
a long period has been a trustee of the Greenmount cemetery. His connection 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows has been most honorable and dis- 
tinguished, and, in 1884, he was selected to the exalted position of Grand Master 
of the New York state organization, filling this place, as he has filled every 
other which has come to him with singular fidelity. 

On April 9, 18(j3. Mr. Bunnell was married to Anna M. Carpenter, in Lyons, 
N. Y. Of their children, one daughter and two sons, only the daughter, Mrs. 
Albert Hartman of Dansville, survives. The death of Mark H. Bunnell, the 
only surviving son, at the age of ninteen years, was a loss which every one 
who knew this brilliant young man most deeply mourned. As a lad, Mark H. 
Bunnell was precociously bright, loving books and study and revealing many of 
the admirable traits and literary inclinations of his father. He was a careful 
reader of all the best books of his time and a student of politiLS and history. 
He loved music and art, his tastes were refined and he sought the best and 
most helptul associations. It is not surprising that his parents looked forward 
with eager hope to a brilliant future for their son, and when on the threshold 
of his young manhood, he was stricken by illness, which after a period of 
eight months, terminated fatally on the 10th of November, 1893. the pro- 
foundest sympathies of the entire community were tendered to his bereaved par- 
ents. This was a sad and fearful blow, inflicted by the mysterious hand of 
Providence, but it was borne with splendid patience and christian fortitude by 
the bereaved ones. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 135 

Tlie life of Mr. Bunnell has not been crowded with events of extraodinary 
interest. His story has been the tale of an even-minded, kind-hearted, gener- 
ous, helpful man, who has found his greatest satisfaction in holding up the hands 
weak and strengthening the purposes of the strong. Beautiful in his home 
life, successful in his professional career, honored as few men have been by his 
newspaper associates, and profoundly respected in his own community, he lives 
to realize the fact that man's success in life is best measured by the sweet and 
lasting contentment which a record of good deeds must always bring. 



CHARLES L. BINGHAM,— Was born at Mt. Morris, on the 25th day of 
April, 1827. He was the youngest son of Dr. Charles Bingham who came to 
Livingston county from Connecticut at an early day and left an enviable repu- 
tation as an accomplished gentleman and skillful practitioner. 

Mr. Bingham's common school education was supplemented by a broad and 
comprehensive course of reading, placing him in culture and information fully 
abreast with current thought. Previous to attaining his majority and at the 
early age of sixteen years he began liis business career, which was destined to 
be crowned with so large a measure of success, by accepting the position of 
teacher in one of the rural districts of his native town, and in after years he 
often spoke of the pride and pleasure he experienced when he brought to his 
mother for safe keeping his first earnings. Shortly after this he filled with 
credit to himself and entire satisfaction to his employer the position of tutor 
in a gentleman's family in which capacity his duties called him to the south 
where he resided for a time. While earning his living as an instructor Mr. 
Bingham was bending all his energies toward the fulfillment of his ambition to 
become a lawyer. And very soon after he attained his majority he successfully 
sought admission to the bar where his energy, probity, and analytical powers 
joined to a never failing courtesy soon placed him in the front rank of his pro- 
fession. About this time Mr. Bingham formed the co-partnership with Judge 
George Hastings that continued without even the semblance of discord till dis- 
solved in 1866 by the death of Judge Hastings. 

After the death of his law partner, Mr. Bingham was forced by increasing 
deafness to abandon the law, and in 1869 he with his brother Lucius C. Bing- 
ham, now deceased, and his friend Sears E. Brace, now of St. Anthony's Park. 
Minn., entered upon his career as banker under the firm name of Bingham 
Brothers & Brace. This business, eminently successful from the start, was 
peculiarly congenial to Mr. Bingham, his mind enriched and polished by his 
long and successful career at the bar unravelled and solved business complica- 
tions and intricacies with an ease that was a constant source of astonishment to 
his contemporaries. 

Mr. Bingham's great business ability was abundantly recognized, and as 
executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, assignee and receiver was almost 
continuously utilized by the courts, government and his neighbors. In his 
later years and to his intimate friends he was wont to say with no little satisfac- 



136 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 

tion, that in all his experience as trustee for others in various capacities, he 
had haver been sued, never censured by the court, and that he never went to 
bed without the abiding consciousness that if that should be his last sleep his 
affairs were in order and could be readily settled by his executor. 

The banking firm of Bingham Brothers & Brace after seven years of continu- 
ous, successful existence was dissolved, Mr. Brace retiring, Messers. C. L. and 
L. C. Bingham continuing the business under the firm name of Bingham 
Brothers; after eight years Charles \V. Bingham, the only surviving son of C. 
L. Bingham, entered the firm and in 1889 Mr. L. C. Bingham's death left the 
father and son as the survivors of the business which was and still is securely 
established in the confidence of the people of his locality. 

Mr. Bingham was courteous, almost courtly in manner, of handsome, com- 
tnanding presence and graceful figure. As a public speaker he was always 
forcible, fluent and pleasing; he was in active demand as chairman of assem- 
blies of various sorts, and always discharged his duties fairly and well. Al- 
though a man of multifarious and important business engagements, his time 
and ripened judgment were always at the disposal of those who needed help. 
His death removed the trusted counselor of many a widow and orphan, while 
many an honest poor man missed the ready money Mr. Bingham freely ad- 
vanced to relieve his necessities. 

Of unswerving integrity himself, Mr. Bingham would brook no duplicity on 
others, and abhorred commercial dishonesty with the whole force of his nature. 

As a man and citizen Mr. Bingham has left an enduring impression upon his 
day and generation, and his name will live as a synonym of all that is good and 
true in business circles. 

Socially Mr. Bingham was cordial, urbane and pleasing to an unusual degree, 
and while charming the senses with his grace, he enriched the mind from his 
abundant stores of information. 

Mr. Bingham married Miss Charlotte Wood of Columbus, Ohio, in the year 
1857; three children were born of this union, one only, Charles Wood Bingham 
surviving. Mr. Bingham died on Oct. 29, 1892, in the full strength of his 
manhood after an illness of only a few hours. Mrs. Bingham still survives 
him carrying, with the help of a large circle of sympathetic friends, her load 
of bereavement as best she may. 



A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF S. L. ROCKFELLOW, 
OF MOUNT MORRIS. .N. Y. 

Samuel L. Rockfellow was born in the town of Mount Morris, August 4, 1826. 
He received the common school education usual at that time and at the age of 
twenty became a teacher. For two years he taught, or applied the birch as 
seemed most necessary, in the Barron district of Mount Morris and in Alle 
ghany, hoping at the end of that time to enter college. A serious eye trouble 
made it necessary t3 give up this plan, and he became a clerk in the dry goods 




Dr. Myron H. Mills. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 137 

store of C. C. Goodale, in the village of Mount Morris. In less than three 
years he was established in partnership with A. D. Mordoff and continued as a 
merchant for twenty years; for two years under the firm name of Mordoff & 
Rockfellow, for three years as Rockfellow & Ames, the partner being 
Henry G. Ames, and the remaining time alone. 

In 1853 he was united in marriage to Juliet L. Conkey, daughter of Deacon 
James Conkey. 

In 1870 he sold his dry goods business to Beach and Bacon, of Geneseo, and 
moved to Rochester where he purchased a half interest in the Lake View Nur- 
series with Henry L. Fairchild. Several now prominent residence streets of 
Rochester were laid out by them on their property and in 1873 a large portion 
of it was sold to a co-operative building association. After this sale Mr. Rock- 
fellow and his family spent a winter in Edenton, North Carolina, on the Alber- 
marle Sound. Returning to Rochester he engaged in the lumber business with 
Cameron and Chase and also conducted a real estate business in disposing of 
heretofore unsold nursery land. 

In 1878 he returned to Mount Morris, purchased the Bodine Manufacturing 
property, and, in 1880, formed the Genesee Valley Manufacturing Company of 
which he has been manager and president up to the present date, 1905. 

His wife died in 1900. He has one son, John A., who is a civil engineer 
and ranch owner in Arizona; and one daughter, Annie G., who is a practicing 
architect. 

Mr. Rockfellow has been connected with the Presbyterian Church for nearly fifty 
years. He became a member of the First Church of Mount Morris in 1856 and 
of the Central Church, Rochester, in 1870. He has acted as elder forty years 
and been a vigorous Sunday School worker for forty-five years, as superintendent 
or teacher. Since 1878 he has had charge of an adult Bible class numbering 
from fifty to seventy members, and has met with them on an average of a little 
over fifty Sundays each year for twenty-six years. 

He was associated with the late Rev. Levi Parsons in compiling and publish- 
ing the Mount Morris Centennial History in 1894. He has been a member of 
the Livingston county Historical Society for many years. Although nearly 
four score years have been his he still retains his place in business, is in good 
health, and full of active life. 



MYRON H. MILLS. 

Myron Holley Mills, M. D., a distinguished and honored resident of Mount 
Morris, exerted a marked influence on the literary, social, and political advance- 
ment of Livingston County, and bore a conspicuous part in promoting its rise 
and progress to its high standing among the wealthy and well-developed coun- 
ties of the Empire State. He was born December 8, 1820, on the homestead 
where he resided until his death, and which was then owned and occupied by 
his father. Major-general William A. Mills. 

Dr. Mills was of New England ancestry, and came of pure and undiluted 



138 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Puritan blood. His paternal grandfatiier, the Rev. Samuel Mills, of Derby, 
Conn., born in 1744. was a graduate of Yale College, and prepared for the 
ministry. Attracted by the glowing accounts of the beauties and promised 
wealth and greatness of the Genesee valley, he moved his family in 1790-92, 
and located near the little hamlet of Williamsburg, the pioneer settlement in 
what is now Livingston county, situated midway between Mount Morris and 
Geneseo. Circumstances over which the little hamlet had no control placing 
the court-house and county buildings in the town of Geneseo, Williamsburg's 
prosperity and growth were summarily checked, its population gradually dis- 
appeared, and its individuality was entirely lost forever. The Rev. Samuel 
Mills was the pioneer ordained minister in the valley. He preached the great 
truths of the gospel to the pioneers in an acceptable manner, after holding 
church services in the open air, also in the large warehouse in Williamsburg 
and in private dwellings. He was held in high esteem by the early settlers, and 
his memory is preserved in the religious history of the Genesee valley. He 
was a man of ability, a distinguished scholar, and possessed in a marked degree 
the christian graces which eminently fitted him to preach the great truths of 
the Bible. His cousin, the Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torrington, Conn., who 
was born April 21. 1783, and graduated at Williams College in 1809, was devoted 
to missionary work, and fully earned the proud title in history of "Father of 
Foreign Missions in America." The Rev. Samuel Mills' house took fire in 
the night and burned, with all his household effects, the family barely escaping. 
This misfortune, coupled with the Ijss of capital invested in land at inflated 
prices in the town of Groveland. embarrassed and so discouraged the good man 
that he became the victim of the disease known as the Genesee, or spotted 
fever which caused his death. His remains, at the request of James Wads- 
worth. Sr., were buried in what has since become the beautiful cemetery in 
Geneseo. No monument, we regret to say, in the interest of his descendants 
and posterity, designates the grave. Immediately following his lamented 
death, the family, except his son William A., returned to New Bedford. 

General William Augustus Mills, the father of Dr. Mills, was born at New 
Bedford, May 27, 1777; and some seventeen years later, just one hundred years 
before the summer season of the present year (1894) this same sturdy infant, 
grown to a stalwart young man, and having learned that "westward the course 
of empire takes its way,'' might have been seen with a small bundle of cloth- 
ing under his arm, journeying on toot across the valley from Williamsburg to 
Allan's Hill, now Mount Morris, there to make a home. His only available 
capital was a robust constitution, a quick and active brain, a common suit of 
clothes, an axe, and a five-franc piece of silver. He located on land belonging 
to Robert Morris and there erected a cabin on the brow of the tableland over- 
looking the Genesee valley, the site now being occupied by the residence of 
Dr. M. H. Mills. His only neighbors were the Indians; and learning to speak 
their language and growing familiar with their ways of living, he became a 
favorite among them, and was a frequent counselor in their dealings with the 
white people of this vicinity, and even occasionally arbitrated matters of dis- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 139 

pute arising among themselves. ■ He kept the chain of friendship bright, and 
retained the most amicable relations with them, until the Indians, by virtue of 
the treaty of 1825, sold their reservations, and left the valley. He always 
treated them with the utmost consideration; and they recognized his friend- 
ship and generosity by bestowing upon him the name of " So-no-jo-wa,' ' which 
in their language signifies "a big kettle" or generous man, and among the few 
surviving members of the Indian tribes now living on the Allegany and Catta- 
raugus reservation the village of Mount Morris Is called " So-no-jo-wa-ge" in 
honor of his memory. 

The land on which William A. Mills settled was as before mentioned, owned 
by Robert Morris. At a later period it passed into the possession of the Bank 
of North America, and in 1811 was thrown upon the market and sold to differ- 
ent purchasers, the bank retaining one-eighth interest. Mr. Mills then bought 
twenty acres, paying thirty dollars an acre in silver, this being the minimum 
price he paid for property on the Genesee Flats. He was a man of inflexible 
purpose and resolute will, energetic and industrious, and not only placed his 
original purchase under cultivation, but, as his means increased, bought other 
tracts, and at the time of his death was a wealthy and extensive landholder, 
and one of the most influential and prominent citizens of Livingston county. 
Previous to the building of the dam across the Genesee river in this locality, 
the nearest mill was twenty miles distant; arid much valuable time was lost in 
performing the necessary journeys to and fro. With characteristic enterprise, 
Mr. Mills succeeded in placing the bill for the erection of a dam across the 
river at this point before the legislature. The river being navigable for small 
boats, some opposition was brought to bear upon the project; and he was forced 
to appear before the General Assembly in support of the measure, which was 
passed. Thus a valuable water-power was secured to Mount Morris, and was 
the immediate cause of new growth and prosperity to the town. General Mills 
was the founder of the village of Mount Morris, and was as patriotic as he was 
public spirited. On the breaking out of the War of 1812 he organized the first 
militia company in Livingston county, and from the command of that com- 
pany rose to the rank of Major-general of the State militia, his command embrac- 
ing the counties of Livingston, Genesee, Ontario, Steuben, Monroe, and 
Allegany. Many of the distinguished men of New York have served on the 
military staft of General Mills, among whom we may mention the names of 
Colonel Reuben Sleeper, of Mount Morris, General Frank Granger, of Canan- 
dalgua. the Hon. Daniel D. Barnard and the Hon. Charles J. Hill, of Rochester. 
General Mills was a man of unbounded generosity and kindness of heart, and 
extended every possible aid to the struggling pioneer, frequently making the 
payments due on the little tract of land, which might have otherwise reverted 
to the original proprietors. While yet in apparent physical vigor, the General 
suddenly died of heart failure, on April 7, 1844, In the sixty-seventh year of 
his age, leaving to his surviving children a large landed estate and the memory 
of a life spent in doing good to his fellow-men. 

The union of General Mills with Susannah H. Harris, of Tioga Point, Pa., 



140 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

was solemnized in 1803, and of this maniage ten childien were born, of whom 
nine grew to mature years. 

Myron H. Mills received a broad and liberal education, and when a young 
man began the study of medicine and surgeiy in the office of Dr. Hiram Hunt, 
a valued friend of his father, and the family physician. He subsequently 
entered the Geneva Medical College, from which he received his diploma in 
1844. The following year Dr. Mills began practice in the city of St. Louis, 
where he soon won an enviable reputation as a physician, and was appointed a 
practitioner in the City Hospital. After the declaration of war with Mexico 
he resigned his position in the hospital, and volunteered as a private soldier in 
the company being then organized in St. Louis by Captain Hudson. At the 
instigation of influential friends, before bting mustered into service, Dr. ^^lls 
applied for the appointment of Assistant Surgeon in the United States army, 
going himself to Fort Leavenworth, the headquarters of General Stephen W. 
Kearney, five hundred miles from St. Louis, to whom he presented in person 
his papers, hoping to receive his indorsement before applying to the Secretary 
of War for his commission. In this he was successful; and he served bravely 
throughout the entire war. and at the battle of Canada received a wound in the 
fleshy part of the right leg, below the knee. The Doctor, having recently 
graduated from the school of medicine and surgery, put into practice the knowl- 
edge of improved methods that he had acquired as a student, and was the first 
to introduce the ''flap operation" in amputations in the "Army of the West," 
the circular method having been previously used from time immemorial; and 
for this valuable service he was promoted by the medical director. Surgeon 
DeCamp. of Baltimore, to the head of the medical and surgical department of 
the army. At the close of the Mexican War the regular standing army of these 
States was increased by the addition of eight regiments. Upon the recoin- 
mendation of Brigadier-general Stephen W. Kearney, commander of the Army 
of the West, in which Dr. Mills served all thrcugh the war, the Hon. William 
L. March, Secretary of War, tendered him an appointment of Assistant Sur- 
geon in the regular army, which he declined, and leturned to private life. 
Having ag.iin become a resident of Mount Morris, he was invited by a special 
committee to deliver an address on ''The Mexican War." He accepted, giv- 
ing an eloquent and graphic description; and at the request of special com- 
mittees he was induced to repeat it at Nunda and Perry. 

In June, 1849, Dr. M. H. Mills was wedded to Mary E. Mills, the only 
daughter of Hiram P. Mills of Mount Morris. Theirs was a felicitous marriage, 
she having found in him a devoted husband, and he in her a true companion 
and friend, who faithfully discharged the duties of wife and mother. The sor- 
row common to mortals cast its shadow over their pleasant home, four of the 
six children born of their union having passed to the "life elysian." 

In the spring of 1850 Dr. Mills engaged in the drug business in Rochester, 
where for a while he carried on a lucrative trade. But, finding the occupation 
uncongenial to his tastes, he embraced the first advantageous opportunity to 
dispose of his stock of goods and was subsequently employed in the construe- 



BIOGRAPHICAL 141 

tion of public works for the State of New York. He was well fitted for that 
responsible position, and received for his services a liberal remuneration, 
which, being well invested, enabled him to retire from the active pursuits of 
life in 1868, and to enjoy his well-earned leisure. In 1863, while a resident of 
Rochester, he was appointed by the Mayor and Common Council to represent 
the city in the National Ship Canal Convention held in Chicago. In June of 
that year he served on a committee with the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew and 
another iDan. Mr. Depew was then a young man, and had been a member of 
the legislature from Westchester county. New York. Removing in November, 
1870, *.o Mount Morris, his native place, the Doctor bought the parental home- 
stead, which had passed from the possession of the Mills family, and thereafter 
he devoted his energies and money to its improvement and adornment. He 
improved and enlarged the house, erected beautiful and convenient outbuild- 
ii;gs, and converted the three acres of land surrounding the mansion into a 
veritable park. This attractive home is located at the northern extremity of 
Main street, and commands a magnificent and extensive view of the Genesee 
valley, the situation being one to inspire the pen nf a poet or the brush of an 
artist to its highest effort. 

Under the familiar nom de plume of " Cornplanter, ' ' Dr. Mills published a 
valuable series of articles on Indian history, and the history of the Mount 
Morris tract. His services as a public speaker and lecturer were often in 
demand. In 1878 he delivered the address of the day before the Wyoming 
Historical Pioneer Association, at the dedication of their "log cabin" at Sil- 
ver Lake, the twenty thousand people there gathered listening to his eloquent 
words with unabated interest till the close of the very last sentence. In Feb- 
ruary of the same year Dr. Mills was induced by special invitation to lecture 
before the literati of Dansville on "The Prehistoric Races in America" and 
the intelligent and scholarly audience which greeted him was enthusiastic in 
its approval of his utterances. On the 14th of September, 1880, the residents 
of Detroit listened to an address given by him to the State Association of 
Mexican War Veterans, reviewing the results and benefits of that war to the 
country, and stating the claims of the veteran soldiers upon the government 
for a pension. At the annual meeting of the Livingston County Pioneer 
Association in August, 1877, at Long Point, Conesus Lake, he held a vast 
audience enthralled lor more than an hour, even though black and lowering 
clouds and the ominous peals of thunder betokened the near approach of a 
deluging shower, from which their only shelter was the wide spreading and 
friendly boughs of the forest trees. At various times he has spoken with 
great acceptance before the farmers' institutes and kindred associations. Dr. 
Mills was one of the organizers of the Livingston County. New York, His- 
torical Society. At the organization of the society at Mount Morris, February 
13, 1877, the Doctor formulated and pr^ented the able and comprehensive con- 
stitution and by-laws of the society, which were adopted. He was the founder 
of the Livingston County Pioneer Association. He has ever taken an active 
interest in educational and local affairs, and has served as Piesident of the 



142 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 

Mount Morris Board of Education, and twelve successive years as President of 
the Livingston County Historical Society, and was at the time of his death 
President of the Mills VVaterworks Company, and Railroad Commissioner of 
the town of Mount Morris. The system of waterworks, which has added more 
than any other enterprise to the welfare of the village, was constructed after 
plans submitted to the village trustees and the citizens of Mount Morris by Dr. 
Mills, at a meeting held on the 4th of June. 1879, and has greatly improved 
the sanitary condition of the town, besides being most useful for domestic pur- 
poses and of great protection to the property of its inhabitants. For this 
enterprise and the great benefit and protection to the village from destruction 
by fires and the blessings resulting therefrom, the citizens are indebted wholly 
to Dr. Mills, who furnished the entire capital. 

In politics Dr. Mills was always affiliated with the Democratic party, and, 
though never an aspirant for official honors, has occasionally accepted places of 
trust and responsibility, and these he has filled with credit to himself and to 
the honor of his constituents. He was thoroughly democratic and simple in 
his manners, the honors heaped upon him during his career having in no way 
elevated his pride or detracted from his frank and cordial friendliness in his 
intercourse with others. 

Dr. Mills died at his home surrounded by his loving wife and daughters on 
the 14th day of August 1897. 



X 



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ERRATA. 

For "approach," in third line, page 96, read "reproach." 

The footnote at page 55 should refer to Appendix No. 4. 

The footnote at page 65 should refer to Appendix No. 5. 

The footnote at page 204 should refer to Appendix No. 10. 

The footnote at page 208 should refer to Appendix No. 11. 

The footnote at page 214 should refer to Appendix No. 12. 

To avoid constant footnotes in connection with Chapter VII the W// 
statement is here made that very much of the matter in that chapter 
descriptive of the "Treaty of Big Tree" is appropriated from Mr. 
Samson's account. 



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